Hey Brooster..! I didn't get to Bourbon St. to play until the very late 90's. Wish I could have been there in my teens! It has gone so far downhill with respect to jazz, I rarely go there anymore. The good stuff is all out towards Frenchman and the Faubourg Marigny.

Trombone was my major through college, but by the time I got to Bourbon, I was doing keyboards and LH bass (in a 9 piece, no less!) and they already had a t'bone player (and a good one at that) so I rarely got to play it.

The Big Easy must have been such a blast back then!

I also agree with your 'jam along to the radio' approach. No matter what form of music you are trying to get down, jamming with the best is the way to do it, and seeing as it's hard to get on stage with them while you are learning, sneaking up on them while they play on the radio works great!

And if you were playing 3-5 nights a week in NOLA, don't put yourself down. You aren't a dud (unless you are comparing yourself to Watrous!), and the horn awaits...