When it rains…
. . . it pours. And that’s exactly what it did following Non-Zero’s concert at the Tenri Cultural Institute on Saturday. Tim and I looked like we had jumped in the Hudson after getting all his gear out to the car. Luckily, we had the closest possible parking space to the venue but even that didn’t save us from getting drenched. Despite the downpour outside, the show was a success. We were fortunate to have a good-sized audience, including composers Sophocles Papavasilopoulos, Keeril Makan, and David T. Little. Thanks to everyone who came out.
Here’s a story about New York City you don’t hear too often: After making my way through the rain with a companion who will remain anonymous for reasons that will soon become clear, I arrived at the 14th Street A train station. When the uptown train came to a stop, we boarded. As the doors were closing, my companion, who was in charge of carrying my soprano saxophone–I had three horns with me as well as a suitcase and messenger bag–exclaimed, “The soprano!” Then I saw my soprano saxophone sitting on the platform all by itself. As I tried in vain to pry open the subway doors, a man began picking it up. Seeing the terror in my eyes, he attempted to calm me by saying, “I work for transit.” Yeah, right, I thought. The next stop on the A is 23rd Street. We got off the train and fueled by anger and panic I sprinted 9 city blocks through the pouring rain, I might add, back to the 14th Street station. I thought I’d never see my soprano again. However, when I finally arrived, the man from the platform was on the phone at the information desk–my soprano sitting by his feet. It turns out he did work for transit and he was calling to report a lost object. He recognized me immediately and returned the instrument to me. What a relief. Don’t believe everything you hear. There really are honest people in New York City.