On the oboe busker

The buskers at Eglinton subway station almost always impress me. There’s the duo who dress up like characters from O Brother Where Art Thou? and do bluegrass and country songs; the black man with sunglasses who freely plays soulful alto sax solos; the African marimba man who is never without a smile; and the old Chinese man whose melancholy musical laments on what I think is an erhu always blend nicely with whatever melancholy indie rock I’m playing on my headphones.

Then there’s the oboe guy. Prior to today, I’d caught his act twice and on both occasions, he seemed to be doing nothing but tuning. While the oboe is a bizarre instrument to busk with, I didn’t feel he was offering enough.

Today, however, I caught him just as he completed the looped bass line (he’s got some electronic looping thingy) and started laying down a melody. I recognized it immediately but couldn’t place it. Mingus? Miles? Coltrane?

Then the lyrics popped into my head:

It's all good girl turn me on
'Til the early morn'
Let's get it on
Let's get it on 'til the early morn'
Girl it's all good just turn me on

I was impressed.