Street pianos have come to San Jose. Artist Luke Jerram has placed nineteen painted pianos outdoors in public spaces throughout downtown in an ongoing art installation called, “Play Me, I’m Yours.” They’re free for anyone to plop down and start playing. The idea is to spark conversation, community, and creativity in urban spaces where people gather but don’t connect. It was conceived in Birmingham, England in 2008 and has since toured cities around the world including Sao Paolo, Sydney, and New York. The pianos will be in San Jose from August 28 until September 22, 2010.
The San Jose appearance is part of the 2010 01SJ Biennial, an art event so grand I don’t know how to begin to describe it other than to say you won’t be able to swing a dead Cat-5 cable this weekend without hitting something artistic. 01SJ starts Thursday September 16 and runs through Sunday, September 19 in multiple venues throughout and around downtown, and even in other cities around the Bay.
I’ve played the piano ever since my parents put a Hamilton upright in my bedroom when I was six. I knew I couldn’t let these pianos come and go without tickling some ivory. Several of the pianos are on or near El Camino Real in San Jose:
- San Jose Stage Company
- San Jose Convention Center
- Paseo de San Antonio
- City View Plaza
- Circle of Palms
- Fountain Alley
- HP Pavilion
On Saturday, September 11, after a full day of commemorating 9/11, enjoying the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival, shopping at C.J. Olson, visiting with friends, and eating dinner at Habana Cuba, I dragged my wife Paulette and her friend Melanie out to HP Pavilion where a street piano is nestled against one of the massive columns. HP Pavilion is on W. Santa Clara Street which is the part of El Camino between Plaza de César Chávez and The Alameda. I played a song called aptly, “El Camino Real.” See, I played “El Camino Real” on El Camino Real. Clever, right? And oh yes…I wore my excellent shirt of many missions. Too sexy.
The song was written by Jean and Justin Kramer to celebrate the road and is the official song of the California Federation of Women’s Clubs’ Adopt-a-Bell program. I found it last year published in the book California’s El Camino Real and Its Historic Bells by Max Kurillo and Erline M. Tuttle and I’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity to share it with you.
El Camino Real
by Jean & Justin Kramer
It began in Loreto, a long time ago
By the Gulf of California in Old Mexico.
Then north to San Diego and on to Monterey
And moving still forward to San Francisco Bay.
Now we find in Solano the end of the trail
And the beauty of the highway in vivid detail.
El Camino Real.
El Camino Real.
From Loreto to Solano
El Camino Real.Copyright by Jean & Justin Kramer. All rights reserved.
You did not know El Camino had its own anthem, did you? Well now you do.
Paulette took a bunch of photos of me rehearsing, then shot videos of me playing. The first take was pretty good but the sound was poor. Also hilariously she shouted “Rolling!” at the start of the recording which technically was the correct thing to do but since I had no intention of trying to edit it out in post-production, we went again. She moved a little closer to try to improve the sound, and the second take was golden. Watch it below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfh37n4VCOg
I played the song straight for the first two takes so in the spirit of spontaneity I tried a little improvised embellishment for the third take. You can find all three takes here. They’re all dark and noisy and imperfect, but it was a beautiful night and a fun experience.
After we were done, I made the rash decision to leave the sheet music for “El Camino Real” taped to the piano. A little act of subversive graffiti. I went back a couple days later to take daytime photos and the sheet was gone but I figure as long as one person saw it, learned something, and now associates HP Pavilion with El Camino, my goal was achieved. I made a little street art.