inspiration in the streets: a tribute to manila's street musicians

Elsewhere in the world, street musicians often represent a sector of struggling artists, talent waiting to be discovered. I've never been to countries where they are commonplace, but I've heard of tales where a group of random pedestrians would really stop to listen, leave a penny or two for appreciation of their craft, pay for the cds that they sell during their "gigs". Some are even famous Grammy-winning violinists posing incognito at a train station.

Here in the Philippines, they are considered mendicants, worse, suspected to be part of some alms-driven syndicate. Bbut i find inspiration from them somehow. In fact, i even vividly recall a couple of remarkable street musicians i've encountered here in Manila.

One of them used to play under the Quezon Avenue-EDSA overpass some 5 years ago, he played classical, troubadour-sounding music from a harpsichord of some sort. I remember closing my eyes and imagining that I was not in the middle of polluted edsa but walking along some medieval European cobblestone path. Iit became the highlight of my commuting routine then.

Then there was this middle aged, blind folk guitarist who occasionally played at a post near the POEA about 3 years ago. He didn't play like most street musicians who were often limited with the basic and sometimes off-key chords. He could actually do serious plucking and twice even performed modern numbers (folk-sounding stuff from the early 90s). When I stopped seeing him there, an officemate told me that she saw from the news something about a blind musician stabbing a fellow blind musician, and that the former looked like the POEA guy. I may have seen him once at a sidewalk near the Shangri-la Plaza but i wasn't too sure since I never saw him again. If he was the guy in the news, then I hope he's still playing good music in jail.

They may be seeking for "alms" at face value, but when you think about it, it is not in exchange for nothing. Using music as their means, they make this world a better place, deserving your peso coin at the very least, for their effort. That's why when I run into their lot, I say a little prayer for them and try my best to reach into my pockets and give them some token of appreciation.

"Nobody stopped to hear him
Though he played so sweet and high
They knew he had never
Been on their TV
So they passed his music by
I meant to go over and ask for a song
Maybe put on a harmony...
I heard his refrain
As the signal changed
He was playing real good, for free."
- For Free (Joni Mitchell)

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