AMONG the episodes in hislife that didn'tlast, that wereoveralmostbeforethey began, includinga spellinthe armyanda try atmarriage, Michael Hart was a streetmusicianinSan Francisco.
To save the project (and to keep the kids in the movie), he recruits a local friend, Shakib (Shakib Ben Omar), a fanciful musician and a former street kid, to take over.
Hayes taught himself to play the piano, and after cutting his teeth on the Beale Street club scene, he worked his way into a gig as a house musician at Stax.