Downtown Denver

Making a great sound - bunch of boys downtown in Denver in June.

Busking in Majorca

Not sure if this sop sax player is busking on holiday, busking for his holiday or working the tourist trail at the lovely port town of Soller, north west Majorca. He sounded good if the backing was a little predictable.

En Plein Air

Playing outside helps freshen up your music. As Pete, a regular guitar and songs man, said in the underpass the other day, "you got to be out there. No good playin' at home, mate." So we've been trialling our repertoire in the local park. Seems to go down well.

Rocky Road Waltz

Song for Simon

Busking in San Francisco

Luisa Tetrazzini, the most famous opera singer of her day, became a street musician in 1910. “The streets of San Francisco are free,” she had declared before singing to a crowd of 250,000 near Lotta’s Fountain at the corner of Market and Kearney.

The super star was not, like many street musicians, out to road test her performance. She was in dispute with promoter Oscar Hammerstein who took her to court to prevent her performing at the San Francisco opera house. She took to the streets.

Tetrazzini declared: “I never thought I would be a street singer, but I want to do this for San Francisco. San Francisco is my country.” 

Luisa was also persuaded to do her bit during the First World War: there is a photo of her singing to bemused Munitions workers at Hayes (http://ourhistory-hayes.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_01_archive.html) 

Those Autumn Years

All the leaves are brown, 
And the sky is grey,
sang the Mamas and the Papas back in 1965 when we two were in our late teens.
We were more interested in Leadbelly, James Brown's I Feel Good, Wilson Picketts' In the Midnight Hour, and, speaking for myself, The Miracles with The Tracks of My Tears. 
Ah, never mind: there's music in the old dogs yet.