Classical music has conventions dating back hundreds of years. There are right and wrong ways to write and perform music in the classical genre. People go to school to learn that stuff, starting as early as elementary school and continuing through to the doctorate level at university. I was trained that way, a trumpet player learning the classical traditions as they were handed down from one great master to the next. However, along the way, my personality began to shine through my compositions and my trumpet playing. To be true to my voice as an individual, I found myself going against some of the classical norms, both in my compositional style and my performance style. On this album, Trumpet Quasi Master, you are getting both barrels of that musical deviance. The term “quasi classical” was used to describe my music in the early 90's. It was a polite way of saying that, while my compositions were interesting and my performance sounded “good”, it really didn't qualify as being genuine classical music. Thus the term, “quasi classical.” I have since embraced the label, simply because it accurately describes who I am as a musician. I am classically trained and I continue to work (to some degree) as a “legit” trumpet player in the Houston area. I teach my students what I know about playing classical music and in that way share the traditions that were handed down to me through my teachers. But when I have the opportunity to do my own thing, quasi classical music is what comes out. It's who I am.