Vigon Bamy Jay - Les Soul Men (2013)
Macabeo Eastman
Still, American soul music touched Paris back when James Baldwin and Josephine Baker walked the same cobblestone streets laid out in front of this record store, way before online interconnectivity made it easier for cultures to bleed onto each other. Such was the strength of the music. I go in search of Vigon to prove that for a bright, shining moment in the 1960s, he actually happened.
All my photos from the exhibition lived on in the cloud. With skateboarders gliding, crashing, and falling behind me, I connected to some weak public wifi to download my shots. And there was Vigon. The museum positioned four twelve-inch vinyl sleeves behind a glass partition, albums by Bernadette Grimm, Les Safari, Les Missiles, and Vigon. His placement in the exhibition was never crystal clear to me. Though, yes, he was a north African singer recording in France, he sang soul music. The American r&b covers he chose never had a political bent like those of Nina Simone or Curtis Mayfield.
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