Musician Plays Out His Bucket List

Alan Frederick donates instrument collection to Denton High jazz band

A North Texas man is passing his music legacy on to high school students as he checks off items on his "bucket list."

Alan Frederick said the beat must go on, despite his terminal illness. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer last fall.

"Well, I got sick, and they didn't give me much time," Frederick said.

The devastating news caused him to create a final "to-do" list.

"Come to find out, the bucket list is not all that easy," he said. "If you are not physically able to do it, then it gets scratched off the bucket list, doesn't it?"

But one thing that remained on his list was finding a special place for his instruments.

"I had just more guitars than I could ever hope to play, and more equipment than I could ever hope to play," he said.

That's how he wound up at the Denton Independent School District's Adopt-A-School Luncheon, a ceremony recognizing benevolent businesses.

Frederick donated his instrument collection to Denton High School, where his brother is an assistant principal.

"I was thinking a couple of stands or a microphone or two," said his brother, Aaron Frederick.

However, the musician had much more in mind.

"He thought I was kidding," Alan Frederick said. " I'm not kidding. I said, 'Bring a truck, don't bring a station wagon.'"

"I just could not get over how amazing this gift was -- amps, drum sets, microphones, cables, things that typically we don't have a budget for in our jazz program," said Jesse Woolery, the Denton High jazz director.

The gift amounted to $5,000.

 "I just hope the kids have the desire to play. They'll find it," Frederick said.

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