Kael Sharp blew into his trumpet during his orchestra rehearsal. His reverent sound was familiar to his peers, as it traveled across the room and back. His history, however, travels even farther. With a story of persistence, Sharp now looks to become a rising star in the trumpet world.
His first touch with music came from moments with his mother, who was also a performer. Sharp recalls her influence as a predominant and cherished one, as she exposed him to the type of music that later became his forte.
“My mom would always take me to her performances and classes at Harbor College and Redlands University,” Sharp said. “I remember sleeping under the piano and running through her hands while she was playing, but it didn’t make her skip a single beat.”
The young musician picked up his trumpet at age 8 and soon bypassed all of his advanced classes in middle school, reaching the college level by age 16. In his freshman year of high school, he was a member of the jazz band, the marching band, and the symphonic band, a feat unusual for his age.
Traveling from the desert area of Yucca Valley to San Pedro, Sharp took his skills to Harbor College. As a student, he found several suitors for a musical outlet. Under numerous groups such as The Jazz Assassins, Nex 2 Nothin, and Lily Bee, Sharp reached prominence in Hollywood’s music community, performing in venues such as Whiskey a Go Go and the Key Club. Most recently, he performed at Dead Man’s Ball at the Tim Burton Exhibit in LACMA with his group, Sneaky Nietzsche. He currently travels for tours, with the next planned for Nov. 17.
Sharp, with his various bands, pursues reaching the top of the music scene with his trumpet, forcing through several challenges as the industry slowly diminishes into a close. And he’s not alone. Sharp embodies the spirit of musicians looking to find a role in a social movement that seems to be shifting its focus to a more contemporary music.
Regardless, he says musicians need to keep on practicing.
“At my practice peak I was going about four or five hours at a time just figuring things out,” Sharp said. “The more you play the better you get, and if you want to get noticed, you have to have confidence in yourself and your abilities.”
He says the most difficult part of being a musician in today’s times is finding equilibrium between interests and life.
“Musicians have to be superheroes; we have to be able to juggle night life, rehearsals, concerts, social life, and school, and make it home in time for dinner,” Sharp said.
But while Sharp hopes for to expand his career even further, Sharp keeps his dreams at a modest level. He plans to get a major in music, and to teach classical and jazz music later in his life as well as learn composition and arrangement.
“The most important thing if you’re young and interested in music as a career is education, because it’s hard to make it big.”
