When Wade was in eighth grade, having shown
\nsome prowess with the instrument in his school’s
\nband room, he persuaded his father to buy him a trumpet.
\nThey were not a well off family, so the instrument was used,
\nbut Wade was very appreciative. His musical hero was
\nlegendary jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, he of the puffed cheeks
\nand bent trumpet. After several months of practice, Wade decided,
\nto better emulate his idol, to take the horn into the basement
\nand bend it similarly in his father’s vise. He succeeded only
\nin snapping the bell off his trumpet, leaving him, basically,
\nwith the world’s first valved kazoo. His father was furious
\nand adamantly refused to replace the horn. With some minor
\nmodifications, Wade was able to get sound from his ruined instrument,
\nand became proficient enough to entertain at parties, school revues
\nand even on open mic night at a local club. A couple years later,
\nusing some inheritance money from his late grandfather,
\nhe funded the manufacture of an inexpensive tin version
\nwhich he patented as the "Jazzoo." It sold surprisingly well
\nas a novelty instrument and provided enough money to pay
\nfor four years in a local college, studying musicology, and
\nto earn the begrudging respect of his father, who insisted thereafter
\non calling his son "Dizzy," a nickname that stuck for life
\nand which Wade quite enjoyed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"