The guy performing is jazz guitarist and songwriter Femi Temowo. He was at Ray's Jazz Cafe in Foyles Bookstore as part of the London Jazz Festival. I must admit there have been times over the past seven months when it has felt as if London is in the midst of celebrating one big permanent jazz festival. I was quite surprised that this was the first official one.
The man playing the violin outside the National Portrait Gallery is called Max Reid. He's one of 25 subjects featured in a new book called "It's My Life". It was commissioned by the NHS and tells the stories of 25 people who have reclaimed their lives after suffering spinal serious injury. I know this, because a couple of days after I took this photo I picked up a discarded copy of the Metro newspaper from a train seat, opened it and saw a photo of Max accompanying a news story about the book (under the headline, "Back in the groove"). I don't yet know the details of Max's story - the book is launched on November 24th - but will find out.
And now the theremin news. A momentous day. I actually went into a shop that sells musical instruments (Macaris on Charing Cross Rd) and asked about a musical instrument...and the man didn't look at me and say "But you're not a musician". (Many years ago I told a friend I was going to learn the guitar and he laughed and said, "But you can't play the guitar!"). They had small buzzy theremins, the kind, according to theremin websites, that I should buy only if I wish to make strange noises and not music. The man told me they might have ones that make music (not his actual words) at their other store up the road in Denmark Street, so I'll go there next week.
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