Monday, 8/6

I wonder who the trombone player is.

One of the things I love about living in Marquette is that you never know what you’ll see, what you’ll hear, or what you’ll come across. When you live in a city full of artsy, creative individuals, that artsy-ness and that creativity quite often bubbles to the surface. And over the past few weeks, what has bubbled to the surface is one really good trombone player.

I don’t know who the trombone player is; I don’t know where he or she lives, and I don’t know if she or he is a professional at the instrument or just dabbles. But what I do know is this—every few days, especially when it’s nice out and our windows are open, and always with no warning at all, we’ll hear someone play a trombone. There’s no other music and no other musicians; there’s just the trombone and its player, serenading our neighborhood with a soulful rendition of Magic’s “Rude” or their take on a jazz classic. They’ll play the one song, and then stop, leaving me to think two things—

One, that trombone player is really, really good. Their tone is great, they’re obviously well practiced in their technique, and their style really lends something to some of the works they perform. Like I said, they’re really, really good.

The second thing I wonder about when I hear them? Who are they, why are they playing outside, and why do they stop after only one song? Okay; technically those would be the second, third, and fourth things I think, but still, I believe you get the idea. I mean, has the person playing been practicing indoors, and just wants a little fresh air before they call it a night? Do they enjoy serenading the neighborhood, and have spent all day practicing the one piece to get it just right? Or do they just get bored, and in between social media status updates or chapters of a book decide to give their lungs a workout?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I am in no way complaining; after all, like I said, the trombone player is quite good, and it’s much better than some of the other sounds you get to hear in our neighborhood when the windows are open (and I’m thinking of you, guy who lives a couple of houses behind us and loves his leaf blower just a little too much). It just makes me wonder what’s behind the impromptu performances, and whether they’re for our benefit, or if our enjoyment of it is just a byproduct of whatever the mystery trombone player happens to be doing at the moment.

Alas, I may never know. And with winter soon to come, our windows will be permanently closed, and the trombone concerts will be replaced by the sound of snow blowers and ice scrapers. So I guess I’ll enjoy the performances while I can.

Even if I don’t know who’s giving them, or why.

(jim@wmqt.com)