Bar Won’t Let Teen Trumpeter Play, So Band Comes Up With Hilarious Solution.

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The only thing worse than being underage is being underage in New Orleans, home of Mardi Gras and world-famous jazz clubs that draw the likes of the late, great famed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

But that’s the situation Raphael Zimmerman found himself in during a Sunday night jazz jam session last month. The 18-year-old freshman at Loyola University New Orleans plays a mean trumpet, but he couldn’t get in for obvious reasons.

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New Orleans may be lax about a lot of things, but not when it comes to underage drinking. At least, not at The Starlight in the city’s famed French Quarter.

But Ryan Hanseler, one of the musicians who was jamming out that night with the rest of the of-age crew, came up with an unconventional yet ingenious solution. See the windows behind the singer down there?

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You can probably see where this is going…

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“He wanted to sit in on the session so I told him to play through the window,” Ryan wrote in a Facebook post that’s since gone viral.

A lot of people who commented on the video referenced the Roddie Romero Law, named after the frontman of the Grammy-nominated Hub City Allstars. He, too, was underage when he started playing, but his mom helped push a bill through the state legislature in the early 1990s that says minors can perform in adult venues as long as they’re accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. If Raphael didn’t already know about that law, he does now. And maybe his parents had already turned in for the night.

New Orleans, you never fail to capture our hearts. Tune in to this hilarious – and impressive! – jam session in the clip below, and share to spread smiles!


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