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Booker T. Washington drumline
Booker T. Washington drumline

The drummers from Booker T. Washington High School perform for an appreciative crowd in the Foote Homes project, Memphis, February 23, 2012

The drummers from Booker T. Washington High School perform for an appreciative crowd in the Foote Homes project, Memphis, February 23, 2012

As I was driving downtown to Beale Street, I first heard and then saw a drumline as they were marching across Danny Thomas Boulevard from one side of the Foote Homes projects to the other. In Memphis, you learn to expect the unexpected (as in New Orleans), and thanks to the warm weather, they attracted quite a crowd. They finally posted up beside the basketball court at the Fourth Street end, and there I learned that it was the Booker T. Washington High School drumline. It was sort of a surreal experience- a drumline performing for a dancing crowd next to a project basketball court, with the Memphis skyline in the background, in weather far more appropriate for May than February. I love Memphis. 

As I was driving downtown to Beale Street, I first heard and then saw a drumline as they were marching across Danny Thomas Boulevard from one side of the Foote Homes projects to the other. In Memphis, you learn to expect the unexpected (as in New Orleans), and thanks to the warm weather, they attracted quite a crowd. They finally posted up beside the basketball court at the Fourth Street end, and there I learned that it was the Booker T. Washington High School drumline. It was sort of a surreal experience- a drumline performing for a dancing crowd next to a project basketball court, with the Memphis skyline in the background, in weather far more appropriate for May than February. I love Memphis.