[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
On Apr 14, 2007, at 6:05 PM, Ron Fletcher wrote: Ed Wrote... Buskers have to contend with police, street vendors, store owners, bureaucrats, yakuza, toddlers, photographers, other buskers and the occasional moron. What kind of hazard is a, or are Yakuza? Sorry for the late reply. Only 1200 more emails to catch up. Yakuza are purported to be the largest organized crime network in the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza Of course, it is only the lowest level, known as tekiya, that are dealing with/patrolling the streets. The police often times would rather let the yakuza control the streets so that they don't have to. In fact, organizing street festivals has been a tradition of the yakuza. As for what kind of hazard they are, they extort money or can abuse you or your possessions. cheers, Ed Durbrow Saitama, Japan [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
Just because someone is a great musician does not make them a great busker. No busker in their right mind would ever busk at morning rush hour. The first task of a busker is to choose the pitch. Busking is about getting an edge (enough people stopped so that other people will want to stop and see what is happening). That has to do with the pitch, season, the time of day, the weather and luck. Busking is about doing something that will catch people's attention, something that compels them to stop, something that they perceive as not likely being able to enjoy elsewhere. Buskers have to contend with police, street vendors, store owners, bureaucrats, yakuza, toddlers, photographers, other buskers and the occasional moron. On Apr 10, 2007, at 12:34 AM, Chris Bolton wrote: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/ AR2007040401721.html Ed Durbrow Saitama, Japan [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
Are they jealous of lutenists because they don't have a pinky to rest on the soundboard? On Apr 14, 2007, at 5:05 AM, Ron Fletcher wrote: Ed Wrote... Buskers have to contend with police, street vendors, store owners, bureaucrats, yakuza, toddlers, photographers, other buskers and the occasional moron. What kind of hazard is a, or are Yakuza? Something peculiar to Japan? Or just plain bad-weather? Best Wishes Ron (UK) To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
20-plus years ago i saw nigel kennedy do the same thing in a pedestrian passageway under hammersmith circle in london. he was dressed up to look like the character on the cover of the aqualung album by jethro tull. i put some money in his hat and listened for while but i'm sure very few others did. reading a book about pius II (piccolomini) which states that as a student in rome, the 15th cent. humanist antonio beccadelli (13941471) called il panormita, used to busk with his lyre while his boyfriend, ergotele, sang. i always give money to buskers - especially those reserved enough to play on a take-it or leave-it basis. thanks for that - great article. --- Chris Bolton [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I had to admit to myself that I've been guilty of the same phenomenon as described in the following article, but I've decided to keep listening and plucking away in spite of the somewhat depressing state of affairs. Is it just a romantic notion that life as a lute player would have been easier under the patronage of the Medici? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html http://earlymusiccharango.blogspot.com/ ___ New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk
[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
On Apr 9, 2007, at 11:34 AM, Chris Bolton wrote: I had to admit to myself that I've been guilty of the same phenomenon as described in the following article, but I've decided to keep listening and plucking away in spite of the somewhat depressing state of affairs. Is it just a romantic notion that life as a lute player would have been easier under the patronage of the Medici? The thing that amused me the most about that article was the fact that Bell himself was freaked out because no-one was paying any attention to him. That must have been a strange experience for a world-class concert virtuoso! The article itself was pretentious journalistic crap...I mean: how stupid! Hey, guys, let's play some candid camera! You hide the camera, and I'll mill around in the crowd and question people about their reactions to this guy playing the violin. If anybody asks, no problem! I'll tell them I'm doing an article on commuting. What the hell, it's almost true, right? Don't be taken in by what you read in the Washington Post. That article tells me more about journalists than it does about commuters. You can be certain that thousands of commuters have paid good money to see Joshua Bell perform in his proper sphere: the concert stage. So nobody stopped to listen to him in the subway. Rest assured: there is still a concert stage out there, and always will be. David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.rastallmusic.com -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
Anybody considered that busking is quite a different sport from giving concerts in concert halls? Captivating one's audience is quite different, I imagine. David - Original Message - From: David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Chris Bolton [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 7:23 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post. On Apr 9, 2007, at 11:34 AM, Chris Bolton wrote: I had to admit to myself that I've been guilty of the same phenomenon as described in the following article, but I've decided to keep listening and plucking away in spite of the somewhat depressing state of affairs. Is it just a romantic notion that life as a lute player would have been easier under the patronage of the Medici? The thing that amused me the most about that article was the fact that Bell himself was freaked out because no-one was paying any attention to him. That must have been a strange experience for a world-class concert virtuoso! The article itself was pretentious journalistic crap...I mean: how stupid! Hey, guys, let's play some candid camera! You hide the camera, and I'll mill around in the crowd and question people about their reactions to this guy playing the violin. If anybody asks, no problem! I'll tell them I'm doing an article on commuting. What the hell, it's almost true, right? Don't be taken in by what you read in the Washington Post. That article tells me more about journalists than it does about commuters. You can be certain that thousands of commuters have paid good money to see Joshua Bell perform in his proper sphere: the concert stage. So nobody stopped to listen to him in the subway. Rest assured: there is still a concert stage out there, and always will be. David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.rastallmusic.com -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: An interesting article in the Washington post.
On Apr 9, 2007, at 1:27 PM, LGS-Europe wrote: Anybody considered that busking is quite a different sport from giving concerts in concert halls? Captivating one's audience is quite different, I imagine. Absolutely. One thing that WP article did point out effectively was that no-one stops for virtuosos. That may be what draws people to concert halls, but on the street you have to have more than that in order to attract attention. And actually, there are legitimate venues for outdoor musicians. Picture the urban landscape: city parks on a Sunday afternoon, crowds lining up to get into the theatre, organized events such as street fairs, block parties etc. And yes, people do stop and listen. Ask any journalist at the Washington Post where to go to hear street musicians in DC. They'll tell you all kinds of interesting stuff, but will any of them tell you the subway? David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.rastallmusic.com -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
