I wrote this story during my trip to Washington D.C. for a social documentary class. I want to share this story because it just brought a smile to my face. I love the way this man has lived his passion and enjoys sharing it with the world. Every one of our lives is a story and this is my passion, to TELL the stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. There is a link to a video at the end of the story where you can marvel at his talent. Enjoy!
The Water Glass Man
A glass of water isn’t just for drinking. If you’re
Jamey Turner, you make a symphony with science and about 60 water-filled
glasses on wood blocks and a wobbly table.
For 34 years this 71-year-old musician has been playing
songs from Mozart to the Star Wars theme by wetting his fingers with distilled
water and gracefully rubbing the rims of stemmed glasses. Turner doesn’t just
play on a corner in Alexandria, Va., but all around the world from “The Tonight
Show” to the National Symphony Orchestra. He’s played the clarinet in the Army,
taught U.S. history and lifts the spirits of those who hear him play.
“Beauty has been the passion in my life,” Turner said.
Turner first heard the water-glass sounds when he was
6 years old in his home in Lewistown, Mont.
“The Hunter family, another musical family, had
dinner with us. I was just leaving the table when everyone began to play
because they were all musical. They started playing harmonies on the glasses,”
Turner said. “That moment the sound of glass became my favorite sound and it
has remained so ever since.”
He developed a passion for music. He not only plays
the glass harp by ear, but the musical saw and the clarinet as well.
Turner moved to Boulder, Colo., from Montana during
his junior year in high school and graduated from Boulder High School in 1958.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the University of Colorado
Boulder in 1969. Between high school and college he served in the Army for
three years in Germany and played in their band as a clarinetist.
“That’s what bands are all about, lifting troop’s
spirits,” Turner said.
Now, he is a one-man band. Turner taught himself how to play the glass
harp.
“First I handed out separate glasses, tuned with water, to friends and
audiences. They accompanied me as I played clarinets or saws,” he said. “Then
in 1977, I put together my first glass harp, with eight glasses, soon adding
four more glasses in order to have one full chromatic octave. As I added new
pieces of my music to my glass harp repertoire, I added glasses to meet the
requirements of each new piece. The glass harp thus grew quite organically. Now
I have 60 glasses forming four chromatic octaves.”
While he sat on his stool, Turner gave a brief history
of each song before he played music by Mozart and songs such as “The Star-Spangled
Banner.” Perhaps this comes from his background of teaching U.S. history at
Metropolitan State University of Denver for three years. He explained how
Benjamin Franklin invented a variation of the glass harp after hearing it in
1757. Composers such as Mozart were fascinated with it and contributed to its
popularization and refinement.
Turner’s audiences not only enjoy music with a twist of history, but they
learn a bit of science as well. Each glass is set on square wood blocks that
are tied down with thick rubber bands and wrapped through holes on the table. He
and his friend, Steve Robinson, who is a boat maker, experimented with approximately
two-dozen kinds of wood in Robinson’s studio in Pensacola, Fla., before finding
the right one that would resonate the sounds he wanted. Together they concluded
that juniper, surrounded by an oak edging, was the strongest and best-sounding
combination. Turner describes how the pH level of his skin is important as well.
“The
more acidic, the more friction I get on the glasses. The more alkaline, the more
slick my fingers are on the glasses. I have to get just the right balance,”
Turner explained.
About
six months ago he discovered that hot water dissolves the natural oil on his
hands. He is talking with various glass blowers, including one in West Virginia,
to create glasses that will be his harp’s fifth octave. For 14 years, Turner
acquired a patent on his set-up configuration.
Tuning is another aspect of Turner’s glass harp.
“I tune by ear using five perfectly tuned empty glasses, they are exact
notes without having any water in them, as my reference points,” Turner said. “I
have relative pitch, which means I just need to have one exactly tuned glass to
start with. Then I can do all the rest just by hearing the sounds as I put the
water in the glasses. It takes me about 10 minutes for the actual tuning. The
whole set up and tuning takes about 40 minutes.”
Turner
has acquired a long list of venues since he played on Pearl Street in Boulder,
Colo. from May to August in 1979. He has been a guest soloist in several
orchestras. He made two appearances in the Denver Symphony Orchestra in the ‘70s
where he played the musical saw. Turner has appeared on several shows such as:
“The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” BBC-TV and more. The list of places
he’s played is extensive and impressive with locations such as The Kennedy
Center, Disney World, the Smithsonian and many other venues.
“That’s
beautiful! Have you ever heard anything like that in your life? That is
wonderful,” Johnny Carson said.
This
is Carson’s quote of Turner’s performance on “The Tonight Show” on Turner’s
website, www.jameyturner.com where you can also find his CD titled, “That Your
Joy Might Be Full.” It includes 24 songs from Beethoven to Bach. Turner plays
at birthday parties, churches, synagogues, reunions, bat mitzvahs, festivals,
military bases, college campuses and more.
Bob
Brennis, an audience member on the corner said he saw Turner for the first time
10 years ago.
“You
wouldn’t think you could do this with water and glass,” Brennis said.
He
brought his two sons to hear Turner when they were younger. They are now in
their 20s and both of them are musicians. One son is now residing in Boulder
and plays the trumpet professionally. Turner is a man who has touched the Brennis’
lives and thousands of others through his passion.
When asked if he was retired, Turner
replied, “Retired? That’s a swear word.”
You can watch his geniuseness here:
