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Dovetailing from last week’s note, I want to reiterate how much I love shooting ‘still life’ objects on sidewalks, beaches and places where things don’t seem like they belong. Or evidently wound up in a location by some kind of drama: boots, bras, panties, roses and plastic bats to name a few.
This lone ‘ultra-low-karat-gold’ earring carried a vibration of its own. Though I didn’t witness the moment it tumbled down to the curb, one can imagine the resounding light tinkle it made when it hit the concrete. Perhaps from the ear of someone who thought the fragile clasp was hinged; and didn’t hear it hit the street because she was listening to Luther Vandross croon "So Amazing" on her earbuds. Maybe it fell from a purse, when its shoulder strap broke and the contents scattered the sidewalk. Checking the time, the owner quickly stopped to frantically pick up as many items as she could (lint roller, lip balm, cell phone, hot mints) so she wouldn’t miss the bus and clock in late for the first shift in her first job of the day. A bit out of her reach she decides to ditch the jewelry and grab another 6-pack of them at the discount boutique checkout stand between gigs. Leaving this bauble to grace…
…the cover of The Isness’s latest album “Dangling Between Oz and Middle Earth”. Known by his friends and loved one as Curtis Benard, “Is” has been mixing tunes & creating beats since the early days of hip-hop. Curt saved up money from odd jobs to buy turntables and practiced spinning on the dresser top of his bedroom. On break from dish washing duties at TexMex, he started scribbling rhymes into spiral notebooks.
“Is” revealed that during a near death experience, when he was shot in the head by his best friend who came to rehearsals high on dust, God told him that he’d only send him back to earth if he promised to make music about truth and love. After a miraculous recovery, that included being gifted with the spontaneous ability to play several instruments, he pivoted from Rap to Gospel, before he was ‘downloaded’ with his signature sound that transcends genres. “Is’s” commitment to excellence and creating from a higher vibration has won admiration and partnerships with artists from Willie Nelson to Cardi B, who rely on him to craft feel good melodies for their audiences. He calls his latest record, “an odyssey through the human condition from heaven’s eyes”.
(In memory of Curtis Bernard “Curt Alert” McDonald: 6/14/1968 - 11/27/1985)
© 2025 Carolyn McDonald All rights reserved.
