Illuminations

Music can be such an inspiration sometimes. Any form can bring out such wild emotion and keen interest. Here I am, starting my horn blog off with a post inspired by a trombone solo album. What a horrible person I am. I have now listened through the album "Illuminations" featuring Joe Alessi on Trombone twice since purchasing the album this afternoon. The technical brilliance is stunning and his tone is too beautiful for words. This is secondary to the feeling his playing incites. His playing is such an illumination (pardon the pun), into the world of virtuoso classical performance. First, it shows beauty is possible for any vessel to produce (even out the bell of a trombone). I believe as humans and more pertinently, musicians, we should never play just for our own sake, but for the good of those around us. Don't get me wrong, you should always find joy in your music (even if you're playing because you have to). My point is that no matter the outlet, music should positively impact those around us. Whether a trombone solo, a rap artist or God forbid, a country band, music should be focused on the impact it has on the audience, not necessarily how you, the performer, feel about it. I would be interested to hear thoughts of my colleagues on this idea.
I am sure most of you are unfamiliar with this work, but this is merely one example. This sense of inspiration can be derived from anything. Even so, something inspirational for one person may not say anything to another. This is about you finding what inspires you to perform, compose or direct music with the mind set of positively impacting those around you.
I hope this blog will be a place where musical discussions and ideas can be tossed around, and opinions shared for the good of all.