The MTA’s Jingle

On the platform at the Times Square subway station there were two tap dancers. The sound coming from their hoofing was too echoee. Probably because the board they were dancing on was not flush against the floor. This reminded me of the time I used to tap dance in the streets many years ago.

tap-dancers

Nobody was at the Music Under New York spot by the mosaics. Two cops were hanging by the stairs – that made me a bit nervous as I was setting up my busking gear.
A short while later two paramedics walked by me. One of them smiled at me and said: “very nice”. A while later these two guys came back, wheeling a lady in a wheel chair. The two cops disappeared immediately after that. I guess they were just looking after this lady in distress.

A keyboardist was on his way to playing in the tunnel to Port Authority. He parked his busking cart next to me so I could keep an eye on it while he went down the corridor to the public bathroom. He doesn’t have an amp so he was never bothered by the police. He is looking to get an amp, though.

A guy said to me: “I’ll see you back in Krakow”.
Saw Lady: “How do you know that I was there?”
Guy: “I read about it”.
He must be Polish – the only newspaper that reported on my trip to Poland is a Polish one.

A father and son from Germany told me they saw the musical saw in Germany in a film from a couple of years ago. They said the film is not known in the USA.

On the mezzanine Music Under NY spot the ‘NYC Float Committee’ was performing. They are a break-dancers group in the permit program.

NYC Float Committee

Ming-Jun was playing the cello on the platform. He played the same pieces I do: the Bach/Gounod ‘Ave Maria’, ‘The Swan’ by Saint Saens and the Schubert ‘Ave Maria’. This last piece is played by so many subway musicians it might as well be the MTA’s jingle 🙂

1 Comment

  1. Rachel Burton on November 18, 2008 at 4:53 am

    What an intersting perspective you give on this blog. And I was fascinated listening to the samples of the musical saw. I’d never have guessed it’d sound so haunting and lovely. Best of luck with your music!