About Noun/Verb
Noun/Verb is devoted to artists and their actions. Those driven to look further inside and out, to inspire and to be inspired—Noun/Verb explores boldly passionate individuals and the things that they do.
The purpose of our Live Talks series is to speak with artists—in a live setting—about their work, their craft, and the things that move them in all directions.
Thank you for reading, and for being curious.
Profiles
Sam Cooke and the Civil Rights Movement
Observation: Over and over again, Sam Cooke would attribute his success to the art of observation. He wrote of what he saw and heard. He listened to it and spoke to it. Effortlessly and instinctively, he turned it into music. He sang the songs that brought relief to the civil rights movement. He sang the songs that formed a bridge. He sang the songs that healed. His furious will and feral tenor brought people to their knees, and lifted them to their feet. Then, at the height of his success, he was shot and killed. It was 1964. He was only 32.
The Tunnel Musicians of Chicago
by Brian Leli
Where there are people, there is music. It makes us feel the things we need to when we don’t already. It enhances them when we do. It carries us backward and pushes us forward. It can be found in every known culture and has been performed in public since the time of antiquity. It should come as no surprise to find it being performed just a few steps beneath the ground. After all, there are fantastic acoustics and 24-hour audiences to be found in the tunnels below.
The tunnel musicians of Chicago can be heard amid the roar of trains. Depending who you ask, there are only four performance-permitted stops: Jackson and Lake on the Red Line, and Jackson and Washington on the Blue. Some will tell you about these four. Some will tell you there are only three. I’ll tell you what time already has: where there are people, there is music.
I recently spent three nights walking through the tunnels for a closer listen. These are the sounds, and the people I heard.Read more