Urban Flute Project

Transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary…re-defining Space with Sound!
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1. Bruce 05.14.09 / 9am

   Hey James, What a brilliant piece of work here! The sound clip is absolutely haunting.
2. Crissie 05.15.09 / 9am

   Absolutely beautiful…what sweet music to play for their souls.
3. Paul 05.28.09 / 9pm

   I was held as an inmate here at different periods from 1970-1975. At one time, I was housed in the cell block which housed the gallows which had long since been closed off at that time. I used to get a haunting feeling whenever I looked over at the closed door to the gallows. This time period was also a time of major abuse and assaults by gaurds upon defenseless inmates. A special squad of gaurds, known by inmates and insiders as the “GOON SQUAD”, would regularly beat inmates severely. It was covered up and swept under the carpet for many years. I myself was beaten by about 8 gaurds in the shower area of admitting. It was a terrible jail as were others that I had the displeasure of being incarcerated in during the first part of the 1970′s. More so because with no “Young Offenders Act” at that time, I had my first experience there at age 16, in March 1970. A true eye opener to say the least for a kid at that time.
4. jamie 05.28.09 / 9pm

   Hi Paul,
   Thank you so much for your candid comments here, and I am sorry to hear of your difficult times spent incarcerated in this very row of cells. Believe me that my improvisation, and what I describe here in this post, was embarked upon with the fullest of sincerity. To have a chance to gain access to the inside of the jail was surreal, and your relating your very personal experiences make the setting that much more visceral and real.
   The gallows, well, that is certainly another story, and somehow it felt odd that those doors would be open when a small group of us were permitted access to take photographs.
   After all, the door has been closed, so to speak, on capital punishment for some time now in this country.
   I recorded at the site of Canada’s last public hanging in Ottawa, in the equally evocative old jail there, a very old building that has since been turned into a youth hostel. One sleeps in the bunks of the narrow, gothic cells.
   If my creative pursuits weren’t so sincere, I would be concerned that my recordings might appear to trivialize the experiences of someone like yourself, which I trust you don’t feel is the case.
   You must have mixed emotions when you hear of the jail being open to visitors getting a rather voyeuristic glimpse into what was a living reality for yourself and other inmates there until not so long ago.
   I hope that we have a chance to meet in person at some point before too long – I would welcome an opportunity to speak more at your convenience.
   J
5. edwin ward 05.16.12 / 10am

   I too was housed in the former death row range in the early 70′s. Having been charged with assaulting a police officer (for which I was acquitted) the goon squad had a particular disdain for me. My beating left me in the fetal position (on the range by day, as we were locked out of our cells) for a week or so. I was spared having my gum soled shoes set ablaze for sleeping on the range by other inmates, because I was respected (?) for my alleged crime. It was rumored that during my tenure there an inmate was kicked down a metal staircase while tied to a chair although I can’t confirm this. It was a miserable and dangerous place indeed.

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