Torn Bow Hair and Cut Fingers

Today was the first day this year I didn’t need to wear a sweater when playing in the subway. Can summer be finally here?
Calebe Arruda was playing the violin at the Music Under New York spot at the 14th street subway station. He has been playing there for four hours today. Calebe is a professional guitarist but he is very enthusiastically learning to play the violin these days. He is getting better; I noticed that he now feels more free with the violin. He now uses beautiful gestures as he plays.
I showed Calebe my bow, which by now doesn’t have that much hair left on it. He told me that the first five years that he has been playing the violin he never tore a hair on his bow (because he was playing so softly) but now that he is more advanced he started to break his bow’s hair. “By the time I completely ruin three bows I will have become a good violinist” he said.

A kid said to me (motioning at the musical saw): “It’s a piece of metal, right?”

The singer who walks with a cane and his partner greeted me as they started their day of singing on the trains.

At 3:10 Raices Group (Andean music) showed up for their permitted time. Edgar, their leader, wasn’t with them because he teaches music to kids on Fridays.
One of the band members who’s Inca name is “The Crow” told me that he had not been playing for the past 6 months because he accidentally cut his index finger doing carpentry work. (Years ago he also had his 3rd finger caught in a press when he worked at a printing house…). He has been a carpenter for 20 years now. His father and grandfather were both carpenters, too. He now wants to quit carpentry and do music full time, because the woodwork dust bothers him, and anyway he enjoys music more.
Raices Group have a gig tomorrow at Cornell University in Ithaca.

As always, Ilie Radu was playing the accordion on the platform. He was playing the theme from the ‘Goddfather’ as I took the train home.