BY THE WAY: MUSICIAN WAITS PATIENTLY FOR SHOT AT BIG TIME

I don't usually have too many 8:30 a.m. interviews.

There is a simple explanation for that. The morning coffee doesn't usually kick in until 9, just in time for the daily planning meeting.

But this was one of those interviews that promised to be more like a casual conversation than a question and answer session.

Jeff Nall, a gifted trumpet player who grew up in Cape Girardeau, agreed to stop by the Missourian on Tuesday before heading to some place in Tennessee.

He said he had a few days off before his performance in front of a hometown crowd June 22-25. This will become the last visit by the American Wind Symphony and Nall's first trip home in more than six months.

Since graduating with a master's degree in music from the University of Oklahoma, Nall has been busy auditioning for various orchestras and shows.

Being selected by the American Wind Symphony, based in Pittsburgh, Pa., is big stuff. Only the most promising musicians in the nation make the final cut.

Appropriately enough, Nall arrived for the interview in a tuxedo.

It was perfect for a photo and feature destined for the Arts and Leisure section Thursday.

During the course of the interview, I realized how difficult it must be to make a living as a trumpet player. Much like the actor who waits on tables until a break comes along, the chances of being discouraged are greater than the likelihood of being discovered.

Nall said the ideal way to prosper in his field is to get a job teaching music at a university and play in a band or orchestra at night.

Since Marc Fulgham, who teaches music at Southeast Missouri State, has that position in this town, Nall said he would have to look for another city in which to do the same thing.

Fulgham performed with the Paducah Symphony when the Moody Blues came to town during the spring of 1994. I told Nall that the symphony made the concert one of the more memorable I've seen here.

I could see his eyes brighten at the prospect of having that same chance.

"I've met some trumpet players who worked Les Miserables the entire time it was on Broadway," he said. "You're talking about doing the same show every day for a couple of years."

Surely that would lead to a terrible case of job burnout. Nall said he didn't think so. "It's like doing a play or something for a long time. There are never two shows exactly alike," he said. "And you're doing something you love to do."

When people tell me about their dream to make the big time, I usually feel some kind of admiration for them and wish them luck. But I rarely hear how they ended up.

For some reason I began thinking that I was talking to someone who is more than just talented. He seemed to possess an inner toughness able to withstand rejection as he waits for the first big break to come along.

Perhaps playing with the American Wind Symphony could qualify as his first break. After all, he beat out more than 100 trumpet players for the right to tour with this prestigious orchestra.

"It's a cutthroat business when it comes to auditions, but that just makes you get better and better," he said with soft conviction. "If I didn't practice at least an hour or two a day, I'd lose something."

He was so determined to study with the best, he maneuvered his way backstage after the Dallas Symphony performed and tried to meet a trumpet player named Tom Booth.

"The only thing that saved me was that Tom acted like he knew me and the security guards stopped trying to send me away," he said.

Nall and Booth studied together for two years. The 25-year-old former Cape Central High graduate has also played with graduates of the famous Julliard School of Music in New York.

"Every time I meet someone new, it seems like they know someone else I've already met," he said. "The music world is actually a small place when you stop and think about how many musicians get to do what they've always wanted."

He's one of the few likely to be chosen at one of those cutthroat auditions down the road.

~Bill Heitland is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.