Is there any music left in these old trumpets? They are bundled together and sitting on the porch of Mitchell's Folly in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's not possible to play any of these anymore. The valves are missing in all of them as well as the tuning slides and the mouthpieces. No more jazz, no more marching tunes, no more blues, and no more swing.

Ah, but could there be memories of music somewhere lingering in these old horns? Tunes that cause you to tap your toe, sway your body, clap your hands? These old discarded trumpets are just a stack of metal without the breath, the spirit, of musicians. You won't hear musical magic without the skilled people (no matter how old). Musicians still have (always have) music within them that needs to get out in their very breath. These old trumpets may not have any music left, but they share the memory of being filled with musical energy.

When I return home, I plan on working on this photo to see if I can express more fully the memory of that energy.