Every day (as you know) I get the train from Sants station in Barcelona to St Joan Despi, where GW's offices are located. This is a normally a ten or fifteen minute commuter journey with two quick stops at L'Hospitalet and Cornella.
Usually I while away the time reading a book (I'm currently engrossed in the complete Raymond Chandler 'Marlowe' series, which in due course will be the subject of another blog and seems somehow inexorably linked to 'Jazz') or listening to the happy chatter of Spanish voices as I try to figure out just exactly what it is they are saying at such a rate of knots.
Mmmm...I digress...recently I've become aware of a endless parade of singing troubadours who get on the train, knock off a couple of dities and then pass a hat round the carriage in an extraordianarily gracious and polite way and collect the few euros that any generous commuters deem to bestow upon them.
When this first happened, I was stoically British about the whole thing, stuck my nose in my book and pretended the whole thing was't happening. Now I have come to enjoy it...
A couple of days ago' the entertainment consisted of two chicos from Chile or Argentina who played guitar and pipes and sang two-part harmony like angels. This morning it was a young chap with a violin who after a rapid programme of Mozart and Bach ended with a heart rending solo performance of the 'Ode to Joy' section of Beehoven's 9th.
Of course none of this is high art, but I for one am more than happy to dig into my man-bag for 50c or €1 to reward the poetry, grit, enterprise and endevour of these lowly troubabours. I am grateful for the little splash of musical joy they bring to the morning train and I'm happy to do what I can to make sure that they and their families have food to eat.
Interesting fact: The biggest-selling jazz single and album of all time were both recorded and released 50 years ago. Could it be a coincidence that Dave Brubeck's Take Five (from the Time Out album) and Miles Davis's Kind of Blue come from the same year? 1959 was a watershed, with bebop consigned to history and a new era opening, giving jazz players the freedom to be expressive. Other key releases during the year include Charles Mingus's Mingus Ah Um and Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come.
Posted by: Kenny | 03/26/2009 at 09:28 PM
Well there's a thing...Kind of Blue is of course one of the current staples along with the birth of cool and Sketches of Spain. I'd forgotten about Take Five (but then DB was white and so didn't really count as proper Jazz).
Posted by: Robin | 03/27/2009 at 06:30 AM