Street/Subway Musicians

[RainyDay]

There are an assortment of musicians that play in BART stations. My favorites are folks who appeared once or twice then disappeared.

One morning a nicely dressed young blind woman was playing her cello. At first I thought she was playing classical but then she drifted seamlessly into something very much like a jazz riff. Hadn't heard anything like it. I stopped to listen for a bit and was very moved by her playing. Haven't seen her since.

One afternoon, I popped down to the station to ruan an errand and this scruffy looking man was playing the theme from the Godfather on trumpet. He was good. Good control, nice golden tone. I saw him again the next day playing somethihng else, can't remember what, also very good. He was fighting his demons and I had to encourage him to play more. Man he was good. Not seen him since.

Do you give money? I don't give money to panhandlers but I will give change or a bill to a musician if the music moves me.

There's a do-wop gospel group that just rock. They show up once or twice a week and they just make me smile. When I hear something I dig first thing in the morning it sets a nice tone for the day.

[PHILLYQ]

I've also caught some nice music on the NYC subways, from rock bands to doo-wop to jazz. One night in particular I was on the way home, after a crazy day at work(phone ringing constantly, deadlines, paperwork up to my ears) & a tough evening at school, when the train made a stop and stayed there for a minute. There was a trio playing, two tenor saxes and a drummer, and they were going all out, playing free and reaching some levels of intensity that were just mind-blowing! Thunderous crescendos echoed out, and I was so enthralled I got off the train and listened for a while. Mind you, this was around 10:00 P.M., and I had left my house at around 6:30 A.M., so I was TIRED, but the music re-energized me. Of course I dropped a buck into the hat and wished I had more to give!

It really can make your day so much better, and the serendiptiy of coming across something so good is absolutely wonderful. Kudos to the street/subway musicians!

[maren]

There was a trio playing, two tenor saxes and a drummer, and they were going all out, playing free and reaching some levels of intensity that were just mind-blowing! Thunderous crescendos echoed out, and I was so enthralled I got off the train and listened for a while.

Was this at the Astor Place stop on the 6 train? If not, it still sounds like some guys who made that stop their home from 1995-2000. Great players -- it always struck me that they were embracing and transforming the thunderous rush of trains coming and going. Which reminds me of some ideas in this New Yorker interview with Mark Stewart (Bang-on-a-Can guitarist-plus):

Stewart is fond of what he calls private moments in public spaces. “Say you’re waiting for a subway train and you’re standing next to an electric signal box humming at sixty cycles per second—which, by the way, is a B-flat. You might walk away because you don’t like the hum. But if you look at it in a John Cage way it’s a sound to work with, and if you have an instrument with you, you can play with it, and you’re treating the space differently.”

... “When you have an instrument with you,” he said, “you become more aware of the noises around you. Cage said that he gave up his piano because the sounds of Sixth Avenue had become more interesting to him. It seems esoteric, but in practice it’s almost mundane. You don’t have to be a raging aesthete to get on board.” The train stopped, and the doors opened. “That doesn’t mean I’m not a raging aesthete,” he added, “but you don’t have to be.”

[7/4]

Which reminds me of some ideas in this New Yorker interview with Mark Stewart (Bang-on-a-Can guitarist-plus):

Stewart is fond of what he calls private moments in public spaces. “Say you’re waiting for a subway train and you’re standing next to an electric signal box humming at sixty cycles per second—which, by the way, is a B-flat.

Not if your A=440. You'll be a quarter tone sharp. You would have to tune your A=426.7 to be in tune with 60 cycles.

[7/4]

Sheesh!

[PHILLYQ]

Maren,

That was at at the Astor Place station on the 6 train during that time period.

[PHILLYQ]

There was also another memorable subway musician, albeit not so much for music as for weirdness. He used to wear a knit cap with antennae sticking out, claiming he was from another planet. He played tenor saxophone, and after he would talk about being from another planet he would play 'Giant Steps'.

[robviti]

this past new year's eve i went to berklee's performance center to hear a saxophonist who claimed he was influenced by bird, coltrane, and cannonball. when he took the stage and the loud sounds of smooth-r&b jazz assaulted my ears, i headed straight for the door. i walked a few blocks and discovered a tenor player on the sidewalk blowing some great straight-ahead, heartfelt jazz. i listened to him for quite a while, then we got into a conversation about his music. when i left, i gave him a ten-spot and thanked him for what we in the psychological field call an emotionally corrective experience. B)

[J Larsen]

I've heard a few good musicians in the subway, but I'm far more likely to get the froggy-voiced elderly man who sings his barely recognizable version of "It's Getting Hot in Here" or the 30-year old long-haired well-dressed white guy doing his lame whitewashed folk-rock version of "What's Going On", which really doesn't come across the right way when sung by a person who isn't a member of an opressed group, IMO.

[RainyDay]

This morning I hit the trifecta. A guy playing traditional Chinese (?) music on a stringed instrument at the Oakland BART just outside the station and at the top of the escalator, a guy doing a pleasant job playing "Walking My Baby Back Home" on tenor. Then in downtown SF, a a guy playing what I think was traditional Japanese music on a recorder. All three are semi regulars but never caught all three on the same morning. Should be an okay day.

But, yeah, there are guys who are just awful. One guy who sings "Lean On Me" totally out of tune, actually, the way he sings it, it has no melody. He's less high than he used to be and his eyes less bloodshot. Always has his cup. One night the do woppers were singing something hot and he was off to the side singing along with them with his cup, bobbing and weaving.

[brownie]

You're lucky. The subway musicians have higher standards in the States. I know. I caught a number of them including an excellent altosax player in New York several years ago.

Most of the 'musicians' who invade the Paris subways come from impoverished eastern Europe countries and struggle through the usual 'Those Were the Days', 'The Girl from Ipanema' or 'Besame Mucho'. Mind you they do not keep to the subway platforms but board the trains, tune up their tinny amplifying boxes and get on with whatever music they can perform.

[RainyDay]

You don't see folks on the train playing around here, except their MP3 at ear splitting levels. We do have our share of dud musicians, to be sure.

Did anyone see the film "Subway Stories?" One of the stories was a lovely thing about a Jewish cantor and an alto sax player across the platform who plays with him, strangers to one another. The alto player was Kenny Garrett. Nice story.

Edited April 22, 2004 by RainyDay

[couw]

You're lucky. The subway musicians have higher standards in the States. I know. I caught a number of them including an excellent altosax player in New York several years ago.

Most of the 'musicians' who invade the Paris subways come from impoverished eastern Europe countries and struggle through the usual 'Those Were the Days', 'The Girl from Ipanema' or 'Besame Mucho'. Mind you they do not keep to the subway platforms but board the trains, tune up their tinny amplifying boxes and get on with whatever music they can perform.

talking of Eastern European import, in the Prague central trainstation there is a Russian guy who plays the accordéon (one of those big ones with added octaves, what are these called again?) and does an awesome version of the Toccata + Fuge. Sitting in an underground passageway, it sounds as if there is an entire symphony orchestra playing. Extremely good. He was playing the same stuff the last 3 or 4 times I was there, which must have been at least half a year a part, though. Pretty boring if you are there every day. (maybe.)

[robviti]

...there is a Russian guy who plays the accordéon (one of those big ones with added octaves, what are these called again?)

Did it look like this:

If so, it's a bandoneon, played here by the master, Astor Piazzolla.

[couw]

no, it was one of those things with "piano" keys on one side and those little knobs on the other, but it has some bass octaves added I believe and has about twice as many keys (on either side) as a regular accordéon. It must weigh a lot too.

[Д.Д.]

...accordéon (one of those big ones with added octaves, what are these called again?)

Bayan.

[couw]

Bayan P. it seems, yes; thanks! Bayan is a Russian accordion right? One with -- though different -- knobs on both sides. That got me set off that track, but it turns out to be correct anyhow. 't Is one like this (I think):

has many more key than a regular accordion:

and weighs 13 kilos...

Edited April 25, 2004 by couw

[Pete C]

Maren,

That was at at the Astor Place station on the 6 train during that time period.

In that case, what you saw was TEST, with Sabir Mateen & Daniel Carter on reeds.

[maren]

Maren,

  That was at at the Astor Place station on the 6 train during that time period.

In that case, what you saw was TEST, with Sabir Mateen & Daniel Carter on reeds.

And Tom Bruno on drums? (TEST)

Thanks, Pete C and PhillyQ!!!

Edited April 26, 2004 by maren

[Д.Д.]

Charles Gayle and Sonny Simmons both were street musicians for some time.

[RainyDay]

I've talked about the good so far. Let me discuss the bad.

There's a guy who is a regular at an SF BART station and he's bad. I don't want to be too hard on him because I'm sure he has some sort of mental/emotional issue going on. He sings in a sort of country style sing-song, sometimes almost talking, never singing in a key(s) known to personkind. Keys that morf and flow with each syllable. Imagine Bill Murray doing his airport lounge singer routine from SNL with a country twang and wearing jeans. The word poseur doesn't begin to tell the story. He struts back and forth singing and when he hits a note or falls over a bar that he really likes, he stops, critiques himself, congratulates himself, then continues to sing. Occasionally he discusses his future in show business to no one in particular. Sometimes he brings his pet chicken with him. His songs appear to be mostly made up as he goes along, which leaves you wondering if he can actually sing or if this is as good as it will ever get. One morning another head case was singing some R&B standard and they did a duet together.

Not only do people give this guy money, they treat him like he's a celebrity, which goes to show you that a lot of unstable people are working everyday and riding the trains like normal people. When he disappeared for a while and came back, a small group of communters were surrounding him asking him where he'd been. The man is nuts and these folks are treating him like he's a rock star.

Next, the guy who plays a keyboard sings about "My Lord." Good lord, I wish someone would make him stop too.

[RainyDay]

How about a trombone quartet playing 'Round Midnight? Looked like a group of college students. Sounded pretty good too. I could hear it all the way up to the street on the escalator. Nice way to start the day.