Bon Temps - Rod Lathim

“Bon Temps”

Repurposed trumpet, neon

33” T x 12” W x 8” D

A trip down the Mississippi in 2025 ended in the Crescent City of Jazz and my soul was filled with the rich music of New Orleans. It was indeed a ‘good time.” I hope the colors and motion of this piece take you on a musical journey – perhaps to Preservation Hall… with a Hurricane and a hot beignet?

“Bon Temps” reimagines the trumpet as a vessel of light and rhythm. The composition evokes the improvisational movement of music, where sound takes form and color becomes melody. Joyful, kinetic, and luminous, “Bon Temps” celebrates the spontaneity and spirit of jazz — a visual syncopation of good times and good vibrations.

For me, this work captures the improvisational spirit of jazz — spontaneous, alive, and full of color. “Bon Temps” is about the good times that music brings, and how light, like melody, can lift us beyond the ordinary into pure celebration.