Hollywood is a tough business. Many young, optimistic entertainers relocate to Los Angeles with dreams of success, but in this huge and often impersonal city there seems to be little room for new talent. One student, however, is proof that Los Angeles, the heart of the entertainment industry, can still make dreams come true.
Ryan Svendsen, a first-year trumpet performance student, came to Los Angeles from San Mateo in part to be at the center of the music industry.
A trumpet player for seven years, he studies in UCLA’s trumpet studio under the direction of world-renowned classical trumpeter and Professor Jens Lindemann.
But his growing career was put on fast-forward when he scored a gig with pedal steel-driven funk/soul/jam act Robert Randolph & The Family Band. To get the gig, he simply e-mailed the band asking if they needed a trumpet player. They responded and offered to have him play at the band’s House of Blues show.
On Nov. 2, the day of the show, he was well-prepared. But upon arriving at the venue, there was some confusion.
“(The band) had no idea a trumpet player was coming because they have two managers, and the one that told me to come wasn’t there,” Svendsen said. “Bruce Flohr (the other manager) told me, “˜We can’t trust you on stage with Robert (Randolph).'”
Just then, Randolph walked in the room and Flohr explained the situation to him, telling him some kid was here to play. Randolph asked Svendsen to play a lick from the band’s song “Diane,” which he immediately played from memory.
“You’re playing with me tonight,” Randolph told him. “But don’t think you’re getting paid,” he added, only half joking.
For 15 minutes, the two talked backstage.
When the band arrived, Randolph told them Svendsen’s story and asked him to continue playing different licks, which he did to the band’s impressed and astonished laughter.
On stage, Svendsen played only one song, but it was long and memorable. In the middle of the jam, Randolph looked to Svendsen with a face that said, “Your turn to solo, kid.”
He lifted his trumpet and broke out into what became a five-minute solo in front of a packed venue, with the entire crowd on their feet dancing.
In retrospect, the night couldn’t have turned out much better for Randolph ““ the song went well, the audience responded, and the musicians were refreshingly down-to-earth.
“He was such a chill guy,” Svendsen said of Randolph. “It was one of the highlights of my career.”
But Svendsen knows there are many even bigger performances ahead.
He isn’t new to solos or large audiences.
He plays in the UCLA Wind Ensemble, the UCLA Philharmonic Orchestra and the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, but likes playing the trumpet in all different types of music.
“I’m being trained classically,” Svendsen said. “But I use that technique in all other styles.”
He has been at the university less than six months, but is “extremely” happy with his time so far studying under Jens Lindemann in the trumpet studio. The faculty at UCLA was one of the things that attracted him here in the first place.
His gig with Robert Randolph was a step in the right direction, but Svendsen’s biggest dream is to play with the Dave Matthews Band. So when he heard that the Dave Matthews Tribute Band was coming to Southern California, he e-mailed them and they, like Robert Randolph, responded.
He will be joining them on their Southern California tour beginning March 28 at the San Diego House of Blues.
Svendsen’s performance on stage with one of his idols shows that ““ “American Idol” contestants aside ““ not all young people who arrive in Los Angeles will be disappointed by false hopes of instant success.
Sometimes, as in Svendsen’s case, all it takes is an e-mail.