(CBS 5 - Barbara Rodgers) SAN JOSE For Eddie Gale, playing a horn has been almost a life-long passion, since he was introduced to the bugle in the early 50's as a Cub Scout.
"I liked it so much that I stayed through the Cub Scouts, and then the Boy Scouts at 12, and then the Explorers at 14," he says. "So I had a full-fledged time in scouting just to play the instrument."
Playing jazz trumpet became a career and a salvation. In 1972, Eddie moved from his native New York to San Jose, where then Mayor, Norman Mineta, named him Ambassador of Jazz two years later. At the time, Mineta said, "He has that steady rhythm with an unpredictable undercurrent that epitomizes jazz at its best."
Eddie Gale takes his honorary position as San Jose's Ambassador of Jazz very seriously, using it to help scores of charities raise funds and to spread the word about jazz, not only in San Jose, but beyond -- especially to young people.
"For quite a while now, I've been interested in giving back by helping young people to be able to express themselves, because I found a lot of inner peace in doing music," Eddie explains.
He's conducted dozens of jazz workshops in Bay Area public schools at a time when most schools had no music programs at all, providing the only outlet some young people had for developing their musical talents. He includes lessons on the philosophy and lifestyle of the jazz artist.
"To know that this music was born in America, was developed in America, and young people need to have pride in that point of view," he says.
Eddie also started a music program at San Jose State University and brought his musical genius to students at Stanford as well. Then a few years ago, he decided to revive here in the Bay Area an event that he had started many years ago in New York: a concert for world peace.
"The idea is that our young people that we touch will grow up with this idea of world peace as a part of their lifestyle," he says. "And when they become doctors and lawyers and politicians and business people, they would carry that with them to help them make better decisions about world affairs."
Now he's added a peace poetry contest with prizes for children of all ages, with prizes of up to one hundred dollars.
So for educating young people about the history and significance of jazz, helping them to develop their musical talents, promoting world peace and inner peace, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Eddie Gale of San Jose.
