My family was active in the local wind band, and if people asked me, “What do you want to play?” I’d say, “The trombone.” They’d reply, “You don’t know what it is,” but I kept saying, “No, that’s what I want.” I think it speaks to children because of the slide and glissando.

I also had a nephew, Mark, who was a very talented trombone player. I never knew him because he died when he was 11 or 12, and I was around four. My aunt and uncle had a picture of him with a trombone, and I’m sure it made an impression on me.

Jörgen van Rijen. Photo © Marco Borggreve

My father once took me to a rehearsal and introduced me to all his friends. One of them was a trombone player, and there’s even a picture of me in my shorts sitting next to him and the other trombonists during a concert.

He gave me a cassette of Urbie Green’s 21 Trombones, and I remember playing it until it broke. He became my first teacher when I was eight and gave me...