Teenage Play Dates

Last week, my son’s music teacher approached parents like me – parents with kids who love playing music and performing for others-  with what he thought would be a big imposition.

Would I mind picking up my child plus a few of their bandmates – and their instruments – at school and driving them around town on a December afternoon to play two different gigs?

Would I mind?

I was delighted!

Ever since the beginning of the school year, my son leaves the house at 6:15 on Monday and Tuesday mornings to make a 6:30  jazz band rehearsal. That’s A.M. That’s ungodly early for most and even harder for teen musicians.

But this is a dedicated bunch. And now they would have the opportunity to bring some Christmas joy through music to the Baldwin House in Birmingham and then play the lobby of the Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

Of course, to me, wearing my Jewish goggles, this was the perfect opportunity for me to help my son and his bandmates perform a Christmas mitzvah.  So, with my car loaded with six kids, a guitar, sax, bass, and I think a few brass instruments, we were off.

The Bloomfield HS Hills Jazz Band as well as the Bloomfield Hills HS String Ensemble alternatively played traditional and contemporary Christmas music to the delight of the residents of the Baldwin House. They came in walking, or with their walkers to take in the sweet strings and the bright jazz tunes. The only musician they could not hear, was my son.

Unfortunately, his guitar amp adapter fried out somewhere between the school and the gig. And in the middle of the gig, while the strings played we had the following text conversation.

Mom, can you see if there is a music store nearby to buy me a new adapter?

Now?

Yes, my adapter died and no one can hear me.

Sorry, but there is no way I can do that right now. You should have checked this before we left the house. 

It was working, don’t make this out to be my fault

Again, I’m sorry there is nothing I can do for you now. Stop fiddling with your amp and stand up. You are performing. 

But, they can’t hear me. 

Fake it. The show must go on. 

So, in  this video, you may or may not see a young man  on the floor fiddling with his amp and then at the last moment stand up and pretend to play his guitar.

In between gigs, after we loaded up the car with kids and instruments, I did have time to stop and buy some batteries to power his next guitar.  I turned instantly from a villan into a hero. They were now playing the big room: the lobby at Beumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

Unless you are having a baby, or this is your place of employment, the hospital is a somber place to be. Especially this time of year. So what a nice gift it was for the musicians at BHHS to bring their talents to play in the hospital. The acoustics sounded fantastic.  The strings sounded sweeter

and the jazz music sounded happier

Weary doctors and nurses and technicians stopped from their rounds to take a listen. Some caregivers of patients even started dancing in the lobby.

The afternoon gave me the opportunity to socialize with other roadie parents who had devoted the afternoon to driving and listening. One mom of a senior cello player told me that she was getting some ridicule for letting her son consider pursuing music in college. But she said music, and playing the cello is the one thing in school that holds his passion and attention.

As I listened and sipped a cup of coffee from the hospital cafeteria, I thought how lucky my son is to be in a school with such a great music program that thinks “outside the school,” to allow them to play in public places. I also thought about the kids just down the road in Detroit, who may not have a music program in their school. Because when it comes to tight budgets, music is seen as frivolous. A luxury that poorly performing schools with low testing students cannot afford.

The last sentence is the farthest thing from the truth.

 I ask those who wish to cut music in schools: can common core make people want to dance? Want to make kids come to school at 6:30 in the morning? Can common core bring joy to a hospital or an assisted living facility the way music can?

This is my final post for 2013. I invite you to listen to these talented young musicians playing some holiday joy. Thank you for following my blog, for reading me and for writing to me.

Have a joyous Christmas and a happy 2014