This essay is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: Who do you think you are? You can read more by visiting The Big Ideas series page. Honestly, I’d probably think that, too. What you don’t hear about is the toil and the sacrifice, the vision and the commitment. You don’t hear about the nights of eating only Goya beans for dinner, wearing borrowed clothes, playing free gigs — the uncertainty, the lack of resources, money and support.

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Persons: I’m, I’d, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Alvin Batiste, Goya Locations: New Orleans