美国国家公共电台 NPR One Band's Key Instrument: Wheels

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Some musicians arrive at their gigs in a tricked-out tour bus, others perhaps in a limo. And there's BJ Leiderman, who writes our theme music. He likes to arrive by paddleboat. In downtown Los Angeles, there's a popular band that likes their transportation green. They're the Vignes Rooftop Revival¹, and reporter Lisa Napoli explains.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LISA NAPOLI, BYLINE²: The music began five years ago on a rooftop of a loft³ building on Vignes Street in rapidly gentrifying downtown Los Angeles - neighbors, like musician Erik Miron, enjoying a meal together with the dramatic skyline shimmering⁴ in the background.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ERIK MIRON: After a while, the instruments would come out, and we'd start goofing⁵ around. And it evolved into something where we decided⁶ to take it down from the roof and into the bars and restaurants.

NAPOLI: Bars and restaurants have been mushrooming up all over this once-dreary part of the city. One gig led to another, and now the core members of the Vignes Rooftop Revival, accompanied by a rotating cast of musical friends, plays 200 shows a year. That a homespun acoustic⁷ jazz band stays so busy is one kind of impressive; its carbon footprint is another.

MIRON: It's funny. We're almost like an Amish jazz band. We don't use cars or electricity so much.

Hitch⁸ up the trailer here.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHAINS JANGLING)

MIRON: All right. We're ready to go.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Enjoy your show, guys.

NAPOLI: Miron's got a full wiry beard that makes him look right out of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. He loads up his guitar, banjo and trumpet⁹ and hitches¹⁰ his trailer to his bicycle, getting ready for the commute¹¹ via side streets to the next gig a couple miles away. Bandmate Patrick Torrez says Los Angeles isn't as bad as some people might think for biking.

PATRICK TORREZ: It's a little hard with two instruments on your back, but I've gotten used to it, more or less.

NAPOLI: Bass¹² player Bergen Moore uses different wheels to get to the show - a skateboard. His instruments got wheels, too. To get a bit of speed as he rolls the bass through the streets, he grabs onto one of his bandmates' bicycles.

(SOUNDBITE OF SKATEBOARD WHEELS ROLLING)

NAPOLI: What's the worst thing that's happened to you while doing this?

BERGEN MOORE: There's a couple of them. Definitely, they all involve falling.

NAPOLI: Once, he even started playing a show when a friend pointed¹³ out he had blood on his sleeve from a tumble. But nary a broken fretboard nor pothole¹⁴ nor agitated¹⁵ motorist daunts¹⁶ these musicians.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

NAPOLI: Though they do enjoy playing the tavern¹⁷ around the corner. Then, they get to indulge in an even simpler commute - walking. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Napoli in Los Angeles.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

4 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

5 goofing   

v.弄糟( goof的现在分词 )；混；打发时间；出大错

参考例句：

• He should have been studying instead of goofing around last night. 他昨晚应该念书，不应该混。 来自走遍美国快乐40招
• Why don't you just admit you're goofing off? 偷了懒就偷了赖，还不爽爽快快承认？ 来自辞典例句

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

8 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

9 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

10 hitches   

暂时的困难或问题( hitch的名词复数 )； 意外障碍； 急拉； 绳套

参考例句：

• He hitches a lift with a long - distance truck. 他搭上了一辆长途卡车。
• One shoulder hitches upward in a shrug. 她肩膀绷紧，然后耸了耸。

11 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

12 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 pothole   

n.坑，穴

参考例句：

• As the car sped over a pothole she lurched forward.车子飞驶过一个坑洼时，她身子猛地向前一倾。
• The young teacher knows every pothole in the 10-minute ride to school.这位年轻的老师熟悉这条往学校的10分钟路上的每一个坑洞。

15 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

16 daunts   

使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The idea of these huge airliners carrying hundreds of people daunts me. 想到这些大型客机要运载好几百个人，我就觉得可怕。

17 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。