Pied Guitarist

I was taking pictures on the Union St. bridge when I heard a strange blend of melodicas, clarinets, kazoos and keyboards approaching. I turned to my left and saw Marc Ribot, guitar slung on his back, leading a motley parade of 15-20 musicians. They stopped on the bridge, where Ribot conducted them in one of 12 figures he'd composed for the occasion: a sort of jazz/minimalist riff, punctuated with extended silences filled in by the sounds of our surroundings: a passing car, water falling down a sewer grate. We wound our way down past the old Issue silo on Carroll Street, eventually winding up in a massive ruined warehouse where the demolished roof sat along the perimeter in piles of rubble. There, Ribot led us in a soft, final figure called: "All art spaces are free if you don't pay for them." With the open sky and the F train rumbling past in the distance, it felt like a blessing and a stark warning, all at once. (More pics below.)