Music on the Move

By Jocelyn Geboy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 1, 2006 6:30PM

Yesterday, the Trib profiled a street musician by the name of Albert Griffith who performs on the Green Line. Since we ride the Green here and there, we've never come across his particular brand of music that reporter Jonathan Briggs describes as "booming reggae-style rap in sync with a chorus of finger snaps, hand claps and foot stomps."

According to the article, he also goes up and down the cars performing and then soliciting donations. We've never seen music on the cars before. Shell games, preachers, blind (?) people asking for money, scuffles, the occasional cigarette smoking -- these, we've seen. But never an actual performance.

We have seen quite a few performances at the stations, though. The one woman band with the tambo on her feet, playing the violin and whistling underground in the Loop; the classical violinist at Chicago/State; the one guy in the Loop/Red Line stops who always gets "Ain't No Sunshine" stuck in our head for hours.

There's the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (who we wish we saw more of), the Bucket Boys (who always seem to cause a ruckus -- literally and figuratively), and a variety of men and women who alternately turn us on and off. Who trips your trigger? Who makes you wish the train could be a little louder?

Image via TheeErin