Reinvention Jazz

If personal reinvention is something you’re considering, or would just like to learn more about, take a few moments to read a brief, interesting first-person account, Reinventing Myself: My Journey Back to Music, by Steven Tjernagel, on the extensive jazz site allaboutjazz.com. In eight short sections with subheads such as “A Reevaluation Of Priorities” and “The Crisis,” through “A Good Plan Never Dies” and finally “The Light at the End of the Tunnel,” Tjernagel details how and why he began his reinvention as a jazz guitarist after years of a well-paid job that he did not find satisfying. He reignited his longtime love of playing music and determined that he wanted to enter a one year jazz studies masters program, finally settling on The University of the Arts (UArts) in Philadelphia.  It cost a lot of money, and involved a difficult audition, but he finally made it on the second try. (He was accepted the first time, but his financing fell through and he had to wait two more years until everything fell into place.) This piece shows that simply having an idea for personal reinvention is only the first step. Many difficulties and roadblocks will probably lie ahead, and it’s all too easy to give up. Yet reading about how he made his decision and overcame some of those roadblocks is inspirational. Becoming successful in music is tough. Tjernagel is to be commended for getting this far, as he notes that he did well in his first semester and is starting his second. “I’m extremely optimistic for the future as I continue to reinvent myself once again,” he writes. His words and experience should resonate for all of us traveling on the road to reinvention.