Lady in Wheelchair and Guy Didn’t Pay Fare

Going up the stairs to catch the train to Manhattan a blond girl carrying a guitar asked me if I want help lifting my cart up the stairs. It turned out it was Mimi, a Blue Grass & gospel musician who has been playing in the subway on and off for a few years. She was going to play at the 23rd street station of the ‘F’ train line – she likes the acoustics there.

subway station

I set up at the Music Under New York spot at 59th street and started to play. At about 12:30 I noticed a guitar player has set up on the platform across from me. I thought that was a strange choice of a location, as I know the sound of my musical saw carries across to the other platform. He should have set up further down the platform instead of right in front of me… Sometimes there would be other musicians playing either on the same platform as me or across from me, but further down, and that works out well. Our sounds don’t interrupt one another then.
At 12:35 the guitar player packed up to leave… He realized fast that his choice of a spot was not ideal…

two platforms across from one another

Saw joke of the day:
An old man wearing a green coat said to me:
“So, you’re the ‘Saw Lady'”.
Me: “Yes, I am”
Old man: “So, you saw ladies in half?”:)

Saw Lady

Jazz guitarist Don Witter passed by on his way to playing at Barney’s department store. I did that gig last year.

Don witter

The overhead announcement said repeatedly “Lady in wheelchair and guy didn’t pay fair”. I looked around and I saw a lady in a wheelchair being pushed by a guy… they turned around and went towards the token booth…

On the train going back home I ran into Robert, the cello player who plays with Luellen Abdoo (violin) and Jim Graseck (violin). He was dressed in a black suit as he just returned from a gig playing holiday music in the lobby of a fancy Manhattan building.

Jim Graseck

2 Comments

  1. Yuki on December 24, 2007 at 2:38 pm

    Happy Holidays Natalia..

    So, you’re a musician magician, you saw ladies in half sounds like a magician to me…



  2. Ramon on December 31, 2007 at 8:48 pm

    Cheers, have a happy new year.