Tokyo Nights
Life In Tokyo - Neil Stalnaker
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
2/21/06
I was having dinner with this bass player friend of mine a few years ago before a gig. He is about 60-70, played with so many of the jazz greats. He also did the L.A. Philharmonic, grew up in the Bronx, toured all over, produced tons of recordings in L.A. and Tokyo, etc. We were talking and I started talking about the cancer. He stopped me in mid-sentence and said, "Neil, nobody wants to hear about that. They want to know what ARE you doing NOW."

I thought about that all night. Thought about it the next day. It really kind of pissed me off. Cause I thought that I had been through something heavy...maybe heavier than anything he has ever experienced and the cat is cuttin me off in the middle of my sentence?!

But, it was a turning point for me. I thought from that day forward, I'll show him what I can do here in Tokyo! I've been like that my whole life actually. Something bad or negative happens to me and I take it, flip it around and use that event as motivation to CAUSE something great. Sometimes I actually felt positive about something bad happening cause I knew I was going to use it as a stepping stone...as motivation...to go to another level.

I remember one afternoon in Baltimore when 3-4 doctors and 3-4 counselors came into my room to give me "the news" that I wouldn't be playing trumpet anymore. I sat there...stunned for a second in my bed....but, in my mind...I KNEW I would be playing again and better than before. That is the event I needed to help left myself to a level that I might not have been able to reach on my own. As soon as I got home, I started trying to play. Couldn't make a sound for months...actually about 8 months. But look at me now. Playin the horn everyday! And better than before!

If I was a boxer you couldn't beat me by knocking me down (that makes me stronger)...you gotta completely "take me out" to win
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Apple Store Written at 2/22/2006 05:42:00 PM by neil stalnaker.