
Friday, March 12, 2010
No Red Faces

Thursday, March 11, 2010
Shows Me Here

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sieve of Darwin

Have you ever seen a film about New York City that really plays up the artistic world of old? Where it seems that everyone is a writer, dancer, musician or painter? Perhaps the sound of typewriter comes wafting out onto the street as an actor strolls down some charming Village lane. Or frenetic singers bump into each other in a hallway somewhere in the theater district on the way to an audition. And someone is banging on their ceiling with a broom because a neighbor is hammering away at their piano at some god awful hour.
Romantic folly and Hollywood nonsense? Not completely. Because as I was reading for this story last night after 10 PM, I could actually hear Colin Huggins in my apartment through my open window (see here and here), playing his piano in Washington Square Park.
I can't imagine anywhere else where I could enjoy this privilege - my hair stood on end. Some days the city really feels like the promised land - everything I had hoped for when I moved here. A place where I could find a man like Colin Huggins, dragging one of his many pianos onto the street using dollies.
Colin Huggins is a classically trained pianist, has worked as a dance accompanist and is music director for the Joffrey Ballet. He keeps his pianos at various storage facilities in Manhattan near his performance spots. I have seen him in Washington Square Park and Father Demo Square. He also can be found in the subway system. Huggins believes he is the only person to bring a piano to the subterranean depths - no small accomplishment (he uses a subway elevator - there are a handful of them in the city).
In 2007, feeling he was getting a bit too much into a work grind, Huggins tried bringing a real piano into Washington Square Park. From Colin's website:
I've been a dance accompanist for five years in New York now. And even though I enjoy it, it started to make me feel like the old man behind the piano. When I began to lose sleep every night and found myself irritable everyday, I knew without a doubt, it was time to figure out how to feel like a rock star instead.
So last summer (2007), for fun, I tried bringing a real piano into Washington Square Park, and honestly, I'd never felt so good about an activity in my entire life. I made money, played songs that I really enjoyed, and made a lot of other people happy too. No matter what age or cultural background the listeners were, I could figure out something to play that would make them smile. It's a challenge I'm really excited about. So although it may seem like I'm going down on the totem pole of career choices and stability, I feel so much better about myself and so much more connected to the community here and the arts in general.
When I asked Huggins for his contact information, he handed me his card which said:
Colin Huggins / Pianist Rock Star / World's Happiest Man / www.thecrazypianoguy.com
You will still find thousands of working artists in New York City. Although I do fear for their survival as many are squeezed into the most inhospitable neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, I am hopeful that those with resourcefulness and tenacity (and perhaps day jobs) will survive the sieve of Darwin :)
An inspiring note: As I write this, I am listening to the Chopin Nocturnes and Waltzes played by Artur Rubinstein, considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. I am absolutely astonished reading about Rubenstein. A prodigy at age 4, Artur was fluent in 8 languages, had perfect pitch and a photographic memory, keeping most of his repertoire in his mind.
From Time Magazine:
In 1903 he caused a sensation in Warsaw by performing Paderewski's Sonata in E Flat Minor the day after it was published; he learned Cesar Franck's complex Symphonic Variations on the train en route to a concert hall in Madrid. He can commit a sonata to memory in one hour, and he can play as many as 250 lieder. His friends used to play a kind of "Stump Artur" game in which they would call out titles—excerpts from symphonies, operas, Cole Porter scores—to see if he could play them. "Stumped Friends" would have been a better name for it. "Rubinstein," says Conductor Edouard van Remoortel, "is the only pianist you could wake up at midnight and ask to play any of the 38 major piano concertos."
"When I play, I turn the pages in my mind," he explains, "and I know that in the bottom right-hand corner of this page is a little coffee stain, and on that page I have written molto vivace."
But Rubenstein was not just a brilliant technician. He was the consummate artist:
On stage, I will take a chance. There has to be an element of daring in great music-making. These younger ones, they are too cautious. They take the music out of their pockets instead of their hearts.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Respect

Monday, March 08, 2010
When Your Name is Mud


As much as I dislike chasing the latest trends or frequenting the latest scenes, I also don't want to be the last on the block to know about a place that is genuinely a great find. All of my friends had recently discussed the coffee and ambiance of Mud and on a recent visit to Doma (see here) I overheard someone tell his companion that Mud in the East Village was also a cool place, inhabited by writers. So it was on the must visit list.
Friday, March 05, 2010
For Whom the Knell Tolled
Please listen to the audio while you read this ...I recall being in a tiny village one morning in France and seeing the most extraordinary thing - an old man hanging a huge basket of flowers in the town center. Nothing about the deliberate act seemed practical at all. It looked like a lot of work, the kind of beautification effort rarely seen in New York City.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Viva ViVa

There are barometers for New York City. Things that can tell you about a neighborhood, that it is on the move and has a new identity - perhaps a catchy acronym that real estate brokers and their customers can wield as a balm to soothe any fears of investment or as a location to actually live in.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
With All Due Respect

Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Miracles In Our Midst, Part 2

Monday, March 01, 2010
MIracles In Our Midst, Part 1
In the 1970s, New York City was not particularly hospitable to the vegetarian or natural foods devotee. Granted, it was better than the suburbs, where anyone with such a dietary regime was regularly cross examined as to the reasons why. Vegetarianism did not have the cache it does today, where Hollywood stars adopt it as the latest fashion like a pair of Birkenstocks or Buddhism.Friday, February 26, 2010
Fuggedaboutit

Thursday, February 25, 2010
Get a Room

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Water Taxi

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
New York is Tennis Country

Monday, February 22, 2010
Tanoreen

Friday, February 19, 2010
Someone is There

Thursday, February 18, 2010
Guastavino

Wednesday, February 17, 2010
El Barrio

Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Benefactors of History

Monday, February 15, 2010
Tangerine Dream

It was rumored that there was a little underground coffee house in the basement of a church. Inconceivable. Where high school students could actually go and "hang out" without supervision. Inconceivable. My best friend told me about it and even gave me its name - Tangerine Dream Coffee House, so perhaps it could be true.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Really Smart Guys


The big secret about the Flying Karamazov brothers is they are a bunch of really smart guys. I am privy to many of their offstage accomplishments and academic achievements, because [disclaimer here] - they have been customers of mine for over 30 years (see my connection here and here.) Knowing this about them, it will come as no surprise to see an old tag line: "Juglito ergo sum" - I juggle therefore I am.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Snow Play

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Anywhere You Want

Tuesday, February 09, 2010
No Squares Down There
I was so excited as I eagerly awaited my copy of City Planning According to Artistic Principles by Camillo Sitte to come up at the main branch of the New York Public Library. I must admit however, that I really had no intention of reading the whole thing - it was not available for circulation. I just needed to see it really existed, touch it and peruse it.Monday, February 08, 2010
World of Gray

Friday, February 05, 2010
BAPE, Wangsters and Hypebeasts

Thursday, February 04, 2010
Martin Luther King, Jr.


