More On Busking

[stuart estell]

I spent two years working in a restaurant that had as its musak rotation Galway, Zamphir and Freakin' Pavarotti! Aiyee! I was trapped in hell until one afternoon I sang Johnny Paycheck's only hit to the owner and walked out the door to freedom!

 

Nice touch Mark, although I had to look the title of it up on Wikipedia, as the only song of his I know is "Stay Away (from the Cocaine Train)", and I assumed it wouldn't be that one...

 

Bell's playing is notable for it's lack of effectation and artiface. He is direct and honest in his playing and that is what stands out....to me.

 

Yes, and that also makes me wonder whether the passers-by would have felt less threatened by a busker whose playing was less directly - one might almost say, because of the context, _confrontationally_ - emotional.

[Mark Evans]

Heh, heh, no it wasn't "Stay Away", but it was sure a good one.

 

 

I think you hit on something about Bell's playing and lack of reaction. As would be said here in Milford, "yer wicked smart!" (properly pronounced with an elongated 'ah' in place of the 'r'.)

Edited April 12, 2007 by Mark Evans

[Boney]

The last bit about art taking a great deal of education to appreciate subtle differences between prodigy and the average is pure and complete....hogwash. Every human being deep within knows honesty in art on a primal level (children have that channel turned up to max as they've not learned to turn it down yet).

 

All my years in conservatory changed not one jot within my soul as to what spoke to me as the real thing.

 

Thanks, now I know a bit more where you're coming from. I think both points of view could very well be true. Even if most folks "deep within" can be touched by something genuine and pure (which I agree with), why weren't they touched? I think it's because all the stuff "higher up" (everyday worries, preconceptions about classical music, preconceptions about street musicians, worrying about what's "cool" to like, the complexity of the music, etc.) isn't allowing them to feel what's "deep within." Now, if you're intimately familiar with the style of music being played (and I do NOT mean book learning!), it can help you recognize details with the "higher up" parts, which can allow you to slow down and listen. This is why there were a few violinists who stopped to listen -- would you expect anything else? You may be touched viscerally by genius, but in my experience, playing a style of music, listening to it more, experiencing it, comparing it with similar types, seeing it live, etc., makes my appreciation MUCH deeper.

 

Have you ever had the experience of listening to a piece of music with a non-musician, and you mention some parts you particularly like, and they literally can't hear them? It's happened to me many times. Experience and understanding and study (again, not the book kind) can literally increase the power of your senses, like exercising a muscle. On the other side, I've had artists describe to me things they see in a painting that I can't see. My first instinct, of course, is to think they're imagining things.

 

I like classical music, but it seems the pieces I like the most are the ones I've played (having played french horn in an orchestra a bit). Maybe partly because I'm familiar with them, but I think more because I've explored them, experienced them on more than one level. Classical music isn't easy for me to "get," personally, maybe you're different. It takes a bit of time and effort for me. I can only imagine it's even more so for people who haven't listened to it at all, much less played it!

 

The best experiences come, I feel, when both parts take their rightful place. You aren't substituting "book learning" for a genuine, visceral appreciation. But you're allowing your experience to inform and collaborate with your emotional understanding.

[Mark Evans]

Well said Boney.

[Robert Booth]

Earlier, someone mentioned getting a licence for busking; makes me curious: what are the attitudes towards busking in your community?

 

The only city of any size near to me is Salem, a capitol town, and very conservative. Street life of any kind is regarded with dour suspicion, and no street performing is allowed. This was compounded by the local skatepunks who clustered around the doors of the coffee houses and record shops until the city came down on them. Merchants hit upon the rather clever strategy of playing opera and classical music outside their entryways; the kids hated it and moved away. I had the odd pleasure of having "Tannhauser" thundering down on me whilst going into a sporting goods store. I liked it, but apparently the kids didn't, as I havn't had to step over them on my way into a business for some time now.

 

Anyway, does your town/city allow busking, and under what circumstances?

 

Rob

[m3838]

Definitely, when you know something deep within, you can see levels others can't. Professionalism consists of making those building blocks unimportant and unnoticeable.

Emotional impact of art should be the same for both, artists and not artists in the audience. If it's not - something is nor real, either art is "art", or the audience is screwed up by misconceptions, or artists are "artists". There is no way to measure the grade to which you experience the music as compared to other person.

There are talented players and talented listeners. No concervatory can give you talent, and no study will increase your ability if you lack the talent to have one in the first place. All these conversations increase my awe and regard to Leo Tolstoy, who said it all more than a century ago.

On a side note - as I understand, street musicians were always considered a very low class, slightly above slaves and below farmers. Considering this, we live good times, although traditional conception seems to live on. I think busking can't provide simply because it takes a lot more income to go by today, than it used to be. We can't walk barefoot, eat once a day, sleep in a straw shacks, not shower everyday and have missing front teeth.

[Theodore Kloba]

Anyway, does your town/city allow busking, and under what circumstances?

Performers are required to obtain licenses ($100/yr). No amplified music allowed.

Community Arts Advocates has quite a bit about Chicago's history with regulation of street performers. One particular difficulty remaining is that there are so few publicly-owned public spaces in the downtown area (See The Malling of America). The good spots (except for the lakefront) are all on private property.

I had the odd pleasure of having "Tannhauser" thundering down on me whilst going into a sporting goods store. I liked it, but apparently the kids didn't

If I were one of those kids, I would have started singing along in an Elmer Fudd voice.

Emotional impact of art should be the same for both, artists and not artists in the audience.

I wish I had handy my copy of A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut (who passed away yesterday). He quotes an artist friend (whose name escapes me now)... Paraphrasing: "There are two kinds of artist: One creates in response to the history of their art so far; the other creates in response to their own state of life."

We can't walk barefoot, eat once a day, sleep in a straw shacks, not shower everyday and have missing front teeth.

And why not?

[Robert Booth]

"... the good spots...are all on public property..." (Kloba)

 

Well that's a point that I hadn't thought of; I tend to shy away from the bigger cities,so I'm not aware of a lot of the nuances. Is that the same situation in other metropoli around the country?

Do European and other cities worldwide have similar restrictions?

[stuart estell]

My impression - mostly from second-hand accounts as I'm not very well-travelled - is that cities in continental Europe are a lot more tolerant of (or should that be "welcoming towards"?) street musicians and performers generally than cities in the UK are.

 

Here in Birmingham you have to fill in a form describing everything you do in detail; not so long ago there was talk of holding auditions, in much the same way as the London Underground authorities do. I don't know whether an auditions process was ever established here, though.

[Robert Booth]

Given the often...idiosyncratic personality of many street performers, filling out a form in detail seems like an opportunity for "Creative Writing". Just look at Ted Kloba's first reaction above. I can just imagine him standing on the corner bellowing "Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit" whilst wearing a plastic Vikings Helmet.

no wonder staid city councils frown on such displays of individuality.

[paperpunchr]

So, Ted:

Are you implying that children are more capable of making moral judgements, or just more willing?

 

Also, in a lot of places I've been, buskers are regarded as merely a half-step above the guy on the corner holding a sign saying "Need 75 Cents". The general rule of thumb there is "Don't make eye contact!"

 

 

My favorite panhandler (slightly off topic) had a sign which read..."Unemployed bank robber...Need Bullets." He got more than the usual, I'd bet, just for having a sense of humor...and I did offer him a bullet.

 

Paperpunchr

[Robert Booth]

Yeah, a local favorite around here is "Why lie? I need a beer!"