64 AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER 1 2008
At
fi
ve
p.m.
on ahot summer day inNewYork, crowds stream through the
tunnels of theUnion Square subway station. Most people rush past the two
musicians layingdowna rhythmic groovewithahammerdulcimer andaPe-
ruvianboxdrum calleda
cajón
.
Butsomearesnaggedby themelodicbeat.Two teenageboys inbaggyshorts
andbackwardcaps stop tobusta fewmoves, afterwhich they laughandmove
on. Two youngwomenpause to listen, andone of them lifts her baby toward
themusic.Amiddle-agedman inpressedkhakisbarely slowsdown todropa
bill into theopendrumcase.Twinboys,maybe10yearsold, stand spellbound
as theirmother startsmovingher shoulders to thebeat.Two songs later, their
mom’swallet comes out andone of the twins drops$10 into the open case to
buy aCDwhile their dad takes a picture. They leave smiling, with amusical
souvenir anda subway story.
While
some
subway
musicians set
up shop on their own, most are licensed
to play underground through a program
known as Music Under New York, which
started in1985and issponsoredby theMet-
ropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Arts forTransit.Every spring, 60 to75acts,
chosen from about 200 audition tapes, try
out before a panel of judges (and anyone
who happens to be passing by that day) in
Grand Central Terminal; about two dozen
of them are selected for the program. The
result is thatmore than100 individualsand
ensembles (the two dozen new acts as well
A
MeccaBodega,
TimesSquare
subway station
