Eric Leeds shares touching story about St. Paul's Mother From Eric's Facebook & the LP Music fundraiser page:
Now about the photo.Since yesterday was Mother's Day, I, of course, was thinking of my mom who passed away several years ago. But when I came across this photo,it reminded me of someone else's mother. The pic was taken at First Avenue on Sunday,June 23, 2013. That's me and Paul Peterson, jamming with D'Angelo. (That's Mint Condition's Stokley Williams, partially visible behind me, and Qwestlove just behind Paul.) The gig was one of D'Angelo and Qwestlove's "Brothers In Arms" duo gigs,and they invited Paul, Stokley and myself to sit in on the encore. So what about the "other mom" I mentioned ?
Well, that afternoon, Paul's mother, Jeanne Arland Peterson had passed away at age 91. Jeanne was the matriarch of the Twin Cities' 1st Family of Music. She was an accomplished jazz pianist and singer, and oh yeah, the mother of Linda, Billy, Patty, Ricky, and Paul Peterson, all of whom have had exceptional careers as musicians. And then there are Jeanne's grandkids, nieces and nephews. It's hard to find a gig in the Twin Cities WITHOUT a Peterson playing or singing. And then there are all the other musicians in the TC that have rehearsed and jammed at Jeanne's house. Whether it was jazz, pop, rock, or funk, Jeanne was always checking us out and grooving with us.
Anyway, Jeanne had been in hospice care and the family had reason to believe she would not survive long. We had finished soundcheck and Paul was going to see his mom when he got word that she had passed. I reminded Paul that we were only "sitting in" and he was under no obligation to make the gig, and he should be with his family. But Paul said he would be there ready to groove. Besides as Paul pointed out "If my mom knew that I had blown a gig, even on the day she passed, she would have killed me". And so, as you can see, he made the gig and we grooved that night for Jeanne. So with that spirit, Paul and I can't wait to get all of our "cats" together and hit the studio this summer and make our first LP Music album. And thanks again to everyone who has helped make it possible. Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. |