Troost Avenue and 75th Street

Based on the history of Troost Avenue and Danny Cox’s Troost Avenue Blues, this installation, entitled "Everyday I Have the Blues," is a landmark in the community, creating memorable images and a directional place-maker to uniquely identify the corner. Like jazz, transportation is always moving, always changing, and part of the vitality that is the Troost corridor. The abstracted instrument is both constructed and de-constructed, symbolic of “tension and release” in the story or “soul” of jazz. It invites pedestrians to interact with the plaza, and keeps in mind the view and factor of time with respect to vehicles on Troost. The open, cantilevered framework suggests the raised “lid” of a grand piano and creates a shade/ shadow structure covering the area. Lighting is built into the pole structure that supports the lid to provide an ambiance as the site changes from day to night. A piano keyboard unfurls to the corner. Three red metal walls serve as a visual backdrop and reinforce the body of the piano form.