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Saul and Joshua

From: Seth Lind
Length: 00:21:48

A portrait of a subway musican duo struggling to stay together Read the full description.
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Saul and Joshua
From
Seth Lind

Saulandjoshua_small Saul and Joshua are a surprising pair. Saul is short and thick, a self-taught, middle aged Guatemalan rhythm guitarist - and tough. Joshua is tall and almost frail, a softspoken young American banjo plucker with an accent from somewhere out west, a shy excitement in his eye. Saul is a veteran of the trains, and rescued Joshua from the poverty of platform-playing. Together they are Duo Twins, a joke name playing on how different they look. And the Twins play beautifully together. Mostly latin standarts that sound fresh because of the combination of Joshua's virtuoso plucking with Saul's solid strum and charisma - but also Merengue, Bachata and the Beatles. In this verite-style documentary (there is narration only at the head and tail), listeners learn the intricacies of working the trains, and hear how music has nurtured an unlikely friendship. But could the differences that make their music beautiful eventually tear the duo apart?

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Piece Description

Saul and Joshua are a surprising pair. Saul is short and thick, a self-taught, middle aged Guatemalan rhythm guitarist - and tough. Joshua is tall and almost frail, a softspoken young American banjo plucker with an accent from somewhere out west, a shy excitement in his eye. Saul is a veteran of the trains, and rescued Joshua from the poverty of platform-playing. Together they are Duo Twins, a joke name playing on how different they look. And the Twins play beautifully together. Mostly latin standarts that sound fresh because of the combination of Joshua's virtuoso plucking with Saul's solid strum and charisma - but also Merengue, Bachata and the Beatles. In this verite-style documentary (there is narration only at the head and tail), listeners learn the intricacies of working the trains, and hear how music has nurtured an unlikely friendship. But could the differences that make their music beautiful eventually tear the duo apart?

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Review of Saul and Joshua

a fine, and slightly eerie and mysterious, piece of work, a real portrait of an unusual friendship and a difficult way of life. you will think differently about musical panhandlers once you've heard it. first rate for any urban station.