I don't blog normally, because I honestly feel that my problems are miniscule compared to so many on this site. The fact is however, it is a fact with most of us that being transgender is affects our whole being, and sometimes I just want to quit thinking about it!

So it is, that I love to watch kids. Mostly, they're too young to worry about such things and I enjoy seeing them experience such joy in their hearts over what we jaded adults consider simple things. But sometimes, I run across a child that is really and truly special, and watching them just brings tears of joy to my heart.

I listen to the only real jazz radio station left in the Chicago area, and lately they've been playing cuts from a new album by a young man named Joey Alexander. He's a real child prodigy, from Jakarta Indonesia. Recently his parents moved to New York so he could be exposed to the jazz scene there. He's scary technically competent, but the thing that is so amazing is that he seems to "really get it". He plays with 30 years of musical/emotional maturity, but he's only eleven years old!

Last night I discovered there are gobs of Youtube videos of him out there. What I love about the videos is watching his face as he plays. He's really playing jazz, not written arrangements, and occasionally he does something especially clever, and the look on his face is just precious! It's also fun to watch the other musicians interact, it's obvious they consider him an equal. Please check him out, it'll lift your day, especially if you're a Monk fan!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_g1pSOm6vI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNL8aJglYVw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOV2mONU8a0

Hugs
Carla Ann