Posts by Natalia Saw Lady
Teens sketching in the subway
As I was on the elevator from the platform to the mezzanine at the Times Square subway station, I could already hear music. It turned out it was Geovanni Suquillo playing guitar at the Music Under New York spot, accompanied by a Japanese guy drumming on a box. The drummer was sitting on the box…
Read MoreA Mysterious Guy Holding a Magical Box
When I arrived at the Union Square subway station there was a trumpet player on the platform. As I neared the mezzanine I could hear the sound of the pan-flute playing a song from ‘Cats’. It was Alberto playing at the Music Under New York spot. I set on the bench to wait for Alberto…
Read MoreSchool Kids Comment
Scout, the R&B singer who goes by the name of ‘Eunique’, was singing a catchy song at the Music Under New York spot at the 14th street subway station when I arrived. Scout has a beautiful, velvety singing voice. An older Chinese guy was handing flyers by the staircase to the uptown trains. It was…
Read MoreBuskers – local and from far away
When I got to the Music Under New York spot at the Times Square subway station it was 11:45am and Salieu Suso was playing the kora there. The kora is an African musical instrument made of a gourd and a neck which supports 21 strings. Salieu is from Gambia but he’s been in New York…
Read MoreWhat is This Food Called?
The train I took from my house to the Union Square subway station was stuck on the elevated train tracks before Queens Plaza for a long time. At least the passengers had the nice view of Manhattan to look at, but it was a bit scary to be suspended in mid air like this… It…
Read MoreEast Side Buskers
When I arrived at the Music Under New York spot at the 59th street subway station at 11:40am I found Tai Qi singing ‘Ave Maria’ there. He is an opera singer from China – really nice guy, tall with a bass voice. He had only been playing for 40 minutes when I arrived, but he…
Read MoreThe Chef, the Flambeaux and the Empty-Guitar-Case-Guy
On the train on my way to play a guy told me that he saw me play the musical saw in the subway. He went on to say that he teaches guitar at the International School of Music. He asked for my card and said he would post it on the board at the school.…
Read MoreThe Audience Gives Energy to the Performer
At 11:35AM I arrived at the Music Under New York spot at Times Square. Steven Clark, the Michael Jackson impersonator, was there, but he hadn’t set up yet. He was waiting to see if a permitted musician might show up for the noon time slot before he went into all the trouble of setting up.…
Read MoreModeling for FIT
I was invited to be a model for an FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) illustration class. The teacher was Heidi Younger, who wrote the book Sounds of the Under Ground, which features an illustration and a poem about me. The class lasted from 11AM to 2PM. 25 Freshman students sat around the room, with big…
Read MorePlaying a Saw in the Subways Makes NYC Feel Like Such a Small Neighborhood
As I arrived at the Music Under New York spot at Union Square, it was 11:50am and there were people changing the ads on the walls of the station. They were peeling off the existing ads and plastering new ads which appeared to be for the NYC marathon. They just finished doing the ad on…
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