A NYC subway musician and musical saw player tells what happens when she plays in the subway

• Playing for Pocket Change
• An Elevator Has Two Sets of Doors
• Poetry and Art
• I Think of You When You’re Not Here
• Words, Images and Music

• Saw Lady: Thank you for your kind comment, Linda! I think your circus...
• Linda: I love reading about the small things you notice, which are ...
• Gullible: Hi SawLady, Your blog looks interesting. I think I'll ha...
• Desna: loved this blog, Natalia..beautiful picture of Rue - & f...
• Rachel: Hi, SawLady! GREAT blog! I live in TX, but my dad lives in...
• Janina Jayme: Dear James, Thank-you for your input...In reference to...
• Saw Lady: Hi Mickey, It was nice meeting you guys at the Shuttle! T...

open all | close all

• 59th street & Lexington
• busking
• Herald Square
• Music Under New York
• musical saw
• Shuttle
• St. George Ferry Terminal
• Times Square
• Uncategorized
• Union Square
• Whitehall Ferry Terminal

Yesterday I was at the annual Music Under New York audition - the audition for performers who want to get permits to play in the NYC subway. Having passed that audition myself many years ago I can identify with the musicians flocking the audition.

This year 270 musicians, dancers and living statues submitted an application to audition. 60 performers were chosen to audition live. About 10% of the musicians who submitted an application form pass the audition.

The audition opened at 9:30am with Nicola, a MUNY musician, singing the National Anthem.
A panel of judges comprised of music professionals, fellow MUNY musicians, and MTA personnel took their seats along tables facing the stage.
The first to audition was Yukari Roja, singing in Japanese and accompanying herself on guitar.
She was followed by ‘The Lost Chord’ - a lady on bass, two guys on guitar and a guy on small trumpet playing 1920-30 traditional American tunes. These guys used to freelance in the subway along the ‘F’ train line. They also told me that years ago they toured Maine and were joined by a local musical saw player.

Singer Natalia Gelman, accompanying herself on guitar, was next. She told me it was her 2nd audition for MUNY. She has been freelancing in the subway since the last audition.

Paul Zutrau played the renaissance lute, followed by long time subway musician Mickey Kramer who plays traditional American Indian flute. He has a lot of subway experience.

Theresa Barber-Shaw, the British ‘Living Statue’, was the only living statue at the audition. She was painted all in white, wearing a white ballerina outfit. She is a long time busker, too, freelancing both in the subway and at Central Park.

Alex Mitchell played the electric violin with lots of equipment at his feet (all sorts of effect pedals).

MysterE, a progressive hip-hop singer who came with his manager, was in a bind - his friend who was supposed to bring him his PA system didn’t show up… He looked around to see if any of the other musicians would lend him their amp, and somebody was kind enough to do that.

Zong Li Lu, wearing a beautiful red Chinese jacket, played Chinese music on an instrument called du xuan gin.

The Demain Richardson Quartet, lead by David Miller, played Jazz/dance improvisations on trumpet, saxophone, snare drum & cymbals and bass.

Bob Holman MCed the audition

Trevor Exter, the cello player who also sings and was with me on the MSG TV show, didn’t showed up for his audition…
Stephanie Winters, a classical cello player, was next.

Albert Deluca played old timey music on Dobro. He has been playing for 54 years. He started playing guitar when he was 6 years old, and moved on to the Dobro because guitar playing broke his fingernails.

Brian Sizensky played folk-rock, followed by the ‘Freelance Whales’ - four guys and one girl on banjo, guitar, big drum, glockenspiel and harmonium. The harmonium player said that he went all the way to India to get it.

Thalys Quarefem played brazilian guitar, followed by Tchin who was dresses as an American Indian with a beautiful head dress and played Native American nose flute.

Arlene Gottfried sang along with a karaoke machine.

Tom Swafford played original music - a medley of tango and old time fiddle on violin.

Margarita Shamrakov arrived with a huge electric keyboard.
Jeronimo Hernandez from Mexico, who played Latin American guitar and sang.

Trio Cosmopolite were two ladies on violin and one on cello.

Johnny shepard and Billy Swing were a country swing band consisting of three guys and a girl playing violin, guitar, bass, snare drum & symbol.

Jinn Christou is originally from Florida but spent the past 10 years busking around the world. She plays a keyboard which sits atop a laptop hidden behind a purple cloth.

Jian Wei Han sang opera with a karaoke machine.

House of Waters, lead by Max Zbiral-Teller, were three guys playing world music on dulcimer, guitar, beatbox and cymbol.

‘The Crowd’ were two guys and a girl playing beat-box guitar and doing vocals.
Najib Bahri told me his name means ’serious ocean’ in his native Tunisia. He is from Chicago but has been busking all over, including 2 weeks in Paris. We shared busking memories from that city. Najib plays North African percussion.

‘The Blue vipers’ lead by Christopher Pistorino were 5 guys on clarinet, bass, trumpet, washboard and guitar. They all sang, too.
‘Taharga + New Lewi’ were two guys, one playing guitar, the other singing rap style funk/soul.
‘Shakey Green & The Big Caboose’ were a classic country, blues and swing duo, and Tsunekazu Aoki from Japan was the last one before the lunch break with his melodica playing.

The first to audition after lunch were ‘The Beeps’, lead by Juan buccella, who played latin/bossa jazz, followed by Vicki Genfan - a singer who accompanies herself on guitar. She tried busking once before.

The Xylopholks have been a fixture in the subway for a few months now. They attract attention by wearing funny furry costumes: the lady playing bass wears a pink monkey suit, the guy on xylophone wears a skunk costume and the percussionist dresses as a baboon.
They were followed by Geovanni Guido on guitar.

The ‘Three Kats’ turned out to be only 2 musicians (their 3rd didn’t show…) playing latin/funk/jazz on keyboard and sax.
Mamalama were three musicians on harp, ballaphone and violin, with some of them also singing.

Meryl Leppard, a singer with an Australian accent, sang, accompanying herself on a large keyboard.

The ‘True Steps’ is a soul trio of singer, guitar and drum-set.
The ‘big Apple Boys’ were a barbershop chorus of 8 men, all dressed in black shirts.

Matt Beilis who sings while playing piano was debating whether to play a standard or an original song.

The ‘Brown rice Family’ played world roots music on sax, guitar, mandolin and drums, followed by the 5 piece ‘Michael Packer blues Band’.
Then came Remy Francois, the singer from Haiti, who always dresses in a tail coat and ruffled shirt. We’ve met in the subway many times as he has been freelancing for a few years. He sings both in English and in French.

The Django Experiment were a 4 piece French Gypsy world music band with a xylophone, two guitars and bass. They were followed by Samatha Margulies - an opera/Broadway singer.

‘Blackwood’ were an acoustic rock/pop duo who were concerned they are the only non amplified performers there.
‘Story Ship’ are a 4 piece band of guitar, accordion, bass and drums, who have been freelancing in the subway and Central Park for a while. I’ve seen them on the 14th street platform. They do cover songs.

Cheri Lafever is a harpist who has been freelancing in the subway - mostly at 42nd and 59th streets on the west side. She was followed by long time subway busker Curtis Jardine on steel drums. I’ve been seeing him in the subway forever.

‘Brothers Moving’ played in the subway last year then went back to Denmark and are now back in NYC. They were working on getting their papers so that they could return here.

Raine Hilai was a musical theater vocalist.
‘The Bridge’ were two guys and two ladies, singing jazz to tracks. They recorded their CD at the recording studio of long time subway busker Luke Ryan. Small world.

Huei & The Sunshine Chowderheads were three jazz performers.

Flamenco Y Sol was a lady dancer accompanied by a singing guitar player.
Nazario Brea sang “New York, New York” with tracks.
Maxidekalu were a 5 piece African music group who came from upstate NY. They played guitars and african instruments.

Ed Levy played jazz guitar. The audition ended with the gospel acapela group ‘Made Over’. One of the three members, Barry Reid, has been singing in the subway with another group for a long time.

The audition boasted high musicianship and a variety of interesting soloists and groups who could make an exceptional contribution to the culture of our city.

The annual Music Under New York audition attracts a lot of media - many newspapers and TV news shows have reported on it.

One reputable newspaper reported that:
“…was among 200 people who applied for this spring’s auditions, about 70 of whom were selected to play Thursday before a panel of 40 judges that included music industry professionals and transit employees. The judges were looking for perhaps 20 people to add to the subway soundtrack’s current roster…”

Actually, it was 230 people who applied, 55 of whom were selected to audition in front of a panel of 20 judges. 25 to 30 people will be chosen to join Music Under New York…
Of course the exact details in reporting on the Music Under New York audition are not important, but it just makes me think how many details newspapers get wrong in other subjects, and we believe everything they say because they are a reputable newspaper…

Musicians who have passed the preliminary audition, which is by recording, are invited to audition live at Grand Central Station. The usual venue for the audition, Vanderbilt Hall, was unavailable due to construction, so the audition took place at the North East balcony instead (which is actually where I auditioned more than a decade ago).

John was the first person to audition. He plays North American native flutes. He is part of a duo called ‘Night Dancers’, but his partner was not available to audition, so he auditioned on his own.

Rob Knopper played ragtime xylophone next, followed by singer Natalie Gelman who accompanied herself on guitar and played an acoustic folk rock song.

Gibran Soul played R&B guitar.

Samantha Margulies sang followed by Roman Mul who played accordion. He is from the Ukraine. He was a music teacher there for 25 years, but now that he lives in NYC, he has to work as a construction worker to support himself. This kills his arms, which is bad for playing music and he is very unhappy with the situation. He auditioned last year, but was so nervous that he didn’t make it into Music Under New York.

The Dirty Boogaloo played Soul/Jazz.

Valerie Crawford sang; Nobuko Miyazaki played the flute; Joe Taylor sang accompanying himself on guitar. The Drones, a didjeridoo and conch duo who already play in the subway were supposed to audition at 10:25 but the didj player didn’t hear his alarm clock and overslept… Lucky for them there was an opening after lunch (3 people didn’t show up for their audition) so they were able to audition.

Balla Tounkara played traditional music from the West African nation of Mali (”Kana Wa” which means “Stay With Me”), on the kora, a 21-string instrument made from a huge gourd wrapped in cowhide, with a wooden neck and handles.
There is one kora player in the subway and there was another one but he passed away.

Hiromitsu Kitsuda played jazz guitar, Steve Booke played exotic meditative music on guitar, And Hugo Barakona played harp. ‘Down Yonder in NY’ a concertina and fiddle duo, have played in the subway once, when they couldn’t find a rehearsal space.
Zahraa sang, followd by ‘Tin Pan’, a New Orleans Jazz & Blues band, which I particularly enjoyed. ‘Maruo’ sang with keyboard accompaniment, Dan Stevens played finger/style acoustic blues and Leah Coloff snag Elvis Costello’s “Green Shirt” while accompanying herself on cello.

Sean McCaul, who already plays vibraphone in the subway, played followed by the duo ‘Sour Grapes’ who auditioned last year, too. They had a cool washboard gizmo.

Tara Hack was probably the most inexperienced singer at the audition. Her Dad, who is a train conductor, encouraged her to warm up before her turn. Kirtis Scott, a singer song writer, and Mr. Scott (I guess his father?) who accompanied him on keyboard were very sweet; and Keni Burgess, who auditioned last year, played bottle-neck blues guitar.

Mark Foley calls himself the ‘One Man Blam’ - he plays guitar and harmonica, with bells on his foot. Kip Rosser came all the way from PA and played a medley of pop tunes on the theremin. He was lucky to get a battery operated theremin when those were still available.

Remy Francois, who has been playing guitar and singing French songs in the subway for about two years had auditioned last year, too. Sweet gentleman from Haiti, he always wears colorful tail-coats. Jami Jackson sang R&B and then the audition broke for lunch.
I discovered that the M.C. for the audition, Bob Holman, runs the Bowery Poetry Club where I performed last week. Small world
Neffe Kragh - Muller and her jazz ensemble opened after the break.

‘La Strada’, an Indiefolk orchestra followed, with ‘Loose Interpretations’ - a female a capella group right after that.

Ray Starr sang a country song accompanying himself on guitar.

Nicholas Wells sang with a guitar, Enrique Wells, who came really early and had to wait his turn for hours, sang a Peruvian folk song, Colin Huggins came with 4 friends who helped him lug…an upright piano to the audition! Heidi Burger, a singer/songwriter, auditioned for the 4th time (!). Heidi already performs in the subway, and she is also a stunt-woman! A real trooper.

The Mariachi duo ‘Halcones de la Sierra’ followed, with Gillian Harwin, a singer/song-writer next. Gillian dressed as Wonder-Woman, which certainly helped as an attention getter.
Steve Zelin did comedy songs while playing guitar, Billy Rogan played finger-style tap guitar, and ‘Movimiento’ - a latin fusion group lead by singer/violinist Mireya Ramos got huge applause.
‘Sidetrack’ was a trio of singers who danced.

H2O Flow were a pop/R&B duo, followed by Jerry Dixon who bills himself as the ‘NYC Piper’. He has been playing at parks mostly and wants to play in the subway on account of the hardships of winter outdoors. He arrived early and went downstairs to practice. He almost didn’t make it back in time for his turn… He entered with a traditional bagpipe march and then played a nice medley which of course included ‘Danny Boy’.

A Cantonese quintet, which spoke no English at all played next, followed by Ohene Cornelius (blusy soul sonic). The Baby Soda Jazz Band, whom I have seen in the subway often, made everybody tap their toes.

Theirs was a tough act to follow, but the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, who have been playing in the subway/streets of NYC for about two years now, had no problem wowing the audience. They just returned from a tour of London and their drummer forgot his drum set there…
Jafar, one of the musicians of Hypnotic, came to the audition directly from a sonogram his wife was having. They are expecting a baby girl in two weeks. He showed me a photo taken at 5 months in the womb - the baby already had a face and hair.

Last to audition were the ‘Ukaladies’ - four girls playing ukuleles and singing while one of them tap-danced and also played a toy accordion, followed by the ‘Stavince’ duo who sang.

So many talented people. I am looking forward to meeting them in the subway.

Today Music Under New York held its annual audition for people who wish to receive permits to perform in the NYC subway.
I joined Music Under NY years ago, after having received many tickets from the police for freelancing in the subway (meaning playing music in the NYC subway without a permit). Most tickets were for $25 but the ticket that pushed me to audition for Music Under NY was for $150…! It was given to me by an undercover police lady while I was playing on the 1/2/3 trains platform at Times Square. There were two other musicians on that platform and they didn’t get a ticket. I asked the police lady how come I was getting a ticket and not them too, and she said that she is giving me a ticket neither for playing too loud nor for blocking the way, but because I play a saw… and the teeth of the saw are a weapon…!
That’s when I decided I needed to become part of Music Under NY.

When I auditioned I was very surprised to discover it was a huge affair. I didn’t expect there to be 20 judges and so much media. My audition was filmed and broadcasted on a few TV channels (FOX5 News, ABC News, etc.) and reported upon in several newspapers. It was wild.

Judges at the MUNY audition

At first it was difficult for me to make the transaction from being a freelancer to being a permitted subway performer. As a member of Music Under NY you have to remember to call the office every two weeks to schedule your performances in advance. You are also limitted to choosing spots from the roster that the MTA picked up for music.
But the longer I was with Music Under NY the more I appreciated their support.
Having a spot waiting for me is such great help - as a freelancer I used to waste sometimes a whole hour on just trying to get a vacant spot. I would arrive at a spot and there would already be somebody there. I would go to another location, and again there would already be someone there, and so on. With a Music Under NY permit a spot is reserved for you. What a blessing!

Another huge benefit is the support Music Under NY gives musicians in dealing with the police.
Music Under NY is run by wonderful, caring people, who have the musician’s close to their hearts. They are always there for us and they turned the organization into a family. I am so grateful to be a member of Music Under NY!

For many years now I have been helping out at the annual auditions. A few years ago I was one of the judges at the audition, but I much prefare working the ‘Welcome table’, as I have been doing for many years now. The ‘Welcome table’ is the first thing anybody arriving at the audition sees. I register the musicians who are auditioning and answer any questions they might have. I also register the press people, and answer questions from general public. It’s a lot of fun because I get to meet many people.

I’m working the ‘Welcome Table’ at the MUNY audition

The audition is a fun thing to be a part of - there is an excitment in the air, lots of energy, cameradery and good music.
All the people working at the auditions as ushers are subway musicians who are long time members of Music Under NY.

This year one of the people auditioning was Geovani, the South American musician who has already been playing in the subway as a freelancer for many years. He plays classical music as well as traditional Andean music on an Andean instrument which looks like a mandolin. He is very good, and a real nice person - I really hope he gets in.

There were many singer/songwriters and bands, of course, but also tap dancers, an Elvis impersonator, a classical cellist, an erhu duo, a Chinese instruments’ ensemble, a kora player (African instrument), beat-box flute, etc. A very ecclectic mix of nationalities, instruments and different types of music. There was also a guy dancing with a doll - he is a student of Julio who has been dancing with his doll Pepita in the subway for many years.

musicians auditioning for MUNY at Grand Central Station

Before the audition started Amos, the Coney Island singer (he has been playing in the Coney Island subway station for many years and he is a MUNY member) performed for passers by. He does that every year for the audition. But this year we also had MUNY performers provide entertainment during the lunch break. Vongu Pak the Korean drum dancer performed, as did Sean Grissom on cajun cello and some other MUNY musicians.

Weirdest thing that happened at the audition:
A bat was flying close to the floor! At first someone thought it was a rat, but then it was obvious it had wings… One of the girls auditioning caught the bat in a jar… Then one guy said the bat was his pet… The girl who caught the bat and the guy went outside to free the bat and see if he would follow the guy…

This year was a special audition because it was the 20th annual audition. The MTA’s CEO Elliot Sander stopped at the audition. He shook my hand and talked with me briefly on his way to making a short speech. He said: “Music is a wonderful part of the subway experience and we are pleased that performers are joining MUNY to offer an attractive environment to millions of MTA customers. Since 1987, MUNY auditions have offered the opportunity to expand the music program that enhances the quality of traveling to all New Yorkers using the transit system.”

Leave a tip. Thanks!

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

"Natalia Paruz,a soulful, beatific presence as she renders classical pieces on her carpenter's saw"
Back Stage.

ALSO.... Please check out my MP3 page where you can listen to me playing the musical saw. You can also download my music there.
Also please check out my website www.SawLady.com

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Feed

Links

• Musical Saw & Bells
• Myspace Page
  Be my Friend on MySpace
• Natalia’s CD
  Buy Natalia’s CD on CDbaby
• NYC Musical Saw Festival
  Annual musical saw festival which Natalia has founded and directs since 2002
• Posts before 2007
  Countries where I have buskered, my Donations Box, Unusual things that people put in my donations box, Foreign Currency I found in my donations box in New York, General thoughts about busking

Busking around the world

Syndicate

RSS Feed










Help