Handmade music

I'm not normally impressed by street musicians.  They are usually poor to average in terms of musicianship.  They are seldom really rocking their own sound.  There was an old black bluesman I saw once in the New York subway.  He was really good, like John Lee Hooker good.  I never saw him again.

Today I saw this musician outside the subway at Kawaramachi station doing his thing.  I have to say it was unlike anything I've heard, sort of East meets West, lo-fi, jangly folk music.  That's a poor description really, because it kept changing.  It seemed to be totally improvised.  

What made it all the more interesting/impressive was he had built this crazy dulcimer-like instrument himself from what appeared to be piano and guitar parts.  He would push keys with one hand and pluck strings with the other.  The sound was amplified via a couple of pick-ups through a small portable amp.  He kept time with his feet, one in a soft bamboo sandal tapping a would-be bass drum pedal, the other in a wooden sandal clacking on a piece of linoleum.  He had little bells around his ankle.  A saw blade served as a cymbal.

A small curious crowd would gather and disperse.  Some would linger a moment, trying to comprehend this unusual instrument, then move on.  Others, like myself, were transfixed.  I couldn't walk away.  I wanted to know who he was, where he came from, how did he come to create this amazing, unique instrument and sound.  I wanted his story.

Yeah.  Handmade music in Kyoto.

* Several months after I posted this I saw this musician again.  His name is Bazl Whammy from the US.  You can hear more of his music and learn more about him at http://bazlwhammy.com