Thank you John

I want to thank you John for all the nice pictures you have taken of me in my spot on the street.
John is an Oleh from America He wears shots most of the year and he always has a camera in his hand. Over the last few years he has taken many pictures of me in my spot on Ben Yehuda and now I have a nice pictoral record of it. All three harps I have played and winter and summer scenes, No snow.

Surrounded By Children

Last night a young man reminded me of a few nights ago. He said it was a very touching sight. There were about a dozen or more children sitting around watching and listening to me. I remember at the time wishing someone would take a picture (where were you John). I often have a few children standing an listening, but never a group like this. I love playing for the children.

Guest Harpist Betty Klein

I was delighted to have betty Klein come by last night and honor my harp with her playing. She is a well known folk musician in Israel with a beautiful voice. A specialty of hers is ladino and you can hear a sample in the following links on youtube.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKmRihIrwgQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRVjMK4YGZ4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjqRs9LNgOQ

Sandy Cash

A few weeks ago I had the most pleasant surprise. Sandy Cash came strolling down Ben Yehuda while I was playing. For those who may not know, Sandy is a folk singer, One of the top in Israel. She has studied acting and makes use of that when she sings. If you haven't heard Sandy perform, do yourself a favor and get to one of her concerts. You are in for a treat. She sings a lot of Dar Williamsand story telling songs and in the last years she has become quite a song writer herself. She has several CDs including one of childrens' songs, She is on the web at www.sandycash.com.

Of all the folk singers in Israel, If I had to pick one, I would pick Sandy. That is why I was so thrilled to see her that night. I have seen her perform so many times and finally she got to see me where I perform almost daily.

Irish night with a touch of Austraiia

Last night was Irish night. I was playing Fields Of Athenry, good Irish song that I haven't played for a while, and a man came up singing it with a big smile on his face. He was with a group of people from Ireland and and others joined in singing. Then I played some more from my Irish repertoire, mostly O'Carolan. They were from the center of Ireland. I didn't catch the name, but they said it was the area that O'Carolan was from.

Well, not long after they left, I was playing Waltzing Mmatilda when two young girls came up singing with big smiles. Of course they were from Austrailia. They said they are here for a year and they promised they would come back and bring all their Aussie buddies to sing so we can record it for YouTube.

All the way to France

Often when I am playing on the street, people will hold their cell phones up to my harp to let the person on the other end hear my music. I often wonder where they are, in Israel, or other parts of the world. Last night a nice young gentleman was doing that, and then he mentioned that he was talking to his mother, in France. When he said she was in bed and just going to sleep, well, I just had to play Brahms' Lullaby. He really liked that.

That is not the first time I have been heard in France. A number of years ago when I still had my first harp, a young lady approached me. She had studied pedal harp. She was from France. She called her fiance in France and she played on my harp for him. There have been a number of harpists from France.

Thank you Moish

Thank you for your comment Moish. Your daughter is one reason I am so dedicated to being on Ben Yehuda every night. Many people don't understand. They think that playing on the street is just a stepping stone to something better. And for many musicians it is.

Moish told me that they made a special trip out to Ben Yehuda because their daughter wanted to hear the nevel (harp). He was so nice to write it in a comment. (see the post titled Yoni) It helps me to hear things like that for the times that is't not going so well, and also helps me to explain to why I am there.

One last song from Nomi

I was premature in saying goodbye to Nomi. I didn't think she would be out Sunday night because he was leaving on Monday, but she surprised me. Yoni was there too so I got my recorder out and we had a trio. We did mostly Yerushalaim Shel Zahav and Paccabelle. It was really nice and such fun. Oh yes, and we did Heart and Soul also. Nomi, when are you coming back?

Hurry Back Nomi

Nomi will be leaving on Monday to go back to the states. She has to finish up her degree and then she is going to get her Masters, and then she said she wants to make Aliah. She will try to come back to visit in the mean time as often as she can. I hope when she does I will be able to have 2 harps out there at least some of the time. But at least we can have 2 violins and a harp. It will be fun. So please hurry back Nomi !!!

Yoni

Yoni has played 4 nights this week with me on Ben Yehuda. He is Israeli born from the TA area but lives in Jerusalem now. I have invited him to be a regular with me and he has accepted. We kinda toned down the playing because of Tisha B'Av, but Sunday night we really get to work. I believe it will be real good.

Harplady's Friends

i created it first I created a group last week called Harplady's Friends. I created it first on Yahoo Groups because I am more familiar with it. Then a friend asked why Yahoo and why not Facebook, so I went and created it on Facebook too. Exactly what I will do with it is not clear, but it is a way for people I meet on the street to contact me and respond to this blog If they want. I belong to a nice group that is very chatty so if we get chatty that will be OK. I will anounce things like concerts and CD releases. When I play out on the street sometimes people meet. I like to think of myself as bringing people together, and if this group helps that I am happy. How active the group will be I don't know. I hope to put pictures up and videos. I will announce when I have something new on YouTube. Anyone please feel free to join on either Yahoo or Facebook or both. Right now all members have to be approved by me. That is only so I don't get bad stuff added. I have seen some groups that iooked like they were ruined by trashy stuff. I will think about this and consult with people and may change that to make it easier to join. Any suggestions are welcome. Be patient with me as I have a lot to learn about this.

A New Duo is Born

Two nights ago a young violinist was playing on Ben Yehuda and later he came over and played a while with me. His name is Yoni and he is studying music at a school in the area. I forget the name but will find out. He came back last night and we were playing for a while and I believe it is the start of something great. He does improvization real well. Then Nomi cme along and he played along with her while I went and got my violin. Then we had two violins and a harp. We did mostly Pachebelle and Yerushalaim Shel Zahav and some improv. Sadly Nomi is leaving to go back to the states. But Yoni is here and is going to work with me and we will see what we come up with. I think it will be very good.

Wedding at Ticho House and Two Harps on the street

It was a busy week on the street before my computer decided to take a vacation from me.

I played for a wedding at Tcho House and while I was there Nomi played my 29 string harp on Ben Yehuda ( it is currently being rented by a student so I do not have access to it all the time). The wedding was lovely and Ticho House is a wonderful place to have small wedding.It was outside in the garden. I was supposed to play for an hour while they were eating. There was a Russian duo playing klezmer and wedding dance music ( They were great.)

The next night I still had the other harp so I took 2 harps out to Ben Yehuda. It is not so clear in my mind now because it was a number of weeks ago. I couldn't write because of computer problems. A number of people played, Mostly Nomi was there and we had a lot of fun playing. I hope in the future to have two harps out more often.