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These are collections of photographs taken over the past 15 years. The oldest are from Baltimore, the most recent from New York - Live Soul. The Live Soul collection is an attempt to document a small slice of the acoustic underground funk/rock/r&b music scene in New York City. The musicians in the Live Soul photos are all extremely talented, but largely outside the heavy rotation of the commercial music mainstream. They are far from unknown - many have national and international followings. The music is at once refined and raw - full of unflagging energy and irresistible emotion. It is in many ways, nothing like what you'd hear on commercial radio, yet it is eminently listenable. It runs the gamut from the gentle, almost folk sounds of Jeremy James, to the neo-soul sounds of Alexis and the ethereal Everyanything, to the soul infused pure rock of Reese and Danni Gee, to the hard driving, emotionally devastating, proto punk of Tamar Kali. There is music here for almost every taste. I think New York is in the middle of a magical music moment. A small, interconnected family of musicians drives it. They all play for each other and collaborate constantly. It will in time fade - all things change, and eventually, something else, new and great will come along. I think that many of these musicians who are on the scene now will go on to influence the next wave of popular music. They already play behind and write for many of the "big" industry names. I'd like this work to be a part of the document of these times, in the way that jazz was documented in the 50's and 60's. So take a look around, and if you see one of these names in your local paper, check them out. You won't be disappointed. |