Art Garfunkel to perform at Troy Music Hall Friday night
Garfunkel said he is ready to perform in front of an audience
TROY, N.Y. >> “Simply put, it’s making sounds.” That is Art Garfunkel’s description of music. He should know. He’s been making beautiful sounds his entire life.
He will put what he’s learned on display Friday night in the concert “Art Garfunkel in Close Up”. It’s at 8 p.m. at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.
In a recent telephone interview, Garfunkel recalls making music on a picket fence. “Like almost every kid, I used to run my fingers along a picket fence. It was hypnotizing,” he says. “I’d play with the sound, trying to get an even sound.”
Barely a decade later, he was world famous as half the team Simon and Garfunkel, making music that thrilled the world.
He happily recalls those glory days. “I will always appreciate the luck of a hit record,” he says. The team had that luck. They sold more than100 million albums over their career, won 12 Grammy Awards and in 1990 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He says he loved making the records, but performing them was less satisfying. “I felt like on stage it was like ‘Hey look at me, I’m going to entertain you.’ That wasn’t me. Performing on stage was like a job.”
But he loved making music. “I was the guy who loved going into the studio. Crafting a record was the thing I enjoyed. Laying down a track, polishing and erasing till something was almost perfect. My attitude was, and still is, give me good material and I’ll make beautiful music.”
What is different, is now at 77 years of age, he wants to perform that beautiful music in front of an audience. “I love performing,” he insists. “I feel like, hey put the camera on me. I have things to show you. I think people have heard my songs, but they don’t really know them. I want people to realize just how beautiful are the lyrics to ‘ The Boxer’ and ‘April Will Come’. I want the audience to recognize the simple beauty of a lovely song performed with just a guitar and piano.”
The songs he will perform at Troy Music Hall will mostly be his own. “There is a song by Randy Newman and I think I have one by James Taylor.” After a short laugh, he says, “I have 12 solo albums, so I have plenty to choose from.”
Most of all, he wants the audience to leave his concert knowing Art Garfunkel. “I hope the audience will know I am a supersensitive person. Painfully so. All these years I’ve kept a lid on it. I still have certain areas of security, but I want to share my sense of wonder at the world.”
Art Garfunkel, the man, seems to have nurtured a re- spect for the simple things in life. “Many exciting things have happened in the course of my life,” he says. But quickly adds “I try to be aware of the simple miracles that take place every day. I don’t go to the cinema much anymore. I don’t have to. The sky is my movie. I just love to watch the sun come up, the clouds form. I amalways in awe of the way a day colors itself.”
Will he be offering any philosophical insights to the audience? “What do I know?” He responds. I know how to throw a curve-ball, but not much else of value. I think we fall into a trap when we think we know the secret to anything. It’s the kids who we should listen to. They are the wise ones.”
He finishes saying, “The only advice I can offer someone is – be kind to each other. We are all beautiful works in progress.”
Art Garfunkel In Close Up, 8 p.m. November 16 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy. 518-273- 0038 or tickets.troymusichall.org