Changes

Middle School Brought Forth A New Change In Scenery. “Nutbush”. Not Nutbush, Tennessee, But The Nutbush Neighborhood In Memphis, Tennessee. This Neighborhood Was Completely Different Than The Places That Suavo Had Previously Lived. Here He Was The Minority. This Part Of Town Was Mostly Filled With Mexicans, Caucasians, & African Americans. Here Suavo Would Attend Kingsbury Middle/High School Where He Was Enrolled In The Honors Program. For The Majority Of His Classes He Was 1 Of 2 Or 3 African Americans. However Suavo Would Adapt And Find Friends Of All Nationalities. In 7th Grade Suavo Found His 2nd Love, Poetry. For The Most Part He Kept It A Secret. He Had A Special Journal That He Kept Specifically For Poetry. It Was His Hidden Talent; That Is Until Literature Class Began Teaching On It. The Teacher Ms Jefferson Would Ask The Students To Write Poems. Suavo Would Receive No Grade Below 100 For These Assignments. Once Others Got Word Of Him Being A Wordsmith Suavo Was Able To Do Things Like Buy Candy With Poems. Suavo Would Speed Through His Classwork, Just To Pass Around Quick Poems In Exchange For Snacks.
In 7th Grade Suavo Was Also Introduced To Gym Class. He Hated It With A Passion, Because It Affected His Asthma And He Didn’t Want To Have Too Much Attention Brought To The Fact That He Had Asthma. He Hid/Faked Not Having It The Entire Year, But When 8th Grade Came It Was His Goal To Not Take Gym Again. He Had 2 Options Art Class Or Band Class And He Chose The Band. He Immediately Felt That Drums Was Probably The Way To Go. The Summer Prior To 8th Grade Having Bands In Hip Hop Videos Had Started To Be A Thing. It Was Watching These Videos That Suavo Took An Interest In An Instrument That He Had Never Heard Of, The “Trombone”. He Told His Mom About His Interest; in which she suggested that he play saxophone instead. Even though the thought of joining the band and not playing what he wanted to play kind of made him objective to joining the band, he signed up anyway. On The First Day Of Band Class, Newly Appointed Band Director, Mr Cooper, Asked Everyone To Pick 3 Instruments That They Would Be Interested In Playing; in which Suavo put down the saxophone, trombone, and snare drum. Due to it being a small band he wanted to make sure that he had at least one person per instrument. Suavo ended up getting chosen for the trombone. As The Only Trombonist In The Class, Suavo Really Didn’t Catch On Fast At All. He Would Mostly Sit In The Back Of The Class And Joke Around Or Wait Until The Teacher Left The Room To Try To Play The Radio Tunes He Had Been Hearing. When It Was Test Time He Would Cheat Off Of The French Horn Player, Whom Was Very Much Attentive In Class. As The Year Approached Closure Suavo’s Beginner Band Class And The Advanced Band Class Would Merge In Efforts To Prepare For The End Of The Year Concert. That Advanced Band Class Had 3 Trombonists And Each One Knew The Fundamentals Of The Trombone Way More Tah Suavo. Being The Face Of The Trombone In His Class He Didn’t Really Care For The Idea Of Others Coming In And Upstaging Him, But He Loved The Idea That He Could Finally Learn Something From Fellow Trombonists. In The First Few Rehearsals Suavo Did Nothing But Listened To The Other Horn Players Play Their Parts Until He Got It In His Head How The Parts Sounded, While He Faked Like He Was Reading His Own Sheet Music. He Then Proceeded To Write The Note Positions On The Paper Most Closest To What It Sounded Like They allayed. A Few Days Before The Concert The High School Band Director, Mr Davis, Would Come In To Hear The Band And Figure Out Who Was Going Be The Top Prospects For The Next School Year. It Was In This Moment That Suavo Started To Stand Out From The Other Trombone Players. The Band Director Amongst A Few Of The High School Students Immediately Saw A Light In Me In How Well I Had Been Playing The Music. By The Time Of The Concert I Was Playing The First Chair Trombone Music, Just Off Of The Token Of Having A Good Ear.

After School

After Graduating Kingsbury High School Class Of 05, Suavo Like Most Others Didn’t Know Exactly Which Direction He Wanted To Go With His Life. With The Success Of His Music, All He Knew Is That He Wanted To Take His Music With Him Or For His Music To Take Him To The Next Level. He Considered Jackson State University And Joining The Band There, But Never Found A Way To Auditions. His Mom Took Him To Tennessee State University To Audition, But Due To Him Not Practicing Leading Up To It, He Didn’t Do Well & It Was Unlikely That He Would Received Much For His Scholarship. In Those Times Rap Became His Shoulder. He Continued Playing For Church For A Little While Longer Before He Eventually Would For The Most Part, Put The Horn Down, Picking It Up Every Blue Moon. He Was Now A Rapper & His Goal Now Was To Prove To Everyone Else That He Was In Fact Just That. Suavo Didn’t Look Like The Typical Rapper, And Was Too Cheerful For Most Of His Peers To Take Him Seriously. Coincidentally People Outside Of His Immediate Peers Were Beginning To Gravitate To Suavo The Rapper. Eventually His Peers Began To See The Transition. Life’s Ups And Down Through Adult Hood Was To Blame For That. Running From Job To Job Was A Regular Thing For Suavo. He Couldn’t Keep A Job For Nothing. Most Were Temporary Jobs Anyway. One Day Suavo Skipped Work To Attend A Videoshoot Of A Local Artist Whom Had A Hot Single Out At The Time. It Inspired Suavo To Follow His Dreams To The Point In Which He Never Showed Back Up To Work Again. He Told Himself That His Music Has To Pave The Way For Him. Around This Same Time Suavo Was Kicked Out Of His Mom’s House, So He Was Staying On Friend’s Couches Writing Rhymes And Recording Everyday. He Even Entered In A Few Citywide Talent Shows. That’s When He Realized It Wasn’t Going To Be As Easy As He Thought. The Talent Ain’t Enough As An Adult. Suavo Had Been A Victim Of Rigged Competitions Where He May Place 2nd To The Individual Throwing The Competition Or The Hosts Close Associates. It Was Devistating To Know That You Are Competing In Something You Cant Win. And When We Did Win The Hosts Didn’t Hold Their End Of The Agreement.

Leveling Up

(1st Person)

At The Time I Was Used To Researching Local Hip Hop/R&B Talent In Memphis. I Liked To Be Hip To New Artists First Because I Used To Burn Mix Cds For People And Try To Slip In New Hot Songs Or Songs From People I Supported Like My Uncle J2. While Surfing The Web My Rap Group Would Would Kind Of Know The Showcases To Attend. Turns Out A Lounge Called Downtown Brinsons Had A Showcase. One In Which Suavo’s Group Would Begin To Perform. While There I Would Begin To Attend An Open Mic That Would Happen On Monday Nights. I Never Knew Memphis Offered This Type Of Exposure And Practice Grounds So I Became A Regular and Began Doing Some Of My Solo Pieces That I Had Been Writing. Every Night I Would Always Gain The Crowds Respect And Attention. Brinsons Had A Live Band That Would Play Behind You If They Liked Your Track And When I Would Come Through They Would Automatically Go To Their Instruments. The Audience Began To Have Favorite Songs Of Mine That They Began To Request. My Most Notable Of Songs Was Called Yum Yum. It Was A Comical, Yet Nasty Hip Hop Song That I Wrote And Initially Wanted It To Be A Group Song, But They Were Steered Away By The Title. One Day While Doing A Can Good Drive At A House Party Called Brister Street, I Stumbled Across A Reggae Band Bu Thr Name Of Chinese Connection Dub Embassy And They Had A Full Band With Horns. Only Thing Missing Was The Trombone. The Entire Time They Playrd I Was Implementing Trombone Parts Or Freestyling In My Mind. I Was Inspired To Play My Trombone. I Wanted To Join This Band, So I Talked To Them After The Show And Got Acquainted. That Next Day I Pulled My Dirty Trombone Out The Closet And Played It, Til It Made Me Sick From The Dust Collected On/In It. I Knew I Had To Take It To Open Mic B4 I Presented It Anywhere Else. That Next Open Mic Monday After It Was All Over I Asked The Owner Could I Play My Horn With The Band The Following Week. Everyone Around Laughed And Chuckled About How They Think I’m Joking, But When The Next Week Came It Was Time To Show And Prove. I Honestly Didn’t Even Know What To Play. I Just Signed The Open Mic List And When They Called My Name I Pulled Out My Horn. The Band Played Bobby Caldwell “What U Won’t Do” And Though I Didn’t Know The Words I Closed My Eyes And Gave It Way More Than I Expected To Give It And Before You Know It The Room Was Screaming Randoms Chants From “Boy Play That Trumpet” to “Suavoooo”. When I Opened My Eyes The Whole Room Was Standing And Most Of Them Had Gathered Right In Front Of Me. The Tips Were Going And I Just Kept Playing. By The Time The Song Ended Our Keyboardist Told The Band To Keep Playing As He Went To The Car To Get His Saxophone. When He Came Back The Rest Of The Night It Was Me And Him/Him Vs Me And A Room Full Of Cameras. It Was The Most Exciting Experience I Had On Stage Up Until That Point.

Hip Hop Trombonist

Amidst The Hype Of Brinson’s Open Mic I Found Myself Beginning To Perform On Many Different Open Mic Stages. All Of The Other Open Mics Were Rap Open Mics, So I Would Approach Them All With The Same Recipe. Rap Until People Got Familiar With My Music, Name, And Started Rocking With Me And Then I Would Come In And Change Their Whole Perception Of Me When I Walk In With The Trombone. It Would Always Start Off Awkward Walking In Because There Were No Other Instruments At The Rap Open Mics, People Would Play To Tracks, But I Had Tracks To And I Was Spitting My Words Through A Trombone. While At Home Searching The Web I Came Something I Had Not Seen In Memphis, A Beatboxing/Singing Duo (Artistik Approach). I Looked Up Where They Performed And It Said The Rumba Room At An Event Called The Word. As I Searched YouTube For More Local Talent I Also Came Across Poet Tameka Greer And Singer/Songwriter Tonya Dyson. The Thing That I Noticed That They All Had In Common Was The Word. An Open Mic More Centered Around Spoken Word Poetry, Soulful Rnb, & Live Instrumentation. They Even Had A Horn Section (Minus The Trombone). I Had To Go. It Was On The Same Night As Brinson’s So I Sadly Had To Sit Out A Monday To See What The Word Was All About. I Got There Signed Up And New That I Wanted To Approach This Stage Differently. I Would Let My Trombone Lead Here And Then Come With My Rap Later. I Hit The Stage And Received A Warm Applause After I Performed.  After A Few Times In Gave Them The Flows Which Was Also Well Received.  I Eventually Became Part Of Brinson’s House Band, So My Participation At The Word Was Short Lived. Luckily Brinsons Open Mic Date Changed To Thursday & I Would Be Able To Attend Both. I Honestly Was A Little Hesitant To Mix Rapping And Playing The Horn At The Same Time, Before I Had Already Began To Be Taunted On Which One I’m Going To Chooses, But I’m Thankful That I Got To Sit With Tonya Dyson Whom Encouraged Me To Embrace My Uniqueness And Individuality. I Would Soon Put That Theory Fusing The Two Together Into My Regular Suavo Performance And The Reception Was Exactly What I Needed.

Beale Street Legacy

Everything Was Going Great. Everything Except For The Funds. I Had Given Up Working Any 9-5, But I Was Always Getting Pulled Over And Receiving Tickets, So I Had To Do Something Quit. Everybody Whom I Knew That Was A Musician Had A Regular Job Or At Minimum A Regular Gig. Mine Was Based Of Of Tips Of One Day Per Week. I Began Going To A Few Club Spots Around Town With Live Music And Asking If I Could Maybe Sit In A Song, But Was Given A NO Every Single Time. I Had Been Considering Beale Street, But I Knew Nothing About The Blues. As Many Times As I Had Been To Beale Street Prior To That, I Never Took The Time Out To Sit And Hear A Band; It Was Either Holla At Cuties Or Go To A Nightclub. One Day A Fellow Horn Player By The Name Of Coleman Garrett Asked Me,”Why I Don’t Play On Beale Street?” And My Response Was I Don’t Know Who To Talk To. He Told Me To Meet Him At A Place Called The Beale Street Tao Room the Nextday B4 12am. I Did Just That. Vince Johnson & The Plantation Allstars Had Just Went Up For Their Last Set And As Soon As Coleman Garrett Saw Me He Told Me To Get My Horn Out. The First Song I Was Just A Sitting Duck Up There. On The Second Song Everyone Got A Solo And I Was Last. As I Soloed The Atmosphere Of The Room Immediately Changed. The Bartender Everyone Else In Aw. My Little 1 Second Solo Turned Into A 3 Minute Solo And As The Song Ended And I Got Ready To Put My Horn Away, Vince Johnson said,”You Stay Up Here”. The Band Played 2 More Songs And When It Came Time To Solo He Called Me First And Let Me Loose. I wouldn’t Return Back To Beale Street For A Few Months After That. I Came Back Down Because I Recalled Seeing A Trumpet Player On The Tv Playing In Front Of Kings Palace. I Really Felt The Urge To Introduce Myself To Him And Maybe Play A Song With Him. They Called Him The Mayor Of Beale Street, But Sadly He Wasn’t There That Day. Instead I Went To Handy Park Where I Would See Fuzzy Jeffries And The Kings Of Memphis Live In Action. Between Watching Vince Johnson Control The Audience Control An Audience With A Little Harmonica Earlier That Year And Seeing Fuzzy Jeffries Letting The Guitar Take Him To A Different Dimension I Knew I Had To Make My Beale Street Visits A Regular Thing. Before Fuzzy Ended His Performance He Made Reference To A Trumpet Player Who Was Missing At The Moment And That The Trumpet Player Was Cooned The Mayor Of Beale Street And His Name Was Rudy Williams. I Went Home In Hopes That Maybe That’s A Different Trumpet Player, But It Turns Out ThatI Was In Fact The Same Trumpet Player Whom I Wanted To Jam With And A Week Later He Was Pronounced Deceased. I Soon Started To Make Beale Street My Regular Thing, Even Getting To Be A Part Of Vince Johnson & The Plantation Allstars.