Michael T. Martin

culture & the contemporary city

It’s a musical Venn diagram placed over the landscape, and at any time you might have two dozen tracks playing in your ears, all meshing and colliding in surprising ways. The path you take determines what you hear Central Park, The Soundtrack

“The Stroll, hep vernacular for black Main Street, was the backbone of the chitlin’ circuit from the ’30s-’60s. While researching the circuit in Indianapolis, Houston, New Orleans, and Macon, I always checked out the stroll to see what was left, and found parking lots, on-ramps, or strip malls. I think the fact that these places were paved over is an important aspect of the circuit’s obscurity as it relates to American culture.”  (via Preston Lauterbach)

“The Stroll, hep vernacular for black Main Street, was the backbone of the chitlin’ circuit from the ’30s-’60s. While researching the circuit in Indianapolis, Houston, New Orleans, and Macon, I always checked out the stroll to see what was left, and found parking lots, on-ramps, or strip malls. I think the fact that these places were paved over is an important aspect of the circuit’s obscurity as it relates to American culture.”  (via Preston Lauterbach)

Lipstick Traces

Benny Spellman, the baritone New Orleans rhythm and blues singers, died on Friday. He sang back up on Ernie K-Doe’s “Mother In-Law” and worked closely with Allen Touissant for years. His biggest hit, however, was “Lipstick Traces”. 

Dance on.