Late Bloomers

Have you ever listened to one of those teenaged classical violin prodigies that is performing with a major symphony while their classmates are out learning how to drive? What about that floppy-haired saxophonist who can outplay professionals twice his age? Well, I hate them.
Setting aside the old question of talent versus practice time, it just seems unfair that there are musicians who can play with awesome technique and sincere feeling when they haven't experienced enough of life to earn an artistic voice. Therefore, I was heartened to read an essay by Malcolm Gladwell in his recent book, "What The Dog Saw". He argues that some artists achieve greatness early, while others are late bloomers, and he analyzes the difference between the two. Gladwell cites the example of a writer whose first successful novel was written after he was retirement age, and the painter who rose from decades of youthful mediocrity to produce masterpieces once his hair had grayed. If nothing else, these examples offer hope to those of us who have long passed the stage where we might become "early bloomers".
Upon analysis, the artists who produced works of quality at an early age seemed to find their direction from within. Rarely was there evidence that they had learned from other artists or experiences. While arduous practice honed their skills, the content of their art seemed to appear fully-formed. This is reminiscent of descriptions of autistic savants, those mentally challenged artists or mathematicians who simply "see" the object of their imagination and record the images or numbers as they see them. One autistic child of ten could sketch a Gothic cathedral in beautiful detail from memory, but when the sketching was repeated years later it was no better and no worse. His artistic ability was a gift, but it did not progress or grow. Less challenged writers and painters certainly show growth in their ability over time, but it still comes from within, rather than from careful research and experience.
"Late Bloomers" take a different course, according to Gladwell's analysis. Usually these artists' initial attempts were very mediocre and offered little reason to continue their efforts. But continue they did, experimenting with different approaches and looking to their external environment for ideas. Their gifts included diligent research to find new relationships in material from their real-world experience, weaving ideas together in different ways until gradually their works became meaningful and mature. These late bloomers bring more of external reality into their work as they slowly develop their skills, like flavors that blend together in a slow-cooked stew.
The idea that artistic ability could be gradually acquired and improved over a lifetime is encouraging. But as I thumbed thru my "Listener's Guide To Classical Music" looking for biographies of famous classical musicians who overcame average youthful abilities to achieve greatness, I found no examples. Nearly every famous composer had already made their mark by their early 20's. I considered the jazz greats, and failed to discover any well-known players that had labored in mediocrity before developing a distinctive instrumental voice in middle age. Bill Evans described himself as a mediocre player who had to gradually work out every aspect of his piano playing for years before he could bring it to his performances, but even he doesn't qualify as a "late bloomer". One of his best compositions, the beautiful waltz "Very Early", was written as an assignment for a college music class.
This is discouraging, but perhaps it only means that fame is reserved for those musicians that can turn their precocious abilities into a successful career. The musical late bloomers are forced to slowly develop their artistic abilities while they are working day jobs and raising their families, squeezing in an hour of practice after the children are asleep and searching on Craigslist to find jam sessions and casual gigs. But maybe after their children have grown and left for college, the late bloomers take what they have learned over the years and create meaningful music from their decades of experience and interrupted study. We probably won't hear much about these musicians, but their voices will be heard.