On weekend afternoons, Craig Adams Jr. plays for tourists on the streets of the French Quarter.
He gigs with different bands, bringing whatever's needed: trumpet, trombone, saxophone ā he plays six or seven instruments in all. There's a white plastic bucket on the sidewalk so people can drop in cash as they browse the T-shirts and Mardi Gras masks.
Craig is 18, and there's music in his blood: "I had my uncle, my grandfather, and my dad to teach me." His father, Craig Adams Sr., leads a group called the Higher Dimensions of Praise Gospel Band.
Soloing on "St. James Infirmary" or bantering with tourists, Adams comes across as a confident charmer.
Behind the scenes, it's more complicated.
He started high school at St. Augustine, a Catholic school renowned for its marching band. Then, at age 14, he became a father. His dad sent him to live with his mother in Texas.
[For more of this story, written by Anya Kamenetz, go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/20...s-young-lives-adrift]
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