Perhaps the most rewarding gig playing music is one that pays nothing at all. Last year I began volunteering with Musicians On Call which sends musicians into hospitals to play for patients. From the ICU to oncology to general care, the musical medicine is administered at bedside to them, along with their families standing vigil whose worried spirits are perhaps even more in need of nursing. The embattled sick display the poise and courage of a grown warrior, yet they are only little kids. My regular dispatch is to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children where every visit requires a deep gulp at the sight of their twinkling young eyes. They are closer to the beginning than the end, and already facing illness that spans the spectrum of misfortune. There's a bit of whiplash going room to room playing for them, where one kid will be fighting a tortuous battle with mortality then the next one will only be getting over a minor injury. From a darkened path to a lightened one in a couple steps, a distance so small separating one lucky flip of the cosmic coin from the unfortunate.

While music may appear the perfect prescription, it's not always effective. The tears of some babies can't be dried with notes. Some kids have no reaction at all, just staring with big transfixed eyes in wonder, as if appalled that we could possibly be playing music when they're sitting there suffering in need of more relief than sounds can offer. Or so it seems I might imagine. Maybe they're just bewildered by the sounds of live instrumental music which is a new experience for some of them. What's clear is that whatever lies behind their intrepid eyes has more valor and strength than we could ever muster. 

Mixed with the heavy scenes are moments when the notes ring true: A mute boy reaching out with embracing hands at the end of the song; a crying baby hushed into enchantment; a little girl clapping with her splinted arm; a mother picking up her child to cuddle; a boy falling asleep to a lullaby; a mother's shirt wet from the tears rolling off her face at the sight of her smiling daughter; a bedridden girl busting out hip-hop moves; two boys dancing madly around the room with their stuffed animals; an 8 month old baby humming along (in harmony!) to the music.

Such are the gifts from playing for these small ears with big spirits. For a fleeting moment the music offers a reprieve from the sounds of beeping medical equipment.