Entrepreneurial Busker

[tamaranth]

Jessica Duchen has repeated the now legendary Joshua Bell experiment with the violinist Tasmin Little in London ... (said experiment being whether rush-hour commuters would stop to listen to world-class busking. In short: no.)

When I was rushing to Ping Pong the other night I saw a middle-aged gentleman, in full concert fig, busking on a cello. He was in the pedestrian area under the railway, and I did wonder if he'd escaped from an orchestra at the QEH. Then I wondered if he was attempting to duplicate Mr Bell's experiment, and if I could wrong-foot him by sinking down on the dirty pavement and Listening.

Then I got a bit closer and realised that he was horribly out of tune.

Can't help wondering if any of his income from that session was donated by commuters who felt vaguely guilty and inadequate about their Inner Philistine ...

Comments

[ladymoonray.livejournal.com]

I make no apology for the fact that I don't generally enjoy busking, and I never give money to buskers (strad or not).

The only person who's ever really got through to me that way was Michael the Celtic harp player, who used to haunt the beautiful places in Cornwall and play to the trees. He genuinely didn't care whether there were any people there to hear him or not. I've spent hours of my life sitting on the grass at Tintagel Castle, or Rocky Valley, listening to him play. He wouldn't take money, either - he'd only send me off to Dragon's Breath to buy his CD. It went with Chris, of course. I'm very sad about that :(

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

A Chinbese dizi (flute) player used to come through Casmbridge from time to time (usually in the autumn), playing ethereally beautiful Chinese classical and folk music. I stopped every time I passed, bought CDs and talked to him a little in my bad Chinese.
When I read his Cd notes later, I discovered he was a foprmer soloist with the Chinese National FLim theatre and a highly acclaimed musician in China...

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

A Chinbese dizi (flute) player used to come through Cambridge from time to time (usually in the autumn), playing ethereally beautiful Chinese classical and folk music. I stopped every time I passed, bought CDs and talked to him a little in my bad Chinese.
When I read his Cd notes later, I discovered he was a foprmer soloist with the Chinese National FLim theatre and a highly acclaimed musician in China...