His ​“Thrill” Isn’t Gone

Would you throw Mike Latornica a quarter?

That was the question the occasional passerby faced on not-so-quiet Chapel Street the other night.

Latronica, aka ​“Papa L,” lives in Middletown. He used to play in bands. Then, he said, ​“I couldn’t get nobody to play with me. [So] I bought an amplifier that would do it.”

For the past few years he has been playing on sidewalks for change. The other evening, just after rush hour, found him and his Fender Stratocaster and his amp by the closed entrance to the Rendezvous clothing store, across Chapel Street yet a world away from the 32-story luxury 360 State St. downtown residential tower.

Rush hour had ended; few people walked by. But crisp electric-guitar blues riffs filled the air, bouncing off buildings for blocks around, as Latronica, backed by a recorded rhythm section he never met, took the lead on B.B. King’s classic ​“The Thrill Is Gone.” For Latronica, the thrill was still alive.

Would you have thrown some change into the tip jar? Click on the video above for a sample, then post your answer below.