Speaking of kids, the other day I was at a friend's house. When her daughters were small, I gave them recorder lessons for a brief period before they started learning other instruments and lost interest. I continued to try and play music with them when they were (occasionally) so inclined.

One thing I did was to bring my instruments and let them try them out. The oldest liked my trumpet and also was inspired by people from a brass band who went to her school and encouraged kids to join. So now she's 20 and playing with the university jazz group. They don't have enough people for a big band, maybe they're 8-9 people.

While she credits the brass band and not me for inspiring her to take up the trumpet (I remember it differently), when I was over there the other day, she mentioned the jazz CDs that I'd given her over the years on birthdays; Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown. Now that she's in this group, they've become more relevant to her. She also said I was the only person who ever encouraged her to listen to jazz. Her mother is very musical, but strongly specialized on classical music.

On another recent occasion, I mentioned that I've been playing an accordeon. She found this very interesting and suggested we play something together. Now that made me feel good. Sometimes you plant a seed and 13 years later it germinates. Unfortunately, my guitars, banjo, mandolin, etc., leave her completely cold. Maybe if she hears them. And I still have hopes for her two sisters.