Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Bill Cushing's Brasshouse Buskers


Last week I was supposed to post this poem by Bill Cushing as well, but here it is tonight.  Enjoy!  Summer is a good time to read poetry and listen to music.

“ZOOZ’S BRASSHOUSE” BUSKING

Three spheres of instrument—percussion, sax,  
and trumpet: brass, reed, and skin—become
a discussion of brash banging fun. 

The three surround a pail, collecting
donations for their beating counterpoint, 
a concerto akin to some surreal 

coo-coo clock. The day’s audience gathers: 
waiting commuters, tourists, regulars, 
a few hipsters. The bucket fills, singles 

and fives mostly, some tens, one guy stirs
a twenty. Two skinny Santas dance 
into view, a yuletide boogie. The music 

shrieks, shocks, squeals, and squawks, yet there’s fluid 
motion in the high-stepping legs, the feet 
that slide, circling Union Square platform

in waves that weave seductive, as these three 
dance and create a wake in a shape 
that’d break the back of a snake.

Bill Cushing

Bill also sent me this YouTube video of Too Many Zooz.


Hard to believe that they are playing at 3:33 AM, the time when all good personal trainers get up and everyone else is asleep.

I think I've posted this video before, but it's worth listening to again:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMe6Y8GDVEI


"Warriors" is a new video:

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Ryan: one of the many unknown attractions of the Big Apple!

      Delete