DESCRIPTION:
A girl he wanted to meet played the flute, so Valentin borrowed one and asked her to show him a few things. A month later, he played for her, but had become so good that she got jealous, and his plan backfired. He didn't get the girl, but continued to study the flute with Hubert Laws, a popular jazz flutist known for his classical technique, and with a classical player, Hal Bennett. He took up the saxophone for a while, but Laws convinced him to drop the saxophone and focus his energies on the flute.

The young artist worked as a schoolteacher to pay the bills but continued to play music, becoming one of New York's up-and-coming musicians.