MPOZI

Mpozi Talbert

I only met the man once while out on my firt Art/ Wine tour of the city but he made such an impact on me.

I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with this...it's not like I knew him on a real personal level..one night I met him in his studio where he was doing a live mix for everyone to hear.

Jen and I had not been out together to see the town and see the art that it had to offer. We heard about an city wide "open house" that went on the first Friday of every month. Towards the end of the night we we out to visit all the artists in Fountain Square. A huge warehouse where all kinds of artists lived and worked. Reminded me of what Chelsea would have been back in the day of Andy Warhol.

We didn't know anyone at any of the places but we were open to meeting anyone. The crowd was very diverse....mothers, fathers, kids and every race of person you can think of. We heard of a live music event being hosted by a gallery in the warehouse called the Big Car. The show was not set to begin for about an hour so we had plenty of time to kill. As we were trying to figure out what to do for an hour I hears some reggae music comin fromdown the hall and I liked it. It was kind old school with something new mixed into it. We both went to investigate.

This is when we met Impozi. He made us feel so welcomed just with his smile. He was in the middle of mixing but made room in his room for us to sit and enjoy our wine and listen to his music.

He told us about how he picked out his music and what it meant to him. Jen and I both danced in the hall and in his room. He made our night so much fun. As we were getting ready to leave he handed me a cd with his newest mix on it. On the way home Jen and I listened to it and recapped the night talking mainly about him.

Watching the news the other day I caught the very end of story about a photographer that had died suddenly in his office. I thought it had a picture of Impozi but I was not sure. I ran out of the room and told Jen what I had seen.
"I'm not sure about this but I swear there was a picture of Impozi on the news right now."

We turned the channel to another news cast and there it was.....A story on the man we had met that night.

Jen and I had returned back to see him on other occasions but he had not been around. I wanted to know him better. I did not take the news of his death too hard since we had not been real godo friends or anything but today and yesterday while listening to his cd for some reason I'm having a real hard time with it today. I have been on the verge of tears eversince I got here. I have been reading posting about him all morning and looking at photos he took. Everyone has the same story about him...He left a huge impact on people all over the nation with his photos and personality.

I called Jen just a few minutes ago to seee if she wanted to go to the memorial service with me. She agreed and said we could go after I get off.

I'm so sad today because of his death and I really should not be.

Clive Law