unique new york: musicians

New York City is an admittedly very noise place: horns honking, people shouting, sirens blaring, trains rumbling. But if you listen carefully, the noise is actually more musical than obnoxious, especially down in the subway.

Of all the struggling musicians who fill the streets of this city, my favorite are the ones who perform underground. It is not unlikely, especially in the busier stations, to be privy to the strains of the musically inclined -- and sometimes to the not-so-musically inclined.

Here are some examples of music I've heard as I've wended my way through the underground tunnels of this town:

• Small 20-something bands performing Middle-Eastern electronica;
• Lonely Jewish men oomp-pa-pa-ing melancholy Eastern European chords on their miniature electronic keyboards;
• Daring female soloists belting out familiar Madonna, Celine Dion, and Mariah Carey songs in the echoey passageways;
• Old Italian men who turn the platforms into the iconic streets of Italy with their accordions;
• Guitarists strumming the familiar chords of James Taylor as they walk, singing alluringly as they go, through the subway cars;
• Indian men snake-charming us all with their primitive wind instruments and drums;
  
• String quartets of what I presume to be Juilliard students bowing the sweet sounds of Brahms;
  
• Introspective artist-types picking at their mandolins as they sit cross-legged on a ragged blanket in a corner near the exit.

Every time I walk down into a station filled with the ofttimes competing sounds of these performers, I am overwhelmed with a thrilling rush of excitement. What a beautiful world this is! I think to myself, even despite my dark, dank, dirty subway surroundings. I hear the music and the surreal feelings of the fact that I live here, I really live here, hit me like a brick wall. It's enough to take my breath away. And even though I'm fully aware that these performers are often nothing more than talented beggars, I can't help but look forward to the concerts they've been waiting for Christmas to give.

It's amazing, isn't it, how something so simple can brighten a day -- even in the crowded, rushed, and dimly lit underground tunnels of the New York City subway system.