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About What's happening. (Eugene, OR) 1982-1993 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1987)
Street Musicians by Kelli Ray You can find them wherever peo ple gather, with that toe-tapping sound that takes the chill out of winter and makes the streets seem warm and friendly again. And if they’re good, their music draws a crowd of its own. Street musicians have been around as long as the streets themselves, en tertaining, informing, and in some cases, annoying their audiences with sounds as varied as the passersby. For some, making outdoor music is a once-in-a-while occurrence. For others, it’s a way of life. For Paul Hash, it’s a newly discovered way to enjoy himself while earning a little ex tra money. “Last summer, I found myself out of a job and waiting for back surgery,” he says. “I went to donate .plasma which is a very unpleasant experi ence, and while I was waiting I found I could make more money playing guitar—and it would be a lot more enjoyable, too.” Hash now manages the Bailey Hill Apartments, but makes time to play music by John Denver, Roger Whit taker, and Marty Robins. He finds at tentive listeners at Eugene’s Rosewater Deli and the Fifth Street Market, and occasionally, at the Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Saturday Market in Portland. “I seldom play downtown in Eugene, and I seldom play for less than $5 an hour,” he says. “But at Pike Place Market, some musicians take in $45 a day, enough to make a living.” Dan Powell is one such musician, although he prefers international au diences to playing in the U.S. “You can make a living with a good band in Portland, San Francisco, and Seat tle, but the money gets tight over the winter in the Northwest,” he says. So Powell, who currently makes ends meet by working 20 hours a week as a clean-up man for Surata Soyfoods, sometimes considers grabbing his saxophone, getting his band together, and returning to Paris. “I spent the last two years playing in Paris,” he says. “First, I took a vacation to see if I could play and make money there. Then I came back, saved money, stud ied some French, and moved there. I was technically a wet-back—I didn’t have any papers or pay any taxes. The hardest part was trying to find a place to live and getting around the lan guage barrier.” Powell played solo, in duets, or as part of a trio, preferring jazz and blues. He also joined “Mousic Pon pon,” a band whose members were mainly from Central Africa. “We were 11 pieces, including horns, drums, and women dancers,” he says. “I was arrested several times. Tech nically, it's illegal to play in the streets, so they make you pay a ticket, usually from 80 to 200 francs. It’s a form of taxes almost,” Powell ex plains. No one takes the arrests seri ously, including the police officers, he claims. Powell, who grew up in Los An geles, began making music at an ear ly age. “I came from a big family, and being on the tail-end of nine kids, I was always one of those nervous show-offs. I learned the guitar right away. Music was a way of life in my family. We’d read a chapter of the Bi ble and then play. “When I was 16, a friend turned me on to a $30 alto, so I sold my guitar and bought a horn. I didn’t study it too much, I just played at parties while I was in high school.” He became interested in jazz when he moved to Berkeley at the age of 21, and by the time he’d moved to Eugene at 24, he was playing at jazz clubs. Musicians Gordon Nurse and Ansel Joseph. PHOTO BY DAVID STEIN “But they didn’t pay enough then, and they don’t pay enough now—$50 a night for a whole band,” he com plains. So, although he just got back from Paris in December, he thinks about returning, this time with the other members of his band, “Moment’s Notice.” This time, he’d like to tour more of Europe. “I could probably go over there first and set up dates for clubs. But first,” he says, “we’ll need a few more rehearsal sessions.” Gordon Nurse is also struggling with Eugene’s lack of economic re covery in an effort to make a living with his music. Rather than leaving the country for foreign lands, how ever, Nurse thinks he can solve the problem by bringing the music and atmosphere of foreign lands to Eugene. Nurse began playing the steel drum on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad at the age of 12, and came to America in 1972, after touring with one of Trinidad’s steel drum orchestras through Costa Rica and Canada. Once here, he played in New York, Boston and California, and came to Eugene to sell steel drums at the Country Fair. “I’ve been trying to get a ride back to California ever since,” he jokes. He is currently playing with the Reggae All-Stars, one of the leading Caribbean/calypso/reggae bands in the area. Although he enjoys making music, he dreams of finally getting his newly-founded reggae club off the ground and teaching others to make music of their own. Nurse says that once it gets into full swing, the Caribe Arts and Cultural Club will teach a variety of artistic and musical techniques to people of the community. Recently endorsed by the Lane County Regional Arts Coun cil, the club is really a converted warehouse at 1002 2nd Street, painted with palm trees and a sandy beach and hung with brightly colored parachutes. During the day, Nurse wants to of fer free workshops on painting, draw ing, and poetry writing, “so the club can be a place where teachers teach their crafts,” he says. On Friday and Saturday nights, Nurse dreams of “in troducing people to Caribbean food by selling it late at night, after the bars close.” But mainly. Nurse wants to provide children with access to the drums. “When I was young,” he says, “there were several steel drum bands near where I lived. During the day, when no one was there, the young guys would come in to play with the drums. Sometimes an older guy would come and show us how to play a song. If the kids retained one song, they had a chance to play with the band that night. What we want to do now is provide that kind of access to kids here.” If Nurse’s dream becomes reality, the Caribe Arts and Cultural Club will create enough drums to be able to take them into the elementary schools for demonstrations. “And if the kids like them, they can get their own,” he says. Vouch of Class h Clothing Quality Resale in Natural Fibers for women & children (to 6x) New jewelry. Great gift ideas. Gift certifi cates available We pay more for your used clothiity! 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