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!
Vicki from Colorado // Jul 11, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I had read about this online before we headed to NYC for vacation. I was delighted to see and play this piano at Damrosch Park. Special blessings to those who organized this event and special thanks to those who put up umbrellas (it was 100 degrees that day). I didn't realize until today that famous artists played this piano later in the day.
This was taken on the afternoon July 5th.
Emily Energy // Jul 9, 2010 at 12:26 pm
The photo below was taken around 10:45 p.m. 7/1/10.
Emily Energy // Jul 9, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Emily didn’t get to play this piano earlier because the Midsummer Night Swing was going on when we arrived at the park. Now it was all quiet here and Emily wanted to play her last piano of the day. A big rat was disturbed and jumped out of the flower bed behind the piano.
Sandy Santra // Jul 8, 2010 at 3:51 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.
www.joenextdoormusic.blogspot.com
Thanks Luke, and thanks NYC!
This was taken on the afternoon July 5th.
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