Taxi Cab Confessions

After I walked the barren maze of the taxi waiting zone with my carefully balanced trolley, I was appointed the cab at the front of the line, which thankfully was a station wagon to fit my bicycle case and two large bags. I hopped in the front seat with the Pakistani driver, who plugged in the address of Simon's parent's house in to his GPS (CHEATER!!!). The cab driver was friendly as we discussed the purpose of my visit, my work experience and family. It was when I mentioned that my father is a blues musician that he got really animated and interested. He asked if I liked music, and before I could answer, he started rummaging through his console next to him, swerving a little, and slowing down to 30km/h on the highway with a posted speed of 70km/h Out of the wreckage of contents of his console, he pulled out a burned disc, and popped it in his CD player. He went on about how “This guy is the best, the best!” and “Do you know the tabla? He is the best! And he sings, beautiful, amazing and plays harmonium” “No body does this, no body can do what he does. He is the Best!” He put in the CD labeled "Medhi Hassan" and chose track three off the album. Let me just say, I love me some tabla and harmonium, so it was a pleasant surprise when I heard the slow seductive push pull of the harmonium's chords, mixed with the rhythm of the tabla from steady and smooth to roaring around beats, as if you were standing in a brook and then stepping beneath a waterfall, all the while Mehdi's melody is seamlessly passing through the quarter tone Arbic scale to paint a mystical melancholic picture. I mentioned to the driver I had first been introduced to the tabla by my steel drum teacher and mentor, CJ Menge, who also taught tabla method, and I still wish that I had taken a lesson... As for harmonium, my friend Elliot Cole, who is a world class musician, and only learning more now that he's at Princeton working on his doctorate in composition; he uses the mighty harmonium in some of his compositions. I told this much to my new music friend and driver, and we were digging the CD all the way to Rose Bay. When we pulled up to Simon's parent's house, he fished out a CD jacket and handed me the disc! I was floored, I really did dig the music, and I had never been gifted an album by a cab driver before. I graciously accepted the disc, paid the exorbitant $60 for the lengthy ride, and unloaded my luggage to the curb in front of my new home for the next two weeks.

TTFN