“To play the trumpet, you must train your lips for a long time. When I was twelve or thirteen I was a good player, but I lost the skill and now I play very badly. I do it every day even so. The reason is that I want to return to my childhood. For me, the trumpet is evidence of the sort of young man I was.”
– Umberto Eco
This street musician in Porto, Portugal was performing with no back up tracks. Just him and his trumpet. I put money into his bag and listened for a while. I thought of the lyrics from the Joni Mitchell song, For Free.
“Nobody stopped to hear him
Though he played so sweet and high
They knew he had never
Been on their TV
So they passed his music by
I meant to go over and ask for a song
Maybe put on a harmony
I heard his refrain
As the signal changed
He was playing real good for free.”
