I saw this big-hatted, multi-striped busker playing a nice guitar on the steps of the Tron, in the part of the High Street that belongs to the Fringe during these weeks.

This photo is available on Redbubble: Busker at the Tron.

If you can easily get a permit in your home town, why not give it shot and see how the public reacts to your songs (or covers). In Santa Monica the annual fee is only $40 bucks. In Montreal it's $200 - and it's not necessarily only for solitary musicians either: busking with your whole band is a pretty common practice in Tokyo (as well as in other cities) - check it out (some cool jazz towards the end):

Part 1: 

Part 2: 

Our party explores Digital Ferret Compact Disks, of which I wrote in a prior entry:

This gentleman, whose name I recall is Jeff, expressed interest in becoming a Gothic Youtube Star, and I have attempted to fulfill that desire insofar as I am able to do so: 

I'll put forth an effort to publish a second post today, so to ensure that you on whom this is all largely lost will not feel cheated. OMG A BAT loves all of its children.

- Gothicus Maximus

I have had the good fortune to have been invited to day 5 and 7 of the Montreux Jazz Festival, Miles Davis Hall, to see 6 bands play. Of course being there one gets the itch to go see Al Jarreau, Alicia Keys, Babyshambles, Camille, Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, Gilberto Gil, Gnarls Barkley, Herbie Hancock, Interpol, Joan Baez, Joao Bosco, Joe Jackson, K. D. Lang, Katie Melua, Leeny Kravitz, Leonard Cohen, Melody Gardot, Milton Nascimento and Trio Jobim, N.E.R.D., Patty Austin, Paul Simon, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Sheryl Crow, Sylford Walker, The Racounteurs, Tower of Power, Travis, Yael Naim and many more... all who played there this year.

But it is something of an elite festival. Just to get to it's idyllic location isn't a peace of cake. Finding a place to stay is probably not only difficult but expensive and tickets are always sold out within an hour of being released. What's more, for some acts 100 tickets are sold at a time on location months before, so just to get tickets you need to be in Montreux, or have a buddy there who is willing to stand in line for hours. Which is o.k. actually in my book. It is an opportunity for the locals to bring who they want to hear play for them in their own private festival. That's cool, and it's cool that they are so into culture to the point of putting plenty of their money there 42 years in a row.

Here's the difference between Montreux and say, Roskilde. Both are great festivals. In Roskilde you pay 300 USD to get in and see all the acts you want, all week. But you have to accept that there may be 60,000 people waiting to see some of the same artist you want to see. But that's great, it's those 60,000 paying visitors who make it possible to bring such acts. At Montreux you have to pretty much pay for each act you want to see. So if I go see The Kills, I'm one of 1000 people in the hall and can basically 5 minutes before the start of the show walk right up to the stage and place myself within 2 meters of the artist, so it's a much more private and exclusive show. After the show you can go down to Henry's and find Gnarls Barkley sitting at the pub. Prince who played there last year, after his show at the Stravinsky Auditorium showed up at the Jazz Cafe (a stage for free performances) and played an hour and a half for an unpaying overjoyed audience. Joan Baez this year picked up some street musicians from Kenya she saw playing on her way to the hotel the day of her show and invited them to close her concert, where the stage security was removed and anyone who wanted was invited to go up on stage and join her dancing to inspirational Kenyan percussion. But you have to pay for those luxuries, or in my case, you have to have friends who will pay for those luxuries for you.

Now to the music. I was basically unfamiliar with all of the acts I saw. But that is what I love about Festivals, discovering tons of things you've never heard of, getting inspired anew.
Fiji is a disco glam rock trio from Switzerland which uses drum/bass/keyboard tracks on stage which their wonderful singer Simone sings to. It sounded very house to me, more then 70's disco or 80's which they make a lot of reference to. I guess because of the sounds and quality of production. The glam bit was very apparent in the clothing and make-up, which looked very funny on the bassist, but suited Simone wonderfully, who throughout the show took off more and more glittering layers, which the audience reacted to very enthusiastically. They had a mannequin on stage that reminded me very much of Doris, the mannequin I had for the last 3 years. But they unfortunately didn't really make much use of her in the show. The music was good and Simone's energy was wonderful.
[caption id="attachment_82" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Fiji plays at the 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival, Miles Davis Hall."][/caption] 

Santogold was a very interesting act. New Wave, Dub, Pshycobility, whatever that adds up to. Basically Dub beats to a Rockabily type Brooklinized singing. The concert started to a DJ mixing beats and tunes which was fantastic. That is the kind of organic musicality I love in live performance. But then when Santogold came on it lost that dynamism as she sang to prerecorded tracks. The coolest bit with the show was her two background singers who stood in their dark glasses totally expressionless, except for moments of extatic dancing, where they gave 100%. Her attitude and the beats of music got the crowd dancing and enjoying the cool party atmosphere they created.
[caption id="attachment_84" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="One of Santogold\'s cool background singers and her DJ."][/caption]

Madness were the best band of the first night. It's basically a bunch of (10, I counted) older men dressed in business attire playing great ska, rock, cabaret music. The singer has a very unique voice, though his range is not so amazing, he uses it well. Go to their MySpace and listen to Baggy Trousers and NW5 to get an idea of their music. The song I actually most enjoyed during the show was a song where the singer doesn't sing at all, but just shouts the line "One Step Beyond" from time to time. The crowd loved it and yelled along like mad (also on their myspace). I guess it is just their total unexpected craziness and the fact that they are very tight band that makes it all work so well. A great band to see live. I'm not sure I would go out and by a CD, although it could be great music to have for one of Pedram's wild parties.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Madness plays at the 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival, Miles Davis Hall."][/caption]

Night 2...

Das Pop to begin with has a great band name. I love it. They are from Belgium where I stopped over on my way here and had some wonderful chocolate. Mmm... In any case they are a great Pop/Indie band. Great tunes, simple music, great energy. Very tight, lots of innocent attitude, a youthful spirit and chaos that inspires. They had the drummer right on the edge of the stage with his set turned 45 degrees, so that he was as present as the other 4. Great idea. The singer ran back and forth from a keyboard which added a nice dynamic to what otherwise can become a simple soundscape of drums/bass/guitar.
 

The Kills was the best band of the second night. This raw bluesy punk duo are really a sight to see. The concept reminds me of the White Stripes with a simple blues foundation and a greatly varied punk sound scape of songs built over that. But this band distinguishes themselves because their approach and charisma is much more raw and erotic. The tension Alison creates as she comes out in her leopard jacket and struts in circles is very animalistic and very attractive I must say. She's in your face sexual as good rockn' roll tends to be. Loved Jamie's hat too, very Clockwork Orange. The songs are strong but possibly a bit to distorted as by the end, everything blends into a soup of memory, sounding a bit too alike. Great energy, incredible presence, they had me captivated the entire show. Go to their MySpace and check out Last Day of Magic and Love is a Deserter.

I didn't know if you could bring a camera to the show, so the first night we took pictures on Xavier's pocket camera. At the entrance was a very clear sign forbidding 35 mm camera's so the second night I ventured to try their security check and got by them for all three shows. Specially got good pictures of this show so I'll post a few.
   
  

The Gossip was also very good. Great music to dance to. Beth, the singer reminds me of a blend of Mamma Cass and Janis Joplin, and that's an honor, both women with huge voices and incredible presence. Her voice is not of that caliber yet, but getting there. The whole band are excellent musicians and have great attitude. On their festival description they write: "We started a band 'cause we were bored. Our mission is to make you dance, and if you're not gonna dance, just stay at home and listen to the oldies station." I very much like bands with a woman at the drums, I find it very sexy, very powerful, very rock n' roll. Their best stuff is not on their Myspace though, so check out Eyes Open on Youtube or this live version which feels so 60's, or Jealous Girl. This concert was very popular, so we decided to enjoy it from farther back and I was dancing away as most everyone else.
[caption id="attachment_99" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="From a bit farther back Gossip plays at the 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival, Miles Davis Hall."][/caption]

Thanks X for this wonderful experience!

The big girl with the backpack

has a sleeping bag at her feet. 

She is dressed in fashionable sweat

pants and “fed up” t-shirt.

She picks a tune on an air

guitar as latte sippers walk on 

to rooms with gold couches,

windows and doors.

City streets interweave silver

through crowded sidewalks

where school tours and senators

clip clop on the pavement

art and the fat cheese eaters

mesh mash leather loathers

to places where they put their feet up.

The old buildings past their glory

and the new shops with neon

lights create shadows that ease

the summer’s heat and push the wind

up the narrow way where people live,

work and play on public display

with nod chins and open mouths,

closed children and hunger coughs.

The flies buzz and the bees die.

The tulips bend and a tall man sings

a gospel tune, loud with a smile

as the rich collar wine by

saying, shut up, happy holy guy. 

Some days the big girl feels like duck

-tapin her boobs down, cuttin’ off

her hair and wearin’ a business tie,

with a thumb pointed to Big Sur.

When she gets there she says,

she’ll lay around on the sand; drink

whiskey and swear and fuck

until her lips are not the only thing

chapped and hardcore.

Other days she feels like lying

in a bed with her best bear friend.

They’d read books of poems and eat

tomatoes and award winning cheese

while the sunset and the mid-west

lights radiated away to a future

supernova. Every couple minutes

they’d have laugh jags, she swears

as she smacks her jiggle thigh pie

and winks at the greybeard vending crack.

Then there are the days she wants

to walk around the city with witty notes

in a book and a camera, snap and zoom,

scribble and mutter at the popcorn

stores and silk shops, stare at diverse

people and ask for directions to make

-believe far off places

until the sun came back and she

found herself with a box of oranges

in the square by the hat store

where the hobos come for day

jobs and companionship,

breakfast oats and banana sandwiches.

There are days when she is not sure

what she feels,  and thinks perhaps she’ll

have a piece of dry bread and watch

the blue stand still as the barn swallows

swoop their song for love and bugs.

Maybe to top off the day she’ll wave

to the clouds that go where she liked to. 

Of course, there is the today that she does not

feel that she starts off with the rinse of her coffee cup, 

the fold of her towel and her extra

“one step at a time” t-shirt;  the political

cold sponge bath from a bucket on the grass

 of the capitol so she can stand herself to craft

a buck. So slowly a few dollars come,

as the almost hobos touch pity, and shame

cause they know they are all about lame

and they want the big girl with a smoker’s

voice to continue to sing

even if she is badly out of time and tune.   

Name: Luke Ryan

Occupation: Street Musician

Home: North Shore of New Jersey

Inspiration: Neil Diamond

Story: I met Luke at the Sunday afternoon farmer's market.  While I took pictures, he sang me a song.  He loves what he does.

Family: 1 brother who also plays the guitar.  They haven't talked in quite some time.

Photos by Dan Tedeschi

"Farei o que você pedir

Se me deixar ser livre."

Um musical magistral! E para mim, inovador. Há algo mais de atualidade. Como também por estarem as músicas como coadjuvantes. Belíssimas por sinal. As músicas vão aparecendo naturalmente. Este é um filme que com certeza indicaria aos que torçam o nariz para esse gênero: musicais. Irão também se apaixonar. Eu adoro!

Um pouquinho da história para não tirar-lhes o prazer em acompanhar esse filme até o final. E que final!

Um não tão jovem rapaz canta nas ruas de Dublin para conseguir uns trocados. Uma vendedora de flores fica encantada por uma das músicas. Com seu jeito simples de ser, inicia um diálogo com ele. Querendo saber quem o inspirara. E é o início de uma linda história. Ambos vão se conhecendo.

Ele veio morar com o pai. A princípio, acreditando que para fazer companhia ao pai que se enviuvara. Com o desenrolar da história, ficamos ciente que seria por uma fuga...

Ela é tcheca. Mora há pouco tempo na Irlanda, com a mãe e uma filhinha pequena. Tal como ele, também trouxe uma bagagem interior... Também deixara algo pendente... É pianista, mas por ter que sustentar sua pequena família, ter um piano em casa é algo muito fora do seu orçamento. E para continuar exercitando, treina numa loja de instrumentos musicais. Ambos, têm composições próprias. Nascendo uma bela parceria...

Outro ponto positivo é a história fluir como sendo verossímel. E bem atual, onde sonhos são em muitas das vezes deixados para trás por conta das contas a serem pagas. Ambos atuam com muita naturalidade. Amei! Nota máxima em tudo!

Por: Valéria Miguez.

Apenas Uma Vez (Once). 2006. Irlanda. Direção e Roteiro: John Carney. Elenco: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová. Gênero: Drama, Musical, Romance. Duração: 85 minutos.

Today was our one day in Ljubljana, so we made the best of it. The room we were in was fairly comfortable, but cramped, and the bathrooms were pretty nasty. We were both up at 0700 wanting to get out of there. Breakfast downstairs consisted of cereal/milk and bread with a decent selection of…meat and cheese of course! I also tried a Nutella-like spread that was even creamier and more sugary, too much! Without really looking at a map, we wandered around the north and west side of downtown, going through the square at the triple bridge, and by some very Soviet-looking buildings before ending up in the oldest section of town. Along the way, we saw a violinist ‘practicing’ on a blue violin, a guy playing an accordion, and a huge mob of Suba students with water guns and whistles walking down the street. A few shoe stores were involved too, but we didn’t have any luck finding any. We need to get nicer shoes for Stockholm. After a snack break along the river, we headed up the hill to the castle, which had a great view of the whole city. A lot of the castle and been rebuilt and modernized so it wasn’t very authentic looking, and we spent 7 EUR to go up in the tower to get the best view. It was amazing to see the whole valley surrounded by mountains, with Ljubljana filling up most of the flat land with ugly apartments on the edges. The old town was an interesting mix of red tile roofs and green copper towers and details on the larger buildings. Forgoing the funicular railway down, we hiked down the hill instead, ending up right in the middle of a huge market. It was mostly plants and vegetables/fruits, along with some other stuff. We bought a couple apples and some bread to snack on later. The restaurant we were looking for lunch, Triglav, was nowhere to be seen, because it had been changed to another bar/restaurant called Roxie sometime after our guidebook was printed. Slovenians tend to have their biggest meal of the day at lunch, and they definitely were at this place. We both decided to join in. I had ‘roast beef’ that ended up being a steak, and B had veal that was more like pork. Both came with a healthy portion of fried potatoes and a few barely cooked vegetables. The meal portions are definitely bigger here than anywhere else, much more like the US. Next, we headed back out to the west side of town to Tivoli Park, a huge metro park. There was a long series of stunning displays showing pictures of wild animals and statistics about natural resource use and pollution. I called dad from this park to get a financial update too. We wandered around in the park for a while, spotting some more Suba kids amongst the trees, presumably still celebrating high school graduation. Next we walked to an area on the southwestern side of town called Trnovo, staying clear of the red-painted bike lanes that were just as dangerous to stand on as the roadway lanes. This area is known for its traditional 2-story cottages, which we saw a few of surrounded by nice communal gardens. There were many tall apartment buildings in this area as well. We stopped off at a Mercator and bought some snacks for tomorrow, then headed north to the train/bus stations. We checked out schedules to Bled and between Bled and Bohinj, as well as a reservation on the Villach-Venice train on the 26^th. Back at the hostel at 1900, we dumped our stuff and immediately went in search of food. B was eyeing up a traditional Slovene restaurant at the entrance to Tivoli Park, but there were only embassies in that block, including the US and German ones. Starving, we settled on the next closest restaurant, called Joe Pena’s Cantina y Bar. This was a pretty nice Mexican food joint, and we sat outside on their patio. We both had a typical dish, enchiladas for me and a burrito for her. After diner we went straight back to the hostel and were surprised to see no one in the room despite it being past 2200. We took advantage of this privacy and packed everything up for tomorrow. The first person back was a Welsh guy named Geried (?), and we talked to him for a while before going to bed.

Slovenia Pictures

Vincent has been playing the pan for over 25 years and about a decade in New York City. He is from Trinidad, but has been entertaining the New York City tourists for over a decade now. On my request, he played the Jamaican Farewell. I had first heard it on the pan in San Francisco by another street musician by the name of Jonathan.

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I shall post more on Vincent in my later blogs. This picture was taken on a hand held Nikon D200 with fill flash & is part of an extended documentary on Street Musicians. Read more here.

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I have used a watermark on the above image. I apologize for the inconvenience but I am using it since the time I found out that Musicnation.com and a few others have violated copyrights & copied my images while being very insensitive to the musicians all in the name of driving more traffic to their websites.

Every so often you come across some busker or street musician who is just too good for the street alone. I shot this footage a few months ago and posted it on Youtube so if you haven't seen it here's your chance.

And while I'm at it here's a lady doing

Eric Clapton.http://sillyoldtwit.com/2007/12/05/the-intelligent-womans-blog-aka-the-mad-knitter-eric-clapton/

To be alive: Not just the carcass
But the spark.
That's crudely put, but...
If we're not supposed to dance,
Why all this music?

Roaming guitarist, originally uploaded by life_undefined2.

A street market/festival in Chiang Mai. This was block upon block upon block of street vendors. I don't think we even covered it all. I like this shot because it captures the frenetic energy of this kind of event. Ideally I would have used a slow sync to capture the guitarist a bit sharper and still have the blur, but I didn't think of it at the time.

Tuk-tuk fleet, originally uploaded by life_undefined2.

A street market/festival in Chiang Mai. This was block upon block upon block of street vendors. I don't think we even covered it all. In the background is one of the many many coffee houses in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai seemed to be the center of coffee in Thailand, with "Hill tribe" coffee readily available, and a large number of chain and independant coffee houses.

From the 19th-century composer Johannes Brahms, in a letter to Clara Schumann: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."

This quote comes from the same article I blogged about here, the one in the Washingon Post about Joshua Bell pretending to be a street musician.

I first encountered the Chaconne on Rachel Podger's Sonatas & Partitas Vol. 1 recording.

There's also a second volume and a box set of both.

YouTube has a number of videos, but none of them–not even Heifetz–come close to Podger's recording, which she recorded "using a Baroque violin with strings made from gut, allow[ing] listeners to hear Bach performed as Bach himself would have heard his music."

For more on him and his music: http://www.myspace.com/pattillostyle

More videos:  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beatbox+flute+player