Mark Sandman died of a heart-attack at the age of 46 while performing and being filmed on stage in Italy. Musicians from all over the Triangle came together in July to contribute to a cover of Tomorrow, originally released on Sandbox: The Recordings of Mark Sandman. The song will appear on a compilation album to commemorate the 10th Anniversary. An indie rock icon and longtime fixture on the Boston/Cambridge music scene, Sandman was best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also known as a prominent member of the Boston blues band Treat Her Right and the founder of Hi-n-Dry, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based recording studio and independent record label. Will Dawson of The Alcazar Hotel produced, played, and sang for the project along with his soulmate, Katharine Whalen at the fabulous Studio M in Chapel Hill. We were honored with the opportunity to document the event. Mark Sandman. 1952-1999. My 4th-of-July weekend was interrupted with the news of Mark Sandman’s death. It is a tremendous loss for rock and roll not only in that it halts Sandman’s production of new material, but because Sandman so well occupied a position of rocker-as-artist. The use of his music in independent films, his live poetry breaks, and the photography he kept on his website kept Sandman very much in the art-school vibe. Sandman’s band, Morphine, was one of the handful of "alternative" rock bands whose work, I feel, will remain resonant after the glut of irony is washed away by time. As enjoyable as it is, will "Tropicalia" by Beck mean anything in a few years, once people confuse it and the retro-lounge fad it was sending up? Try listening to "Loser" again without feeling nostalgic. Morphine’s music has little to do with hitting these hip touchstones.-Jordan Hoffman The Mark Sandman Music Education Fund was established by his friends and family in order to give children in the Cambridge and Boston area an opportunity to learn musical instruments. As of 2008, this foundation has been re-named the Mark Sandman Music Project. Housed in the newly renovated Armory Arts Center at 191 Highland Ave. Somerville, the Project hopes to continue Mark's legacy. The Project is a community based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing children and music together to foster educational, recreational and artistic goals and experiences. The Hi-n-Dry community will be the driving force behind this project which believes in that creative collaboration creates community. Donations are needed and welcomed. More information can be found at: Myspace.com/marksandmanmusicproject. Music courtesy of The Alcazar Hotel and Hi-n-Dry Record Label, MA.All images are the exclusive copyright of monkeywhale productions, 2009.