The Solo...

I was 13 years old in 8th grade and it was the day of my trumpet performance at Kipp Philadelphia Charter School right next to the broad street line on Leigh. Earlier that day I woke up realizing that today was the day that I would be playing an original solo to the entire school. I was so nervous, that I was sweating a vicious storm of sweat. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and brushed my teeth. I looked in the mirror and let me tell you I could see the sweat dripping off my face.

I wiped the intense sweat off with the bathroom towel and walked down stairs to get some breakfast. After I ate breakfast I gathered my bookbag, my trumpet, and my rain jacket because the news said it was going to rain. I walked to where my school bus usually stops and it started to rain. When the bus came, I got on and went to sleep half wet. As I awoke from my slumber, getting ready to get off the bus, my back was so stiff I had to stretch until my bones screamed. I got off the bus and saw my friend Jordan, who was also my rival. He played the flute and we competed in almost everything except grades. My rival in running speed, solos, you name it. When he played that flute his style was unique from the style of a flute normal flute player. Instead of the exquisite soft sound you would get, a rock and roll harsh sound came out of it and, people liked that about his solo. I personally liked his solos as well because it was a style of where you wouldn’t expect that coming from a flute and the flow of the rock solo was amazing.

”What’s up Charles?” Jordan said.

“Nothing much.” I said, knowing that I was extremely nervous.

“Cool, you ready to perform today?”

“Yeah.” I said in a calm tone, trying to convince him and myself that I was ready.

“Cool, see you at the performance!”

“See ya.”

Later that stressful day as I was warming up with my powerful trumpet, my best buddy John came over, and he was the best saxophone player at my school, and his solos were the flows of a jazz tune that makes you sway your hands and hips to side to side. His creative improvisation would always get you to smile. He’s unpredictable and I love that about him. Also right next to him was the best Trombone player in the school and his name was Tyreeq. When he played that Trombone it would produce such a rich, deep, and powerful sound. His solos were simple but his technique on the sound of his instrument was why he was the best.

“Hey Charles!” said John and Tyreeq happily.

“Are you ready for the solos, the performance starts in 5 mins” Tyreeq said.  

 “I guess.”

“I’m just so hype!” John said with a huge smile on his face.

“Same!” Tyreeq said.

They both went to their band section and it was finally time to start. It was a massive crowd of the whole school gathering together to watch the performance. We played “Get funky”(We called it Get funky but it’s called Get lucky”) Last but not least we played Superstition. Everyone was screaming and cheering when we played superstition, which by the way is a classic soul song by Stevie Wonder. I was the first to play the solo. I got up there and I started to sweat so much that it was literally seeping down my back and my legs and it was really uncomfortable, but as soon as I blew into my trumpet I lost myself in a jazzy solo that I didn’t know I was capable of. It felt like I was in a whole different world because when I played that solo it was the nicest, cleanest, and most majestic solo I have ever created in my life. After my solo everthing was a blur because I was lost in the majestic flow of music but, I can say that all 3 of my friends, Jordan, Tyreeq and John did just as good as me with their own amazing styles. From this  performance, I learned that if you try your best and have fun then you may discover a hidden talent that you never knew you were capable of. I also learned that I was the best trumpet player at school.