Happy Birthday Pops!

I'm running short on time here but had to get these two blogs off before splitting for my gig. For me the greatest musician that ever lived is Louis Armstrong! I've written a lot and will continue to do so. I'd say if you can stop a civil war, you are pretty special! He changed music forever! Thank you to Wynton Marsalis and Jon Faddis who constantly told me to be listening to Louis Armstrong. Then thank you to Ricky Riccardi for the amazing opportunity to play Louis's trumpets and for all the work he does to let the world know about Louis Armstrong. It's also interesting to me that 3 of my biggest heroes are born very close to each other's days. Now I have a lot of heroes so that's not too hard to do but, my wife born on July 23, Jon Faddis born on July 24, Louis Armstrong and Jeff Hamilton born on August 4! Jon and Jeff in the same year! Pretty cool! All good reasons to celebrate!