Dougf
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On my recent business trip to Stockholm I decided to take my uke along, just to keep in practice, and maybe to give me something to do at two in the morning when I woke up with the jet lag blues. After arriving at the airport and getting checked into my hotel, I decided to take the train into central Stockholm. Why not take the uke with me just for fun, maybe as a conversation starter?
I walked over to Gamlan Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm, with narrow winding streets and historic sites. I came upon a couple of street musicians playing sax and electric bass on a street corner. They were pretty good, looked to be in their mid-twenties, I think they were playing Gershwin's "Summertime", one of my favorites. I listened for a bit, and then continued walking.
Not wanting to get lost, I retraced my steps back along the same street, and once again came upon the street musicians. This time they were playing "Autumn Leaves", another of my favorites, and giving it a very bluesy interpretation, really quite nice. And then I thought, I'll bet it would be fun to play with these guys. So when they finished the song, I just went up and asked if I could try playing along.
They said, "Sure, what do instrument you play?", since the uke was strapped behind my back. When I showed them the uke, they kind of gave me a look like, "okaaaaaay, uh ... why not?".
I suggested we start off with some blues, in the key of their choice, so it was blues in C. At first I was pretty focused on my chords, but I couldn't help noticing that a pretty good audience seemed to be gathering, and quite a few coins were being tossed into the open guitar case. People seemed to be smiling, and maybe it was my imagination, but I think they were smiling at me!
We played a couple more tunes, the audience thinned a bit, and not wanting to overstay my welcome, I told them I needed to get going. As I packed up my uke, they asked if I wanted to take some of the money. I told them of course not, and that I should pay them for the privilege. But they said, no, really, that was the busiest they'd been all afternoon, and they seemed surprised when I told them I'd never played on the streets before. We chatted for a bit, and they told me they were trying to get enough money for a jazz concert that evening. I wished them luck, and went on my way. But I think I may have been bitten by the bug, I want to try that again some time!
I walked over to Gamlan Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm, with narrow winding streets and historic sites. I came upon a couple of street musicians playing sax and electric bass on a street corner. They were pretty good, looked to be in their mid-twenties, I think they were playing Gershwin's "Summertime", one of my favorites. I listened for a bit, and then continued walking.
Not wanting to get lost, I retraced my steps back along the same street, and once again came upon the street musicians. This time they were playing "Autumn Leaves", another of my favorites, and giving it a very bluesy interpretation, really quite nice. And then I thought, I'll bet it would be fun to play with these guys. So when they finished the song, I just went up and asked if I could try playing along.
They said, "Sure, what do instrument you play?", since the uke was strapped behind my back. When I showed them the uke, they kind of gave me a look like, "okaaaaaay, uh ... why not?".
I suggested we start off with some blues, in the key of their choice, so it was blues in C. At first I was pretty focused on my chords, but I couldn't help noticing that a pretty good audience seemed to be gathering, and quite a few coins were being tossed into the open guitar case. People seemed to be smiling, and maybe it was my imagination, but I think they were smiling at me!
We played a couple more tunes, the audience thinned a bit, and not wanting to overstay my welcome, I told them I needed to get going. As I packed up my uke, they asked if I wanted to take some of the money. I told them of course not, and that I should pay them for the privilege. But they said, no, really, that was the busiest they'd been all afternoon, and they seemed surprised when I told them I'd never played on the streets before. We chatted for a bit, and they told me they were trying to get enough money for a jazz concert that evening. I wished them luck, and went on my way. But I think I may have been bitten by the bug, I want to try that again some time!
Thanks for sharing.
