Today, there are only a few remaining movie theaters in New Orleans. But just a few decades ago, downtown movie palaces like the Joy and Saenger competed for audiences with neighborhood cinemas from the Marigny to Carrollton. What's less remembered is a brief period mostly in the 1970s when mainstream and art house theaters began switching to a new type of entertainment: pornography.

The very first feature in Volume I of The Iron Lattice was an interview with Bennie Pete of the Hot 8 Brass Band. He spoke of his connection to his people, and the city, and how music was a thread that sustained him as it tied together everything he loved.