The President as a Jazz Musician

 If one were to assess the Trump presidencies with the absence of political bias, there is not much there.  It is like playing fooseball.  When I was on the Carnival Victory, often I would play this game with our Puerto Rican lead trumpet player.  I was a novice but learning.  Never would he cease to defeat me at a game, if I played aggressively and emotionally.  His instincts and skill were so ingrained, that reflex action acted for him.  If I abandoned this machismo approach and adopted a cynical and manipulative mood in my game with very little athleticism, he would buckle and I could win a point.  Trump's presidency is built on altercation, antagonism, drama, and misdirection, and it is all self serving.  If you strip this superficial but intense emotional energy away, there is not much left.  When musicians practice their craft and art, often they are assessed by the depth of their knowledge and experience.  In Jazz this is a sharp as a razor blade.  When one improvises in a tune it becomes clear immediately who is the beginner, who is the novice, and who is the professional.  This evolution is based on time, study, practice, and experience.  There are those who are fortunate enough to emerge from the womb with these things genetically stored like computer discs.  How else can we justify that Mozart was writing full symphonies as a young child?  How else can we justify that an Indonesian child plays jazz piano like Herbie Hancock or Oscar Peterson?  Some people are blessed with this talent, and it is genetic.  It is in the genes.  Often if you look at successful artists, you will find the fruit does not fall far from the tree.  People are given a leg up.  When an aspiring jazz musician improvises, immediately you will hear the depth of their approach.  One can only go so fast and absorb so much aural musical information, so it is important to begin early.  Those most successful as musicians began life hearing music.  It begins in the womb, because the ears and hearing is not the only sense involved.  Autoacoustic hearing (although modern science has changed the connotation of this word) is hearing that occurs within and through the body via the skin and central nervous system.  When I play Fender bass guitar I position the amp near my buttocks, so I can feel the vibrations on my body.  The best music is penned or performed with the emotions and body involved.  Igor Stravinsky would argue with this premise, but Arnold Schoenberg would support it.  Schoenberg said the more music is distanced from dance, the more it suffers, meaning that movement in the human body is crucial to music.  It would be difficult to find an academic curriculum that embraces this concept.  Perhaps Suzuki and Kodaly are the closest to understanding that  rhythm is innate in the mind and soul, and the earlier and more casual you nurture it the better.  When one strips the Trump presidencies of the rhetoric, spectacle, and drama, there is not much left.  That is because he truly he does care about the American people.  He wants to be loved and revered by the American people, but he does not want to serve them.  That is the job of the President.  He is a public servant.  It is not Donald Trump's responsibility to change the charter of the United States of America and the tenets of the Constitution, especially without the agreement and support of Congress and the American people.  That he has created a new self serving concept for the American President is criminal.  What has Donald Trump done to even suggest he cares about anyone else?  Has he embraced anyone outside of his family and organization?  The answer is no.  Instead he criticizes and attacks everyone.  Instead of paying homage to the rich history of American culture through living and dead icons, a harmful and degrading policy of Cancel Culture is trying to erase it.  The eradication of the knowledge of slavery is the primary goal of this Cancel Culture, but you cannot separate American from these roots.  It was the practice of slavery and its intense implications and ramifications that forged much American culture such as Jazz.  Has Trump ever applauded American culture, popular or serious?  Has he mentioned a film, piece of music, or painter that he admires?  I would equate Donald Trump to a beginner jazz musician.  His solo is remedial, shortsighted, and devoid of devotion and historical perspective.  Who is Donald Trump?