Ode to a Musical Saw
Every now and then I come across interesting poems about either the musical saw or street musicians. Well, imagine my happiness when I discovered a poem about the musical saw which also mentions street musicians! Ode to a Musical Saw/Dave Bonta No longer walking the straight & narrow, no longer restricted to the harsh amens…
Read MoreHow Do You Deal?
Buskers’ conversation: Django guitar player: “I recently had an encounter with another busker at 6th Avenue and 14 street (‘L’ train platform). He’s a burly guy who plays acoustic guitar. I was in the middle of playing, and he wanted the spot. When I told him I was just getting started, he verbally attacked me…
Read MorePresidential “Gold” Dollar Coins
I love coins. Whenever anybody puts a unique coin in my donations bucket I am very grateful. I have a collection of the “state” quarters and now I am starting to collect the presidential dollar coins. I already got George Washington, James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson. The oldest coin I ever got is a penny…
Read MoreMusical Saw Lecture/Demonstration at Lincoln Center
I was invited to give a lecture/demonstration about the musical saw at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. My lecture was part of a series about unusual musical instruments (the other instruments in the series were the theremin and the glass armonica). Alexander Calder’s statue ‘Le Guichet’ (The Ticket Window), 1963, sits in…
Read MoreWorking on Co-existing
Salieu Suso, the African kora player, was playing at the Music Under New York spot at the Times Square subway station when I got there. Salieu told me that a lady from Arts for Transit was there this morning. She told him to point his amp away from the record store. Salieu told me that…
Read MoreYou Belong Here
It was raining. If I didn’t have the subway near me, busking wouldn’t be a possibility today. Traveling to my busking spot I saw a Chinese musician playing a dulcimer like instrument on the platform at 59th street. He was playing the theme from the ‘Godfather’ movie. Calebe Arruda was playing the violin at the…
Read MoreHow Few Strings Can You Play With?
Today was a dreary & rainy cold day. When I got to the Shuttle train on its Times Square side I saw the three singers who sing on trains – Romero, Chill and Bo, standing on the platform. They were on their way to singing in the #6 train line. We got on the Shuttle…
Read MoreWoman Playing a Weird Instrument
I arrived at the Music Under New York spot at The Times Square subway station at 11:30am. There was nobody at the spot, and loud music was coming from the record store next door. I went into the store and asked a guy working in there if they could turn their music down, because I…
Read MoreSneezing, Coughing, Runny Nose
I had severe spring allergy this morning as I was heading into the subway to play. Sneezing, coughing, running nose – the works. I saw Frank playing guitar/singing/whistling on the 59th street platform. Glen Roth, who comes all the way from CT to play in the subway, was playing guitar at the Music Under New…
Read More2012 is Only a Few Right Nows Away
As I arrived at the Music Under New York spot at 59th street I noticed there were new orange ads for Home Depot all over the station walls. The guy who usually stands downstairs with an empty coffee cup and a sign on his neck saying ‘I’m hungry’ walked by, smiled and said ‘hi’ to…
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