Two jazz musicians put a large toothless smile on an elderly gentleman’s face as he walked into Loblaws on Friday morning in Ottawa’s west end.
This man’s facial expression made it obvious that these easy-listening-type tunes had made his day. He calmly strolled in on his walker and raised an eyebrow, then, looked around to find out where the melody was coming from. As he spotted the band, right beside the corn and the melons, he paused, turned slightly in their direction and continued walking more and more slowly until he finally came to a stop and listened.
The band is composed of Mark the drummer and Tom, who plays the baliset. “We’ve still gotta come up with a band name,” says Mark.
This group has a unique sound, thanks to Mark’s booming bass drum and clashing cymbals matching up perfectly with Tom’s ability to play such a rare instrument. The wide-necked baliset is played by tapping the strings against the frets. “It’s a commercially built instrument that I have personally tweaked to make it my own,” says Tom.
There seemed to be a crowd slowly gathering throughout the fruits and vegetables section. This wasn’t because of the sale prices, but because of the nameless band’s willingness to chat and have a laugh with the community.
Their purpose was to set the mood throughout the supermarket. The cluster of shoppers and the grinning old man served as the perfect examples.
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1 comment:
actually this article gave me goosebumps. Very well written, and described. It made feel as if I were shopping for melons myself, and as if I was given the opportunity to witness the band first hand.
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