The year was 1964 and I was 9 years old when I got the Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album, South of the Border. I played that album over and over. It was part of the reason (probably a big part) of why I became a trumpet player! I selected his song "Spanish Flea" to play for the non-technical part of my tryout used to select ranking in the 11th grade, high school concert band. Along with my other skills, it got me 1st chair, 1st trumpet that year! In addition, I played in the marching band, jazz band and even in the pit band for the high school musicals. It was a great start to a side profession. I am sure it is why I have such an interest in all types of audio equipment and have since then to this very day! I still have the album, although it is heavily worn, and I can even play every single track in order, in my head at any time. College was a big turning point for me, I had to choose between what I hoped would be a career as a professional musician or an electronics engineer. My parents said I should get "a real job" and become an electronics engineer and not become just another struggling musician. It took years for me to realize, I could do both! I still listen to Herb Alpert (both the old and new music) and saw him live in concert at The American Music Theatre in Lancaster County, Pa., along with his wife Lani Hall (from Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66 fame) just a few years back.
Now for laughs, I will throw in a very strange a quirky musical side tale. Maynard Ferguson, another famous trumpet player and idol of mine (you might be seeing a pattern here) was giving a concert in the Reading, Pa. area many years back. I was at that concert. He fell and injured his foot. Long story short, they took him to a local doctor's office to have his foot x-rayed. The x-ray technician who photographed his foot, was the girl friend (soon to be future wife) of my good friend and office mate from AT&T, where we both worked at the time. I tried to get that x-ray (who wouldn't want such a quirky souvenir of a famous trumpet player?), but her ethics were admirably high and it never happened. Ha!
