Famous Jazz Musicians who play in NYC Subways
FUNK...@aol.com
Hey everyone,
My name is Jamie Propp. I am one of the producers of SUBPLAY - Subway
musicians of New York.
Having spent two years meeting musicians and producing this record, I met
some of the most amazing people and heard some incredible stories.
As far as jazz musicians go, there are some pretty heavy cats playing
underground. I think that it is a testament to urgency of these people's
music that they play in the subways day after day. Not to mention, with
the large number of wonderful jazz players in the city, these people get
to play more in public this way than if they were to rely on clubs for
gigs.
Some of the people I met and recorded in this two year period were:
Bruce Edwards, an incredible jazz guitarist who played in the Sun Ra
Arkestra for a while. He plays wonderful chord melodies, and although he
has a traditional approach to the instrument, he definitley has a style
all his own. On Subplay he recorded an original Samba called "Knobby,"
for which he assembled a whole group of subterranean players in addition
to one studio player - Phoenix Riveria - Son of Mario Rivera of Tito
Puente fame.
Sayyd is another "famous" subway musician. He played for a number of
years in the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet and is still a member of the Duke
Ellington Orchestra. He was a professor of Jazz at the University of
Mentreal for 10 years and was the proprietor of Cafe Mojo in the same
city. He is a wealth f knowledge in life and in music and is the kind of
person you always want to be around.
On Subplay, Sayyd recorded an original tune called "tan-hat-man of
Man-hat-tan" with the group subway group Didjworks. Sayyd pointed out
that this was the coming together of one of the world's oldest instruments
- the Didjeridoo - and one of the world's newest acoustic instruments -
saxophone.
As a producer having heard both these groups play separately in the
subway, I knew that the sound of them playing together would be magical,
and the result truly was.
Enough of my rambling.
This topic is one of my passions, so feel free to ask me any questions and
I'll try to answer them for you.
-Jamie
--
As Is Enterainment
Producers of SUBPLAY : NYC Subway Musicians
Recordings from the Subway & Studio
call toll free 1-888-AS IS ENT to order (274-7368)
JohnHassel
I have heard many extraordinary musicians playing in the subways and
streets of NYC. In the past I heard Arthur Rhames, John Jenkins, and
Cindy Blackman on the street. On a recent trip to the city, I heard a
great singer that played washtub bass. It was really amazing - the guy
had incredible time and feeling and even the washtub bass had an
incredible sound - it really surprised me. Do you have any background on
him? My friends tell me that he's a regular on the platform - sorry I
can't remember the stop...
Thanks!
tumbao
On Aug 21, 1996 20:24:30 in article <Re: Famous Jazz Musicians who play in
http://www.subplay.com/
From South Ferry to 125th Street, SUBPLAY showcases sounds that span the
globe - including the down and out soul of Roger Ridley
and his sister Tan, the R&B of Majestic K. Funk, the jazz guitar of Bruce
Edwards, and the tribal jazz of saxophonist Sayyd featuring
the didjeridoo and percussion of Didjworks (Sayyd is an alum of the Dizzy
Gillespie Quintet and plays in the Duke Ellington
Orchestra). Interludes feature everything from the musical saw of
Natalia Paruz (from Israel) to the classical harmonica of Ji Shen (from
China), and include announcements of station stops by Al
Torres, a real subway conductor!
--
Cheers
-Louis
Louis Servedio-Morales
ne...@pipeline.com
In article <4vg9bu$h...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, JohnHassel writes:
>On a recent trip to the city, I heard a
>great singer that played washtub bass. It was really amazing - the guy
>had incredible time and feeling and even the washtub bass had an
>
>incredible sound - it really surprised me
yeah i know the guy...used to play alot on the spring street n/r uptown
platform...can't remember his name unfortunately... but he played some cafe
gigs in the west village and appeared on some mtv award filmed
outros...used to spend his winters in florida( a real street musician,
unfortunately)...great jazzy singer, who plays the broom handle of his wash
tub like it had four strings...and he's always right on in tune! masterful
and a really nice guy too boot...havent seen him around lately...
cheers
all my mistakes were once acts of genius
ne...@pipeline.com
DMB5561719
I spotted him last week in the Broadway local at 8th st.
I've also seen him at the 1 & 9 at Christopher St.
* * .. * ... .* D a v i d B e a r d s l e y
dmb55...@aol.com . . . * . . ...
I M M P & B i i n k! m u s i c * ..
E m a i l for a catalog of strange beautiful m u s i c ... .
. .. .*.. . .. . ..* . . .. .
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not a store, but an independent label.
Joe Morris
According to a friend of mine in Brooklyn, this guy's name
is Jay Bailey and he's very cool. I saw a publicity photo
of him posed by the washtup bass wearing a tux! Dig it
On 23 Aug 1996 10:41:38 -0400 DMB5561719 wrote:
> >In article <4vg9bu$h...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, JohnHassel writes:
> >
> >>On a recent trip to the city, I heard a
> >>great singer that played washtub bass. It was really amazing - the guy
> >>had incredible time and feeling and even the washtub bass had an
> >>
> >>incredible sound - it really surprised me
> >
> >neato says:
> >yeah i know the guy...used to play alot on the spring street n/r uptown
> >platform...can't remember his name unfortunately... but he played some
> cafe
> >gigs in the west village and appeared on some mtv award filmed
> >outros...used to spend his winters in florida( a real street musician,
> >unfortunately)...great jazzy singer, who plays the broom handle of his
> wash
> >tub like it had four strings...and he's always right on in tune!
> masterful
> >and a really nice guy too boot...havent seen him around lately...
> >cheers
> I spotted him last week in the Broadway local at 8th st.
> I've also seen him at the 1 & 9 at Christopher St.
--
Joe Morris, SysAdmin and Not Insane
"Honey, they're in *everybody's* eggs" --firesigns
Loudon Briggs
jol...@netcom.com (Joe Morris) wrote:
>According to a friend of mine in Brooklyn, this guy's name
>is Jay Bailey and he's very cool. I saw a publicity photo
>of him posed by the washtup bass wearing a tux! Dig it
Seeing this post that refers to a "washtub bass" reminded me of an
incident from about 30 years ago. I visited an old friend in Florida
who was a self-taught musician and singer. He told me about a new
instrument he was using in the small group he played with, and then
hauled it out for me to look at. He happened to own a woodworking shop
too and he had drawn up plans for, and made, a one string bass. The
one string was attached to cam lever at the top of the neck and he
changed the notes by moving the lever up or down, which varied the
tension on the one string and produced the desired note.
I was skeptical but he put on an LP and played right along with it...
the bass tone was unbelievable and he was very good on it. As he said,
the only thing that created a problem was that he could not play a
succession of really fast notes as he could not activate the lever
fast enough to give the same effect as fingering four strings and
using more than one finger to pluck.
I wonder if anyone else has ever seen or heard of such an instrument?
--
Loudon Briggs (lar...@indirect.com Phoenix, Arizona, USA)
LMRuse
who are the guys that play on astor place downtown? theres a tall black
sax player with dreads and an intense-looking white guy. they are really
quite good.
ChKelsey
The tenorist is Sabir Mateen. he's originally from Philadelphia, via LA,
where he played with Horace Tapscott (even made a couple of records with
HT's big band). Sabir just happens to be playing at the Knitting Factory
in the Alterknit Theatre on Monday, Sept. 9, with a larger group led by a
guitarist named Becky Schmoyer, and that includes one of his closest
collaborators, the equally fine and overlooked altoist/flutist/trumpeter
Daniel Carter. The concert's part of a music series called the Bunker
Annex Series For Free Improvisation, that I happen to program. Sabir's
Astor Place drummer is Tom Bruno.
michael j stevens
Okay...so what exactly is the Bunker Annex ....and why the series...etc.
thanks...
ChKelsey
Michael Jefry Stevens, I have the album you did with M.Feldman on Leo. I
haven't as yet listened to it, but I will, and soon. The Annex is a Free
Improv series that ran for years in various places (notably ABC No Rio),
known as The AMICA Bunker, etc. For the last year or so we've been at the
Alterknit at the KnitFac on Mondays at 7pm. It's the easiest gig in the
world to get; just come down and check us out, and we'll talk. If you
improvise, and attend the performances, then you're qualified.