Posts Tagged ‘Making Love Ukulele Style’
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From Aloha to Zen
0June 27, 2014 by admin
Before I got through “Making Love Ukulele Style” one time, a distinguished gentleman with abundant white curls pulled a fiver out of his wallet and dropped it on me with a gleaming white smile. A kid kicked in another buck during the second go-round. A few tunes later, a middle-aged woman added to my total, saying, “Your music perfectly fits the day.”
Though hot, the humidity was comfortably low. Fluffy white clouds punctuated the blue sky, while below the lake shimmered green. A thirty-something couple made their way toward me; a bearded man in a panama hat pushed an empty wheelchair, while his female companion, supported by a cane, walked slowly beside him. After giving me a dollar, the man leaned the cane against the wheelchair, took the woman in his arms and danced a restrained two-step to “Fit as a Fiddle.” Finishing their dance, he helped her into her chair and they rolled away toward the fountain.
Within the course of a few more tunes, two recent high school grads from New Jersey danced a hula, and a Japanese man, bowing politely, placed a dollar in my case with both hands. The begging Buddhist, accompanied by a friend, eyed the transaction as they walked by in the direction of the boathouse. A portly man in Bermuda shorts, clearly enjoying the beautiful day, stood listening for a few minutes, breathing in the aloha spirit before making his contribution.
As my 90 minute set came to an end, I watched the two begging Buddhists returning from the boathouse. They playfully whispered to each other, then, to my surprise, one of them dropped 26 cents into my case.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Fit as a Fiddle, Making Love Ukulele Style
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Sunny Saturday in May
0May 3, 2014 by admin
The park was as crowded on Saturday as I’ve ever seen it. Little knots of NYC policemen were scattered all about, keeping an eye out. Ordinarily city cops are scarce in the park, with most authority invested in the Central Park Conservancy, so maybe this marks a policy change from the old administration.
The daffodils are done; now the tulips are in full-throated bloom. Along the edge of the path, violets and dandelions cling to the wire fence, safe from the lawn mower, while across the road to the south several maple trees unfold their rusty red leaves to the sun. The break dancers’ boom box was audible at 50 yards. Arlen and Meta bravely played over the din.
At my spot on the path by the Lake, I opened with “Making Love Ukulele Style,” and for the next 20 minutes I lifted my voice to the sky, since no one on the ground was paying any attention. At last, 3 girls from Thailand stopped to hula and take pictures. Not long afterward, a proper gentleman in ascot and cap, with a pencil-thin mustache, asked me if he might take a picture. I smiled. He focused, clicked, then dropped a sawbuck in my case. Half an hour in, I already had $13.
A lovely couple from New Mexico stopped to talk, first about ukuleles, then, at length, about how much we were enjoying our retirements. “Well, this has been worth $2,” he said, reaching for his wallet. His wife was aghast. “How can you say that to the man?”
“Not at all,” I said. “I play my music for free. You decide what it’s worth.”
To end my 90 minute set, I sang “My Little Grass Shack,” and shouted to the passing crowd, “Aloha, New York.” While packing up, a young woman approached me from behind, where she and her friends had been picnicking on the newly seeded lawn. She handed me 3 singles over the fence. Not counting the 5 centavos coin that was mixed in with the change dropped by some Brazilians, my total take was $22.19, just a penny shy of my personal best.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Little Grass Shack, Making Love Ukulele Style
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Two in a Row
0April 12, 2014 by admin
Friday started chilly and overcast, but by the time I reached Bethesda Fountain the day had warmed and brightened. The water in the park has been turned on since yesterday; the gentle splash of the fountain mingled with the sweet sounds of the harp and dulcimer. Arlen and Meta had drawn a good-sized crowd, a promising sign of throngs to come.
I donned my lei at my second favorite location, on the path to the Boathouse. With an enormous maple to my back, which gives great shade in summertime although nothing now, and an outcropping of Manhattan schist to my left, I stood to sing. In front of me was an old mulberry tree displaying several fresh cuts; the Parks Department has been busy lopping off dead limbs. At the lakeside people got in and out of rowboats, while at the easternmost end of the lake other people ate on white tablecloths, taking in the view, like me. Across the lake, I could see through the bare bushes a timber-lined path. Is that new? And to the northwest, the taupe towers of the San Remo, made famous in Ghostbusters, stretch skyward.
I start with “Making Love Ukulele Style,” in G, simple chords requiring no great range, followed by a medley in C, “Sunday,” “Fit as a Fiddle” and “I Saw Stars.” Lots of people walked by, ignoring me. After 15 minutes, a young woman dropped a dollar in my case. They were all dollars after that, 11 of them, and most from women too, none of whom danced the hula.
I got my first hula dancer about an hour in. A girl of 6 or 7 was very enthusiastic, as were 2 adults, but the 5-year-old boy preferred not to. He wandered off to sit on the rocks and watch the show, which turned out not to star his sister, but rather the adults. Under the pretense of showing the girl how to hula, they shook and shimmied up a storm.
After 90 minutes, I took off my lei and packed up. I’d played and sang more confidently today than I had yesterday. Callouses are starting to form on my fingertips. I got a little sunburn on my balding pate. Thus the Aloha Spirit transforms us.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Fit as a Fiddle, I Saw Stars, Making Love Ukulele Style, Sunday
