Fun piece in today’s NY Times about musicians auditioning to be part of the Music Under New York program that sees performers jam on the subway platforms.

The 70 who were invited to audition yesterday included a cellist, violinist, a variety of guitar heroes, and one guy playing the kora–described as “a 21-string instrument fashioned from a large gourd wrapped in cowhide, with a wooden neck and handles.”

About 20 will be chosen to join the 100 currently permitted to jam underground with Music Under New York. They were judged on “quality, variety, and appropriateness for the mass transit environment.”

Each musician got five minutes on the upper level in the main concourse, across from the New Haven Departures board. One after the other, they pulled their battery-powered amplifiers up on wheelies and tried to impress the judges. Periodically, a transit police officer walked through with a bomb-sniffing dog.