On that day in 2009, 1969, and 1851
July 21 was a Monday. I had taken the day off from work and I spent a few hours walking around Central Park making sound recordings and taking photographs. On the northwest side near the reservoir I passed by a bearded man under a tree playing a mandola, also known as the octave mandolin. Like a viola to the violin, it has a longer neck and a deeper pitch than the mandolin. Joe is his name. On his shirt he’s wearing a small pendant commemorating the Apollo moon landing on July 21, 1969. The song he plays is about another event that happened on that day in history. It’s the ballad of the outlaw Sam Bass. In the ambient background you can hear the summer birds chirping, a gust of wind, and a plane flying overhead all before Sam meets his fate.
