Yellow Submarine on Bloor Street

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Yellow Submarine

Here is the spirit of music-making, at least in my estimation.

You would practically have needed a Yellow Submarine, considering how the rain was coming down this afternoon. I had bumped into accordionist and musican extraordinaire Ronen Segall earlier today as he played in the doorway of Crepes A GoGo in Yorkville. Something about some chance encounter with live music, the French decor, and it being an overcast, rainy afternoon: the combination was perfect!

I caught up with Ronen later at Brunswick and Bloor, where he had teamed up with Dylan in the shelter of the Nataraj storefront. Dylan (pictured on the left) was celebrating his birthday by wandering along Bloor Street in a home-made robot outfit. Okay, don’t ask me why, but it all seemed perfectly normal somehow! Considering they had never met before, let alone rehearsed, the music that they spontaneously created – and the smiles that they put on the faces of those passing by – was absolutely uplifting and inspiring. Listen at the end of this recording where an older woman who had stopped to listen speaks with the musicans and actually breaks into some nimble polka steps in the rain!
I left them to play a while longer, since I was illegally parked across the road in front of Ye Olde Brunswick House, The Brunny, for you locals. And besides, my recorder and camera were getting dangerously rain-soaked!

I could have listened all afternoon! Here’s a link to The Beatles so that you can brush up on the lyrics at your leisure.