ALVIN KING
Trumpeter, Band Leader & Composer
Playing and performing is a need for musicians.
I have musician friends all over the country; and we are all itching to play. We are having telephone and facetime concerts with each other. I have a good buddy in New Orleans. He will play the piano and I will play the trumpet.
I play for my family all the time. I’m always asking them to check out something I’m working on. They like listening but they should be sick of it. My 14-year-old daughter plays violin. Sometimes she will join in. I’ll give her a simple melody; and we will play together. My son messes around with the piano. I may film the three of us doing a trio. My wife isn’t a musician, but she played the clarinet when we were in school, so she appreciates all of the music surrounding her in our home.
I’ve also been hosting mini-concerts in my backyard. There’s a nook where I can park my car, open the doors, play the backing-tracks and play the horn. Most of the neighbors don’t know where the music is coming from; but a few have walked up and told me that they thought it was coming from the radio or something. I think it has uplifted people. They get to hear live music; and I get to scratch that itch of the
need to play.
One day, back in September, when I was driving home from work, I was humming the baseline to a song. I could hear the other instruments in my head. When I got home, I spent approximately 5 hours on GarageBand (which is like a personal studio) making the song. The song kept evolving over several months. I was going to release it during the summer because it sounds like a feel-good summer hit -- but then this pandemic came. This pandemic is dividing people. There is a lot of miscommunication, suffering, and death. If we don’t come together and handle things the right way, we are going to suffer even longer. This song’s message is about love and unity. It’s about sending love to an individual, the circle around you and the world. It is a song about love. It is a song that says in spite of everything, “I love you.” It is a song of unwavering optimism in this plight against humanity.