Page 38 - Alison Balsom Quiet City FULL BOOK

Kid? He was Mr Miyagi to me! We didn’t do anything flashy, we just
worked on sound, but it was so satisfying. I learnt that zen from quite

a young age which I think is quite key.

When and how did you find your own voice as an artist?
It’s so hard to say! I don’t know how to answer that question, except to

say: you know when you hear a good musician play? Well, when you

describe their personality in detail, you find that you’re actually

describing their playing in detail or vice versa. You describe

someone’s playing, and you find that you’ve described their
personality. I think that’s what having a musical instrument is about.

It’s about it being an extension of your personality. I always remember

being an outgoing child, and I just loved the idea of the trumpet as a
means of expression. I was obviously influenced by my heroes, as we

all are! In my case, by Hardenberger and Maurice André, and even

Dizzy Gillespie in an indirect way! Wynton Marsalis, too, of course.

But I was also instinctively aware from a very young age that you

couldn’t copy those people; they inspire you, make you love the

music, make you want to carry on and seek out more… But if you
copy them, you haven’t got your own personality. You have to just find

what resonates with you or work out if you enjoy playing something a

particular way. I think that should come naturally for most people. If

they listen from their gut, they know what they have to say, and it isn’t
just what their teacher told them to say.

I was also extremely fortunate: I’ve listened back to the recordings

that inspired me when I was eight, nine, ten years old, and they’re still
my favourite recordings. I was really lucky to hear their level of

understanding of the instrument and their approaches to the

instrument. Of course, there are lots of fantastic players who perhaps

I wouldn’t have found inspiring. And then perhaps I would have
thought of playing like a sport — very impressive but without any