George Braith in der U-Bahn:
At the 72nd Street station, George Braith, a jazz saxophonist, was being mobbed by an eager pack of veritable paparazzi. The reason for his newfound celebrity: His likeness is featured in a mosaic there.
“Would you look at that guy?” Mr. Braith, 77, said. “Pretty handsome fellow if you ask me.”
He is one of several local celebrities portrayed in the artwork, including chef Daniel Boulud.
In Mr. Braith’s mosaic, he is clad in a slick red blazer and carrying his signature Braithophone, alto and soprano saxophones melded into one. Taking the instrument from his suitcase, he obliged the crowd with a brief tune.
“Are you famous?” a passer-by asked, seeing the hubbub.
“In the jazz world,” Mr. Braith replied.
The man shook his head and said, “Well, you’re immortalized as far as I’m concerned.”
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #151: Neuheiten aus dem Archiv – 09.04., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba