We traveled all the way from North Carolina to play the street pianos! We spent the fourth of July walking around Manhattan going to pianos. Luke Jerram was trying to create spontaneous community with his artwork, where the real art was the connections made between people around the pianos that otherwise would never have happened. We experienced this at each of the eight pianos we went to, in surprising and meaningful ways. I don't want to use this artwork as simply a means of self-promotion, because we came to share in the experience of the street pianos, not to use it as a tool for our own ends, but if you like our music and want to about our journey and the people we met and played music for and with (and see photos and watch video too), we've told the whole story on our band's blog:
www.joenextdoormusic.blogspot.com
Thanks Luke, and thanks NYC!
Ryan Liptak // Jul 11, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Ryan playing the piano
Sandy Santra // Jul 7, 2010 at 2:36 pm
"Play Me, I'm Yours" was a dream come true for me: playing piano on the streets of New York in just about every location imaginable. I can't thank Luke Jerram, sing for hope, and all the volunteers enough for pulling off this special event. It was amazing to see so many pianists come out and play, and especially touching to hear so many gifted and talented children step up to what is a very challenging instrument (and play it in public on one of the world's biggest stages).
In the beginning, I set out to play all five boroughs, but soon realized my day job wouldn't easily accommodate all the travel and logistics involved. So I reset my sights instead on playing every available Manhattan piano (and a few in Brooklyn and Queens). By the end of two weeks I had achieved my goal.
My pieces are all improvisations, so playing on the streets of New York allowed me to share my spontaneous, energetic music with a city whose rhythms and tones have informed and influenced my music for years. The chance to publicly give back to a city whose people, music, and spirit have brought me joy for decades was the opportunity of a lifetime. Thanks for watching and listening.
From the heart,
Sandy Santra
MaDDan // Jul 7, 2010 at 12:41 am
all the way from London this young man held his own for the columbus circle crowd....bravo mate..sorry bout the bottle obscured shot..smile
MaDDan // Jul 6, 2010 at 10:47 pm
nice piano even nicer crowd ..these cats joined in a jam up...awesome
www.joenextdoormusic.blogspot.com
Thanks Luke, and thanks NYC!
In the beginning, I set out to play all five boroughs, but soon realized my day job wouldn't easily accommodate all the travel and logistics involved. So I reset my sights instead on playing every available Manhattan piano (and a few in Brooklyn and Queens). By the end of two weeks I had achieved my goal.
My pieces are all improvisations, so playing on the streets of New York allowed me to share my spontaneous, energetic music with a city whose rhythms and tones have informed and influenced my music for years. The chance to publicly give back to a city whose people, music, and spirit have brought me joy for decades was the opportunity of a lifetime. Thanks for watching and listening.
From the heart,
Sandy Santra