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French Quarter, New Orleans

July 2010

Holga multi-exposure taken at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans
July 1, 2010

Print scanned; colors enhanced in Adobe Lightroom

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans
July 1. 2010

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans
July 1, 2010

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans
July 1, 2010

I started feeding my son Ben a steady diet of soul music before he could consume solid food, so it’s gratifying to see all that work paying off more than two decades later. To hear what I mean you must to give a listen this tune he and some friends recorded: 

James Brown RIP

Here’s what makes this cool, besides its obvious funkiness. The young men recorded it with one mic in a day and a half of just screwing around. As I understand it, Ben laid down some drum tracks and suggested a lyric. Then, like a good boy, he came home for dinner with his parents. (Yes, we do still insist on the occasional family dinner and this was a couple days before he headed back to Beijing.) Meanwhile, his pals recorded the bass (Eric Graalum), guitar (Matt Germscheid) and vocals, (producer Brendan Golle, Eric and Matt). The next day Ben went back and added trumpet parts. Now, mind you, Ben has never really played much trumpet. He had to learn some to earn his music education degree and he’s been messing around with it this summer, but this was really his debut.

How can you not be impressed? JB isn’t rolling in his grave, but I bet he’s doing a few splits.

Here’s a cheesy slice of disco funk that came to me over the weekend:

What Happens Now?

French Quarter, New Orleans
June 30, 2010

French Quarter, New Orleans
July 1, 2010

Market off Th Maharat, Bangkok
Feb. 13, 2010