Initally, the theme for this month was to be "Back to the Streets," our second feature about buskers around the city. Howver, we found Union Square to be a gold mine in terms of the volume of players and range of styles, so we kept our focus here. Performers come here from everywhere around the United States and overseas to showcase themselves to New York City residents and visitors. The Farmers' Market held here on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday provides ready audiences for musicians. In addition, Sundays with pleasant weather can also entice musicians to set up and play. While winter is fast approaching, and there are fewer to be found, a mild weekend will still yield some players not yet driven underground. But, don't wait for Spring. Pick a warm day and head to Union Square for an aural treat.
As I walked down 15th street toward Union Square, the sound of a voice caromed off the white brick walls of the building to my right. Someone was singing clearly, strongly and dead on key. Chase Hamblin was on a walkway inside the park, facing out. As I drew closer I thought, "Wow! what a set of pipes!" He was in the city for three weeks, from Houston, staying with friends in Brooklyn. His childhood was spent in Singapore, so he lists World Music (Indian, Pakistani) among his influences. He also cites the Doors, the Beatles, The Kinks and Creedence Clearwater Revival. He likes the challenge of writing a good song . He was a poetry major at the University of Houston. and got a B.A. in Philosphy and Creative Writing from Texas A&M. He wants to be able to sing everything; jazz, even opera. "I've played in rock bands, but have gotten turned off the past couple of years," he says. "There's a kind of soul that's missing. I liked it when rock was more melodic and seemed to take a more holistic approach. I first got interested in guitar after I saw the movie, 'La Bamba,' about Richie Valens." He belongs to a 5-piece band, The Dreambreakers, back in Houston doing covers. He considers it a great learning experience. They do a lot of early Beatles with 3-part harmony. We think he's off to a great start. Check out his web site at chasehamblin.com
His business card reads, "Have Slide, Will Travel." When I asked Bobby where he was from, he deadpanned, "The South… South Brooklyn." It was his first trip back to Union Square after a lengthy absence. He'd played the Farmer's Market here regularly before 9/11/01, but has stayed close to home since then. That day he was at home feeding his son who was in a high chair when the first plane hit. His wife was at work in the North Tower As he watched the TV screen, all he heard was that no one was coming out. The second plane hit and he thought his wife was gone. It wasn't until 45 minutes later that he got a call from her on a cellphone she borrowed to say she was all right. He said, "It was the worst day of my life and the best day of my life." Bobby started playing guitar at age 14-15, studying lap steel using Mel Bay books. He then switched to banjo and learned some fingerpicking roll patterns. Later, he met a player with a blue Dobro. He was fascinated and asked him for lessons. He learned chords and 12-bar progressions. After two lessons it seemed to come naturally. He bought his first Dobro in the mid 70's and has been playing for around 30 years. Blessed with a wry sense of humor, he's currently working to create a show combining music and comedy. Registered with extrasoncall.com, he's also going after acting jobs. His Runyonesque character should help, whether it's music, comedy or acting.
As I came out of the subway at Union Square North on a Wednesday evening, the sound of electric blues gave me a joyful jolt. Vince Dupuy and bassist Larry Wilson were smoking their way through some Allman Brothers material. I stuck around for about a half-hour, listening and taking these pictures, deciding then and there to do this issue on street players. Vince usually plays alone because he knows a lot more material than the musicians he pairs with. However, he sometimes teams up with Larry (shown at right) with whom he jams on songs by Stevie Ray Vaughn, Led Zepplin and the aforementioned Allman Brothers. He also plays in four bands: Acts 13 (Jimi Hendrix, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis), Black Cactus (classic rock), the Vince Dupuy Project (progressive Jazz, fusion), and Starborn See and Sun. Since he can't resist a good jam, I got to watch him play with Joe Murphy and Officer Richard Mangogna (both seen below).
Joe Murphy's gifts are not immediately apparent in the glare of sunlight. Sitting alone behind his microphone and amp, the subtlety of his gentle, jazz-tinged delivery may get lost on those who don't listen closely. We advise those who don't "get it" to buy his CD, Washington Heights Sessions when you see him. It's a gem. The studio tracks with his band are a fascinating blend, a kind of jazzier version of Jack Johnson's work. The sophisticated arrangements, with horns and churning drum work reminded me of Sam Prekop's post-rock jazz. On "Hurricane," he sings:
I'm a tidal wave made by the moon / colliding and thrashing the true ground hurricane come to me / come and wear me down come destroy these manmade things by colliding and thrashing the true ground,
an intriguing search for something beyond a consumerist existence. Magda Meissner discovered Joe performing on the corner of Astor Place and Lafayette, inspiring her to produce two music videos They can be seen on his web site, joemurphyband.com One is a moving, panoramic video of "Hurricane" and the other,"Pile of Things," is a surprising and whimsical view of Joe busking on a New York City streetcorner. Joe Murphy moved to New York City from Missouri around 1991-2. From the bio on the web site, we learn: "Joe Murphy was born in Springfield, Missouri. He came to New York at the age of eighteen. Shortly after he arrived he joined a band called Please. Through this band and through offshoots of this band Joe recorded albums and went on tours, US and abroad… Joe has scored for the Sundance Channel's Conversations in World Cinema: Ed Harris and has performed on bills with Radiohead, Morphine, Thurston Moore, and John Zorn." Joe's been playing the streets for six years, and Union Square for the last three. He's getting club gigs as well. The next upcoming date with his band is at The Parkside Lounge at 317 East Houston St. (bet Aves B & C) on Saturday, November 13th from 9:30 - 11:00 We urge our readers to give Joe Murphy a listen, outdoors or in.It's not often you'll see a NYC police officer playing blues guitar. Officer Richard Mangogna, aka "Mango" is not someone you'd want to meet while running afoul of the law. He looks like he bench presses somewhere in the vicinity of 300 to 400 pounds. Bystanders looked on in stunned disbelief when this tough-looking cop jammed with Vince. Borrowing Joe Murphy's guitar, he alternately sang in a classic blues growl while he strummed the chords to a 4/4 Chicago blues tune, then switched to lead while Vince played rhythm. The crowd that gathered cheered loudly every time Mango burned his way through fluid runs up the neck. Camera flashes went off as a number of fascinated people captured evidence of a uniformed officer of the law playing smokin' blues. Vince took the lead on a Buddy Guy song, "Leave My Little Girl Alone." Using a small amount of distortion booster, he tossed off blistering runs. Mango followed with some tight backup strumming, using chords in higher positions. Although Vince's virtuosity was obvious, the crowd seemed to wait for Mango to return to lead patterns, and then it returned its applause.
I came to "The Square" expecting to hear the twang of strings on a hollow (or solid-bodied) instrument, but that's not the way it works all the time. From midway through the Farmer's Market, I heard the sound of crisp staccato horn underlaid with a throbbing drum attack. When I reached the steps to the 15th street transverse, I found that this group had settled into this corner and into a churning jazz-laced, funk groove. Out of Philadelphia, there was Wes Lowery on drums, Chris Lowery on trumpet, and George Burton on keyboard. With them, to tell me all about the group, from Chicago, was "Kazi the Black," a vocalist/MC/poet and spokesperson for the band, who hawked their quickly sold-out CDs. He explained that the Lowery web site, supalowerybros.com contained a link to a writeup on another web site, allaboutjazz.com. They had secured a gig at The Baggott Inn for October 17th. I was eager to hear them again, but unfortunately my schedule did not permit it. We'll be looking forward to another appearance of the Supa Lowery Brothers in the future.
Among the many sounds to reach one's ears in the middle of a major metropolis, a fiddle & banjo playing Old Time music in an outdoor setting can be sweetly exhilarating. So it was, one late afternoon as the air was turning cold. I happened upon Dotty and Joel as they steadfastly played hot licks through through an increasing chill in the air. Dotty lives in Sunnyside, Queens. She studied classical violin in grade school. She then learned Old Time music in college and has recently expanded into bluegrass and Western Swing. She is "self-taught" in folk. Having busked sporadically, she began teaming up with Joel this past summer. She plays with the Chelsea String Band and with the Contrapolitans at Contra Dances in New York City. The Chelsea String band is scheduled to play at Historic Richmondtown Tavern this winter. Joel Wennerstrom is an Industrial Designer, originally from Rochester, NY. He teaches undergraduate classes in Design Drawing, Model Making and Product Design at Pratt University. He had come to Pratt for his Master's Degree, and when he finished, he was offered a teaching position. He accepted, and found it satisfying both in the opportunity to impart knowledge, and in the opportunity to play more music. Joel got his degree in Industrial Design from Kent State University. While he was there, his Illustration teacher, Doug Unger, also a mandolin luthier and inlay artist, taught him how to play clawhammer banjo. Joel stayed on and practiced design in Ohio for 20 years. During that time, he got into contra dancing which deepened his love for old-time music. In addition to jamming with Dotty, he plays with a band called "Lousy Cowboy Music." They're more into bluegrass than old-time, playing covers by Tim O'Brien, The Carter Family and Doc Watson as well as old standards. Joel also hopes for a long-term musical partnership with Dotty. We say, "Amen" to that!