Have you saw, I mean, seen the latest trend in music? Actually, the proper verb is saw. And maybe it's not a trend. But if you thought saw-playing died with Jackyl's "The Lumberjack," you're wrong. It's still going on, sans chainsaws that run with two-stroke engines. Astoria, New York, recently hosted the ninth annual NYC Musical Saw Festival. People came from all over to play music using saws. And people came to listen. Boy, does this music sound weird. There's no way to describe it, except maybe "Wooo ooooo."
If you're making plans for 2012, you might want to consider the 10th annual festival. It's bound to have even more teeth than last year. Teeth, like you use on a saw to cut wood. Performers at the festival twist and turn and "play" their saws with string quartets and such.
Take a listen here, to Saw Lady, from Ameriklectic. Wait for it ... she's in the middle.
The Saw Lady's real name is Natalia Paruz, founder and organizer of the event. Now how does this fit in with Planet Green? No, we're not a sponsor. But the planet wouldn't be green without trees. And saws like these would be out in the forests, cutting down trees, if it weren't for these musicians. Talk about environmentally friendly music.
This may be one event to keep your eyes on for next year. Paruz says she's hoping to hold the 10th festival in July 2012. The NYC Musical Saw Fest holds the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Musical Saw Ensemble," set in 2009. If you have 3D glasses handy, take a look at "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from this year. Or at least squint and listen.
Apparently, making music with a carpenter's handsaw, like you see here, has been around for 300 years (that's a long trend). The Astoria fest has seen players come from as far as China, Japan, India, Germany, Sweden and Canada.
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