As the crowds flock by in the busy Union Square subway station, an eerie shrieking sound is heard from a distance. Some in the crowds stop in front of the source – a woman playing a saw. Some even begin to dance to the bizarre tune. For five minutes, the woman plays her saw and the passageway becomes congested with a large group of onlookers blocking the pedestrians making their moves on a busy Monday afternoon. As she stops, a roaring applause is unleashed from the crowd, the dancers bow and laugh together and the crowd quickly disperses as the riders return back to their hustling and bustling.

Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz, a world renowned sawist and musician, 37, spreads her exotic saw playing talents all over New York in theatres, musical houses and the subway. Her music reflects her traditional European origins.

 

“The saw is a very unique instrument in that it moves as you play and that’s why I love it. It is very visual,” said Paruz. “It’s like dance. I love dancing. I used to be a dancer until I had an accident a long time ago.”

Paruz is one of many musicians performing in the subway system who bring an international flavor to the underground music scene. Many of the musicians who perform with The Music Under New York program sponsored by the MTA come from different origins and play various different styles of music. The result provides a cultural education for the city’s subway riders.

Paruz said she her subway saw performances fulfill a mission to bring a little history to the big city. “Sawists were very popular back in the 18^th century and it’s become very dead since the beginning of the 19th century. I love it. I want to keep it alive not just for me but for history. I do this because I want to keep the history of saw music alive before it is completely dead,” she said.

“ I love it when I’m playing my saw on the subway and a little kid says ‘wow that’s so cool!’ because it is. It’s a very ‘cool’ instrument with a fascinating history,” Paruz added.

Subway rider Mark Vassell said he appreciates hearing performances in the subway.

“It’s good for the culture of the city. New York is a very hustle and bustle environment and a lot of the artsy culture of it gets lost in the shadows,” said Vassell, a 48 year old subway rider who passes by the Herald Square subway station every weekend to get a listen to what street musicians are performing. “Whenever I see them MUNY banners from a far, I know it’s gonna be someone good.”

MUNY has been around since 1985, and contains over 350 performers  who vary from group bands to solo acts like singers, guitarists, violinists, and percussioniists. Even dulcimer players. A dulcimer is a Persian stringed instrument that is rather large and takes a lot of time and discipline to master. Max ZT, santoorist for band “House of Waters” a band under MUNY, is one of the world’s few santoor masters in the world. Originally a hammered dulcimer specialist by trade, after being taught by the great santoor master Pandit Shivkumar Sharma in India, he has decided to take his mastery of the instrument to the streets of New York.

“Playing music is my passion and I just love playing it because I always get a ‘WOW WHAT IS THAT?!’ from many viewers and its nice educating them about stuff like this because unfortunately many people don’t know much about the culture of music and New York is a very cultural place but at the same time it still lacks a lot of it,” said ZT. “Playing this out here on the subway is a thrill for me and it’s a thrill to everyone else because its so different.”

New York is already a very culturally advanced city and having the luxury of having so many different types of musicians to spread their culture on the subway lines and stations can only help us grow. “Music is the universal language. Many people like to listen to music that they don’t even understand and that’s good because it means they’re down with different cultures and that’s always a positive thing” says ZT. “And you gotta admit it’s a lot less boring when you get to listen so many different types of music instead of the same thing over and over.”