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Jazz underground, NYC

One of my favorite things about the city are the street musicians (New York may lack somewhat for street food, but the city certainly doesn't lack for musicians). I particularly enjoy a good musician in the subway; it whiles away the time in a pleasant manner and provides a much nicer backdrop than the screeching of trains as they arrive and depart.

Oddly, I rarely see the same musicians. One might think that some would have recurring gigs in certain stations. At Lincoln Center, however, there is one flutist who appears with some regularity. I seem to hear him often after operas, playing the main themes from that night's performance. The last time I heard him he was playing the Ride of the Valkyries during the Ring cycle, just after a performance of Die Walkure.

If I could play with any skill approaching that of a professional, I might busk now and again in the subway stations. It seems like a fun way to practice in front of an (albiet ambivalent) audience without the pressure of a scheduled performance.