Wow. That’s all I can say. I’m in the park watching these two guys play guitar. I learn that the person on the left is a harmonica player. I love blues harmonica, so I volunteer a couple of big names. He says he knows them.
Someone pulls me aside and says, “Can I give you a tip about this guy”? I say, “Sure.” He also knows harmonica players and says that this guy is famous. Now, coming from someone in the park whom I do not know, I take this with a grain of salt. My informant tells me that he is probably one of the two best players on the planet and has played with the likes of Barbra Streisand. He doesn’t look like Barbra Streisand material to me. But I have met many successful individuals in NYC who do not look the part, especially in casual attire. Plus, he is a musician, and this is New York.
I get his card and introduce myself. His name is Will Galison. So this morning I do an online search. I find that this man is much more accomplished than I ever imagined. Everything my informant said is true and more. This man has a several page entry in Wikipedia. He has worked with a range of musicians including Carly Simon, Sting, Chaka Khan, and Astrud Gilberto. He has also recorded soundtracks for Academy Award nominated films. He can be heard on a Sesame Street theme. He was trained at the Berklee School of Music and has performed at various New York City venues including The Village Gate, The Blue Note, and the Lone Star Cafe with jazz musicians Jaco Pastorius and Jaki Byard. He has worked on Saturday Night Live. See his website here.
At one point, his companion, Sean Daly, tried his hand at the lap steel guitar. Undaunted, he appeared to pick it up with ease. Easy for a natural.
And there they were, with four of us as audience. No one anywhere around suspecting. Only in New York…
That is so awesome, running into that and no one suspects a thing. I hope you were able to just get time to enjoy the music 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us!!
I wish more of that happened on the streets of Mpls. Maybe it does and I don’t realize it?!
Oh- I forgot to mention I also love the yellow taxi-always a New York sight-whizzing by in the backround!
very emotional and beautiful
it is only in NY
Great
A very interesting story. Bas luck : we have no sound
What an amazing story! You had your own private audience!
It was an awesome time – I love this type of spontaneous occurrence. It’s what makes NYC a great place to live.
Very cool. Was he out playing just to be playing and having a good time?
What park are you in?
It’s a small, small world afterall. Very cool and great information. I suspect most of us would have liked to have been there too.
Awesome and good for you! 🙂
Great story.
Check out this article, "Pearls before breakfast" in the Washington Post.
It's about a world famous violin virtuoso that was asked to play in a Washington subway station on a 3.5 million dollar instrument. This guy can earn hundreds of dollars per minute, and ended up with a little over 20 bucks by the end of the day.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
By the way, I read your blog every single day. Not one lets me down, and every single one brings me up. Thanks you for writing! Thank you for giving me something to look forward to every morning!
Hey, thanks for all the nice stuff you said about me!
FYI, My website has changed. It is
http://www.willgalison.com
And ome hear me play on Mondays at the Underground Lounge: 107th and West End Ave!!!
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