195. Going solo.

196. "Night Train" by Jimmy Forrest

No other song fed my high-school trumpet-playing narcissism like "Night Train." That's because I got to perform the 20-second trumpet solo many times in front of the entire student body during school concerts and on band tour.



The "Night Train" solo is probably the only reason I really felt obliged to attend the high school graduation ceremony. The last few months of high school were so miserable for me that I had entertained the idea of ditching graduation altogether. I didn't attend the graduation rehearsal the day before, opting instead to drive tractor the whole day. On graduation day, I showed up dressed in my graduation gown with blue jeans and my Billy Joel t-shirt underneath. I also wore my white sneakers. Upon entering the building, I was told that Ron Jolley, our numbskull of a principal, had forbidden the wearing of sneakers to the graduation ceremony, and had ordered all of the graduates to wear nice dress clothes and dress shoes under their graduation gowns. I believe Jolley was the single-greatest source of stupidity in our high school, and I loathed the man. Of course, his disapproval of my footwear only made me 10 times happier that I hadn't dressed up under the gown. As I walked across the stage to receive my diploma, the Jolley scowled at me and my bright white shoes. I even have a picture of it. He's looking at me with this stupid smirk of disdain, and I couldn't have been happier to make my very last act at the school one of rebellion against his ridiculous rules. What an ass! (That's in reference to the principal's personality, not Scapell's tush.)

But "Night Train" to me was the time when I really got to experience what I think jazz is all about--refusing to accept the constraints and breaking stupid rules to create something fun and memorable and real. There are other jazz songs in the Top 200, and we played other jazz songs in high-school band, but this song is the only one I remember performing where I had the freedom to play whatever I wanted for 20 seconds. And I'm glad I had the opportunity to play it at graduation in my Billy Joel shirt and sneakers as a way to finish up my high school experience and express how ready I was ready to go solo and be free.