One of the best and most educational experiences I had when I was first Busking was dealing with the "Philly Piper" - he played a set of customised recorders on the streets of Center City, and he could play just about anything. He had a hand painted sign, and a radioactive grin.
He also played Flute and Sax, but on the street, it was Jazz Recorder.
He was always friendly and upbeat, always encouraging, and when he found me playing in one of his spots, his response was brilliant.
He suggested that he and I add a game to our performances - if one of us went past a corner where the other was playing, we'd get together on one number - and then switch places, changing up. We did this many times, and it added a cordial vibe to the day. The times that I left the pitch to him, I always walked off feeling really GOOD - and that was a good feeling to bring to the next spot. The audiences that saw us doing this seemed to get a warm fuzzy out of it as well.
2 comments:
No he does not play the sax or the flute just the recorder and was damn good at it,I met Kevin the Philly Piper in 1979 when I played flute at City Hall,he was a clean person when I met him and he just started to play the recorder he was inspired of my flute playing ,I was just a kid at the time with alot of energy in my playing,We use to play the theme spiderman togeter and get a kick out of it,WE became good friends,We are the origanal Philly pipers of City Hall everybody else was just a street musician trying to get in our band wagon,Keven is gone now,Being homeless on the streets got the best of him,may he rest in peace.My name is Eubie the magic flute with real flute juice,come check me out at City Hall every sunday not every day because I have a real Job.
It was so many years gone by - I may have edited a detail or two. I was, indeed, just a street musician looking for my own bandwagon at the time. Next time I'm in Philly on a Sunday, I'll look for you Eubie!
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