Photo of the day: EBB TIDE CONCERTO – The most talked about piano in New York is not Billy Joel’s, Liberace’s or Elton John’s – it’s the old Mason and Hamlin piano that mysteriously appeared on the East River shore of the Brooklyn Bridge sometime last week. At high tide the piano is almost completely submerged, at low tide it has become quite a tourist and photographer’s attraction. Who knew something so simple, old and decrepit could cause so much fun?!

Mason & Hamlin was founded by Henry Mason who was a direct descendent of the pilgrims of the Mayflower – so it is somewhat cyclical that this piano winds up in the Atlantic Ocean. There are three main theories as to how this heavy  baby grand piano landed in the river: 1) It was used for a photo shoot and was just too heavy and old to remove afterwards. 2) It was a garbage dump since some locals claim they say it tossed on it’s side just by the river walkway’s gate. 3) My friend Marie Flageul has the best theory as to it’s origin. She is convinced it is the piano from the Sequoia Restaurant that was part of South Street Seaport’s Pier 17 that is now disgracefully and disrespectfully being torn down. It could not have been snatched from the dumpsters since they are all guarded behind closed gates, so . . . was it construction workers in a humorous mood?

We will never know. Both the Sanitation Department, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Parks Department all claim it is not their jurisdiction. The curiosity now remains how long it will take for the Atlantic ocean to claim it’s serenade to sea.

In the meantime, enjoy the strains of Frank Chacksfield’s 1954 “Ebb Tide” ♫♪♪♪♫♫ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATF93NMujk

In 1854, two brilliant idealists, Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin, founded the Mason & Hamlin Company in Boston, Massachusetts, the birthplace of American piano design and manufacturing. Although their backgrounds and interests were very different, the two men shared a common goal: to make the world’s finest musical instruments.

Henry Mason was a member of one of America’s oldest families—they were actually descendents of pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower. The Masons were renowned for their involvement in the arts. Henry Mason was a pianist and his brother, William, was one of America’s foremost classical pianists and composers.

Their father was the famous composer and educator Lowell Mason, a visionary who was the first to bring music into the public schools of America. He was also known throughout the world as a composer and publisher of hymns, and is often called the “father of American church music.” Henry Mason shared his father’s lifelong dedication to music.

Emmons Hamlin was not a musician, but instead a brilliant mechanic and inventor. While working at the melodeon factory of George A. Price and Company of Buffalo, Hamlin invented a way to voice organ reeds, so that they could imitate the sound of a clarinet, violin or other musical instruments.

Hamlin developed his discovery to perfection, and in 1854, he and Henry Mason formed their company for the purpose of manufacturing a new musical instrument that they called the “organ harmonium.”