Nice! Great story; inspiring guy. Makes me wonder how many programmers are also musicians. Programming is so much like jazz improvisation and composition. From the outside, before I studied programming, I would have never thought this to be the case. The way an improviser thinks about taking a solo within a tonal and rhythmic context is like writing a little program. Many musicians have no idea how much they would enjoy programming because they think of it as entirely foreign to the type of creativity they are engaged in every day. And perhaps many programmers who have not yet tried music, wrongly thinking it isn't their thing, should give it a try.
I played tuba in middle and high school, so I didn't much opportunity to improvise (lol).