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The
first time I remember seeing
a street musician was when I
was about 11 years old. My
mom grew up in Philadelphia,
PA and many summers my family
and I spent one week visiting
with my grandparents there.
Having grown up in rural
(cornfield rural) Northwest
Ohio you can imagine the allure
that a city the size of Philadelphia
had on me. It was always
such an adventure to ride the
L-train into downtown and then
hop on the subway on the way
to the coolest shopping mall,
the Galleria. I can still
remember hearing the clack,
clack, clack of the subway cars
sliding along the tracks. The
smells of being underground
much of the time were very memorable
too…sort of a damp, dirt, mold
kinda smell. I could easily
write entire chapters about
the many memorable experiences
of all that…but just one of
the many that stands out were
the street musicians in the
subway.
The
way their music echoed off the
cement walls of the subway tunnel
system created a unique amphitheatre-like
sound. I was amazed at
their confidence to stand out
in the open with hundreds of
people walking by, some ignoring
them all together, some stopping
to watch and listen, and some
pausing just long enough to
toss some change into their
makeshift tip containers. These
folks were clearly free souls
and truly added to my big city,
downtown experiences.
I
would love nothing more than
for downtown Jackson to offer
similar pieces of ambiance.
That is…street musicians
playing on various street corners,
a couple food
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vendors/push-cart
style (Why is it that a hotdog
out of those little push-carts
tastes so good?), artists painting,
etc, etc. I don’t believe
that downtown Jackson will likely
have such every day of every
week (there’s just not enough
foot traffic)…but we certainly
can create this environment
at least one night a month.
Hence enter Fabulous Fridays
downtown.
We’ve
now successfully hosted five
of these open-house oriented
downtown events. And all
but one or two we’ve had a solo
saxophone player performing
on the street. Every one that
I’ve talked to regarding their
take on Fabulous Friday downtown
has especially raved about the
saxophone player. Dr. Sax (Ralph
Thomas) and Denny Anderson have
both done an excellent job adding
to the atmosphere of downtown
on these select evenings…special
thanks to them.
And
I’d love to see/hear more! Makes
me wish I were a musician…I’d
play for tips. If you’re
a musician (saxophone, guitar,
clarinet, trumpet, flute, trombone,
violin, drums, dulcimer, etc)
and would like to join us downtown
on the last Friday of each month,
please contact Jackson Downtown
Development by calling 427-7573.
Dickson
is the owner of The Dickson
Gallery of Fine Art at 118 E
Lafayette Street. She may be
contacted by email at rachel@dicksongallery.com
or by phone at 423-9708.
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