Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Elizabeth Pace Lamson (aka Ellie) grew up loving everything about the Old French Quarter, Mardi Gras, and the music that defines her city. A professional singer and songwriter, Ellie first sang the Mardi Gras theme song “If Ever I Cease to Love” for her entire school when she was only 6 years old. It has been dear to her heart ever since, and she has always wanted to remake a new version of the song that will get people dancing in the streets!
Mark Lamson, (aka Marco), has spent his life traveling to Cuba, Mexico and Brazil, where he has studied and performed with dozens of legendary musicians and drummers – including Regino Jimenez, Esteban Vega "cha cha" Bacalla, Jorge Alabe, Zero, and Boca Rum. Over the years, Marco has mastered countless percussion instruments and musical styles, and he is well known in the World Music community for his ability to create innovative cross-cultural sounds that exchange rhythmic structures, instruments, and traditions.
To date, Marco’s best known work is “Bata Ketu” (1996), a fusion and interplay of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian religious music and instruments. Conceived and produced with San Francisco musician Michael Spiro, Bata Ketu is registered with the Smithsonian Institute as the first combination of Brazilian and Cuban folkloric music ever recorded. It has also received landmark funding from the Rockefeller Institute and Stanford University for sold out live performances.
Upon meeting in San Diego, Marco and Ellie fell in love immediately and have been making music together ever since. In the Lamson household, life truly is a Carnival! After producing countless stage performances, concerts, and Carnival-style street parades together, “If Ever I Cease to Love” became the next logical step for the couple.
How do you take a “Pirates of Penzance” style song and make it suitable for dancing in Mardi Gras parades? That’s where Marco works his magic. Imagine Cuban bata drumming, Samba rhythms, the Second Line snare, and drum set playing together interchangeably. While it took a huge amount of experimentation on Marco’s part, the result is rich and multidimensional - with Ellie singing vocals, Jason Hanna playing trumpet, and 38 percussion instruments building the song slowly from a 19th century ballad into an infectious, Carnival-style groove.
“If Ever I Cease to Love” lives on. From 1872 to 2013, from France to New Orleans to New York to Russia to Africa to Brazil to Cuba to San Diego…Marco and Ellie continue to carry the love affair forward.
