Singing Potatoes
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Tuesday, 22 October 2002
Speaking of music...

When I moved to Tampa, I frequently saw groups of street musicians downtown. A flautist and a violinist. A guitar trio. An electric guitarist and keyboardist. And so on. Once, there was even a five-piece Dixieland jazz band that was actually quite good.

But recently, all I see are solo musicians backed up by a rack of sequencers, drum machines and synthesizers designed to make them sound like they're playing with a whole band.

It's not that I have anything against such devices — I own and use such things myself — but it just cheapens the experience somehow. Their music sounds plastic and lifeless as they play slavishly along to a predetermined beat, rather than leading the music and imbuing it with that expressiveness which is inherently a part of live music.

For all of his rhythmic transgressions, the guy playing solo saxophone down by the city parking garage, with no equipment save his horn, comes across as more musical than the players chained to their phantom bands.

Posted by godfrey (link)
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Comments
Since the Sax-man is by my parking garage when I go home on many nights, I've taken to only giving him a dollar when he's playing something I like. I do think after 1000 playings he would have picked up the timing on 'Trane's version of "My Favorite Things", however. One time I had reached my truck on the third floor, but had to come down to drop a buck because he started to play some Jobim. If only he was good.
Posted by Lunchbox on 22 Oct 2002 10:16
maybe you should drop him a song book, lunchbox.
Posted by jen on 22 Oct 2002 14:57