This usage of my song “Talk About Suffering” for a Nike spot is well done. I like the synchronization.

Pomme Chan | Nike Cortez 40/40 from London Sessions Productions on Vimeo.

There’s a Corey Harris gig in NYC on January 14 that I’d go to if I were still back east, which relates to an incredible video I posted a while back: Sittin´ On Top Of The World – Otha Turner & Corey Harris

Those guys both excel at the African roots of American music, which were buried as far as possible because of european looniness WRT Africa, like Heart of Darkness. Otha’s thing is pretty much straight quills AFAICT. Harris’ playing is creative and beautiful in a genre (blues) that is mainly formulaic machismo. Speaking as a musician with a related creative strategy, I have a lot of respect for where he takes it.

More awesomeness in the tradition of americana africana:

(1) Ali Farka Toure and Corey Harris play a Skip James tune. (2) From way back in 1961: Sid Hemphill & Lucious Smith – Old Devil’s Dream. (3) A short documentary on Otha Turner at FolkStreams.

(→ More quills posts on Soupgreens)

The Colored Aristocracy of St Louis is a small book with a long impact. It was somewhat malicious in a sharply observed way:

In 1858, Cyprian Clamorgan wrote a brief but immensely readable book entitled The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis.The grandson of a white voyageur and a mulatto woman, he was himself a member of the “colored aristocracy.” In a setting where the vast majority of African Americans were slaves, and where those who were free generally lived in abject poverty, Clamorgan’s “aristocrats” were exceptional people. Wealthy, educated, and articulate, these men and women occupied a “middle ground.” Their material advantages removed them from the mass of African Americans, but their race barred them from membership in white society.

The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis is both a serious analysis of the social and legal disabilities under which African Americans of all classes labored and a settling of old scores. Somewhat malicious, Clamorgan enjoyed pointing out the foibles of his friends and enemies, but his book had a serious message as well. “He endeavored to convince white Americans that race was not an absolute, that the black community was not a monolith, that class, education, and especially wealth, should count for something.” Despite its fascinating insights into antebellum St. Louis, Clamorgan’s book has been virtually ignored since its initial publication.

I love that this gives tiny details of ordinary lives that have long been forgotten.

50 years later or so that became the title of a cakewalk:

And then the cakewalk was stripped down to its core and became a standard of the old time fiddle and banjo repertoire.

The melody of the Elvis Presley song “Love Me Tender” comes from a 19th century pop tune called “Aura Lee.”

It’s hard to make this song work for our contemporary ears. It’s so over the top sentimental, and the harmonies are unbearably sweet. So I was happy to find a version I liked: the 1938 cover by The Shelton Brothers.