There are some trumpet players who died that you never hear about. Now, Chris Kelly was a master and played more blues than Louis Armstrong, Bunk [Johnson], and anybody you ever knew. Manuel Perez was different. He was a military man, played on a Sousa kick. He was a great street-parade trumpet player […] He had a stocky build, like a middleweight or light-heavy, could blow, blow real loud-- High Society, Panama. Nobody could top him in the street parades because he could hit those high notes. He always had a stomach full of food while most of them fellows who played street parades were full of whiskey. About two hours later, they pooped out, but Manuel Perez didn't; he had eaten two pots of gumbo before he left.