Music Video | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for the ‘Music Video’ Category

Pop Up Piano Returning to Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in Events, Music, Music Video, tagged Coney Island Boardwalk, Luke Jerram, Pop Up Pianos, Sing for Hope, street piano on June 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The Piano Has Been Drinking. July 5, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Last year, British artist Luke Jerram’s “Play Me I’m Yours” project brought 60 pianos to New York City parks, including the Coney Island Boardwalk, in collaboration with local arts organization Sing For Hope. A couple of weeks ago we heard via twitter that the pianos –88 of them this year– were returning on June 18th.

We started looking for photos and videos of the Coney Island piano from last summer to include in a post. In addition to our friend Bruce Handy’s black and white shot of the Boardwalk piano waiting for a player, we found these entertaining videos of Manny Panta’s rendition of Joplin’s “The Entertainer” and Sandy Santra’s solo piano improvisation. “Play Me, I’m Yours was a dream come true for me: playing piano on the streets of New York in just about every location imaginable,” wrote Santra on the Play Me I’m Yours website.

The street pianos will return on Saturday, June 18th, for another two-week run. When ATZ visited Sing for Hope’s website in May, we liked the idea that one could reserve a date for a “Pop-Up Concert” at any of the locations. That option is not currently available, though on the Coney Island Piano’s page, someone has scheduled a concert for June 18 at 1:30 pm. “Sarah LeMieux will sing jazz and blues standards and originals! Visit her on MySpace and ReverbNation.” She’s going to be playing to a packed house–it’s just before the Mermaid Parade gets underway!

This year’s project is called “Sing for Hope’s Pop Up Pianos” instead of “Play Me I’m Yours!” because the arts organization has taken the artist’s original concept and made it its own. A story in today’s NY Times City Room describes “discordant notes” between the artist who originated the project and Sing for Hope, which led to a parting of the ways…

The artist, Luke Jerram, said his idea of putting a batch of pianos outdoors and letting anyone play them had spread to more than 20 cities. But he said the arts group that oversaw last year’s installation in New York — and is overseeing this year’s — had told him, “We don’t want you to come.”

We’re baffled and dismayed. But don’t let it keep you from playing the piano in Coney Island or anywhere else in New York. Somebody should bang out “Who Stole My Blue Suede Shoes” and dedicate it to Luke Jerram.

Music Video: A Coney Island Song by Paul Sanchez

Posted in Events, Music Video, tagged Bratva, Cha-Cha's, Neptune Jam, Paul Sanchez on April 22, 2011| 4 Comments »

Singer songwriter Paul Sanchez and his band Neptune Jam are jamming this weekend in Coney Island. On Saturday, April 23rd, they’re performing at 9 pm at Bratva, a bar and cafe on the north side of Surf across from the Coney Island Sideshow. “We’re a casual lounge owned for and by good old friends and welcome you to join us for beer, cocktails and a wide range of American pub and Russian-style snacks and meals,” says the bar’s website

On Easter Sunday, April 24th, at 3 pm, Neptune Jam will rock Cha Cha’s, home of Wild Women and Wise Guys on the Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. This emerging Coney Island band does Rock ‘n Roll, Blues, Country and Reggae. They will be performing covers and originals such as “A Coney Island Song” and “Kingston Town.”

Music Video: Coney Island Washboard Roundelay on Ukelele

Posted in Music Video, tagged Coney Island Washboard Roundelay, John Bianchi, ukelele on February 7, 2011| 2 Comments »

When our friend John Bianchi tweeted a YouTube vid recorded at a Ukelele Meetup, we asked if he took requests. Turns out he does! He thanked us for suggesting “Coney Island Washboard Roundelay” because “playing it was like a little summer in the midst of the coldest winter on record.” John’s delightful rendition is played on his new Ohana CKP-70 ‘Vita’ Uke. “I learned 29 years ago so that I could take up the guitar, but I’ve been playing more seriously for the last year and a half,” he says. “I have six of ’em now.”

“Coney Island Washboard Roundelay” was written in 1926 by Hampton Durand and Jerry Adams, with lyrics by Ned Nestor and Aude Shugart. The song was recorded by the Mills Brothers in 1929. The lyrics are as catchy as ever…

Down by the beach there’s the sweetest peach
if I may say she has the cutest way
Playing a chord on her washboard
Folks would gather ’round from everywhere in town
Just to hear that sound!

Coney Island washboard she would play,
She’d play it on the boardwalk every day,
Soapsuds all around
Little bubbles on the ground
Rub-a-dub-dub, in her little tub
All of the tunes she found
Thimbles on her fingers made that noise
She’d play the ‘Charleston’ on the laundry for the boys
She could rag a tune through the knees
Of a brand new pair of BVDs
Coney Island washboard roundelay

Next request: Wouldn’t it be fun to have a ukelele orchestra strumming and singing this tune on the Boardwalk this summer, perhaps at the Coney Island Talent Show? Straw boaters required!

January 6, 2011: Music Video: Strange Powers by the Magnetic Fields

April 17, 2010: Our Fave Coney Island Song: Joe McGinty’s Million Dollar Mermaid

December 15, 2009: Victrola Vault: Mills Brothers “Coney Island Washboard Roundelay”

November 26, 2009: Coney Island Boardwalk Music Video: The Supertones “I Surf in Black”