I took Sennet to school today. As we got in the car I turned on the CD player and asked him if he wanted to listen to some music? He nodded and I asked him if he wanted to listen to some funk? He laughed and nodded again. He asked why I called it funk? I just told him that’s what that kind of music was called – it usually had a heavy bass line and often had a lot horns and brass. I put on a mixed funk CD that I had burned and we cranked it up.

We played some Rebirth Brass Band, some Trombone Shorty, some James Brown, and this tune by a New Orleans band called Galactic, with Irma Thomas singing: “Heart of Steel.”

We made it through four or five songs before we got to La Escuelita. When I turned the car off Sennet said, “Hey I want some more of that! Can I get some more funk after school?”

You bet, buddy. You bet.