The Return of The Warm Encounter

Indoor performances returned last week to Jazz at Lincoln Center and headlines in the Arts section of the?New York Times?Arts placed particular emphasis on a ‘…quartet of up-and-coming trumpeters’.??

Usually, I may not have noticed.??But I read the article with particular interest, having enjoyed a warm interaction days prior with a father here in the city to support his daughter, a young trumpeter attending the famed Julliard School.??Although it was only a few minutes of impromptu banter, it left a lasting impression.?

The setting was Andy’s Deli, an establishment that has long been a second kitchen for my family over our two decades living on the Upper West Side.??I encouraged this outgoing out-of-town visitor to try the “Becket sandwich” – named for our family’s late beloved dog.??A fellow canine lover,??he showed particular interest and enthusiasm; a small gesture that created an immediate warmth between us; traits at odds with the divisiveness of the last twenty-one months.??It was a genuine connection; free from social distancing and unencumbered by face masks that have shielded us from one another.??He shared details of the family pet he left at home while in town to visit Summer, his daughter at Julliard.??I remarked on the pride he must feel given her accomplishments in a male dominated field.?

In reading the?New York Times?article and thinking back to our conversation, I took special note of a particular callout:??“The most boisterous crowd response came soon after those young trumpeters took the stage,” wrote the author.??“Camargo’s gutsy opening solo brought patrons to their feet and inspired (Wynton) Marsalis — her hero — to muse afterward, “She ain’t playing around at all.”

Sure enough, the Camargo to whom the article referred was Summer, daughter of my friendly acquaintance.??Summer, it turns out has won a long list of awards and honors – with one article mentioning her as “…a positive delight – a fiery young player who gives you faith in the future of, well,?everything”.??High praise that made me happy for both daughter and father.

The experience led me to reflect on just how much we’ve missed during the last twenty-one months.??There’s the communal experience of an in-person jazz concert; the accomplishments of a young woman excelling at her craft; and the power of person-to-person connections.??Reemerging are familiar old feelings of being part of a human network; the spontaneity that makes healthy social interaction so critical and meaningful, especially in New York, a city often mischaracterized as impersonal and hard.?

I recall the wisdom of Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, who encourages us to appreciate how small daily experiences add up over time to big differences we often cannot foresee.??

The warmth and friendliness of Summer’s father can be learned from and built upon.??Many would call that “paying it forward” – an approach we could all benefit from both on an individual and collective basis as we attempt to build back from our recent past.????“It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note,” explains the great jazz musician Miles Davis.??“It’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.”?