Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 32-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
In 2013, at the point when I was making videos for songs on Empathy For The Evil (M’Lady’s Records, 2014), David returned from a trip to Cuba with his wife, experimental bass player Wendy Atkinson. He showed me this great video he made of Wendy walking through the streets of Havana. It’s mostly one long shot—which is one of David’s specialties. He makes great videos!
We recorded the album in Miami, so the Havana visuals resonated for “What’s Your Name?” which intends to make empathy a personal responsibility. With me on sax and Kramer playing something that sounds like a vibraphone, there’s a kind of community band feel that fits right in on the streets of Havana.
“What’s Your Name?” from the album Empathy For The Evil (M’Lady’s, 2014) (download):
