Theater Sound Test with The PRVLG and Paul Taylor
2019-09-24 08:00 - 09:30 (America/Chicago) | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for a free sound test performance by The PRVLG and Paul Taylor at Crosstown Theater.
Please note that this is not a concert. The performers will be starting and stopping as our staff works to perfect the sound in Crosstown Theater, but the public is invited for free music.
Free and open to the public

Crosstown Arthouse presents THE QUEEN (1968)
2019-09-26 14:30 - 16:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
More than 40 years before RuPaul’s Drag Race, the ground-breaking documentary THE QUEEN is about the 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant introduced audiences to the world of competitive drag. The film takes us backstage to kiki with the contestants as they rehearse, throw shade, and transform into their drag personas in the lead-up to the big event. Organized by LGBTQ icon and activist Flawless Sabrina, the competition boasted a star-studded panel of judges including Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers, and Terry Southern.. But perhaps most memorable is an epic diatribe calling out the pageant’s bias delivered by Crystal LaBeija, who would go on to form the influential House of LaBeija, heavily featured in Paris Is Burning (1990). A vibrant piece of queer history, The Queen can now be seen in full resplendence thanks to a new restoration from the original camera negative.

The MD's perform The Beatles' Revolver
2019-10-04 15:00 - 18:00
Join us as The MD’s — a Memphis-based Booker T & the MG’s tribute band — perform The Beatles Revolver album on the Kemmons Wilson Family Stage at Crosstown Theater.
Tickets: $20
Doors at 7:30 pm | show at 8 pm

In March of 1966, negotiations were being made for The Beatles to possibly record their next studio album in Memphis, TN at Stax Records. Concerns over security, money, and other factors ultimately killed the deal and The Beatles remained at Abbey Road. Can you imagine what that next record, to be titled Revolver, would have sounded like had it been recorded in Memphis? Would Otis Redding have added some background vocals? Would Booker T have played organ? What about the Memphis horns?

Since The MD’s main goal is to keep the incredible catalog of Booker T & The MG’s music alive, they have decided to try something a little different. With the utmost respect to Booker, Steve, Duck, and Al, they are going to perform Revolver as they think the MG’s would have in the ’60s.
About The MD’s:
The only Booker T & the MG’s tribute band in the group’s hometown of Memphis, TN. The MD’s will play anything Booker T & the MG’s ever recorded in the studio or at a live show.

Kafé Kirk with special guest Wycliffe Gordon
2019-10-06 13:00 - 15:00
Join Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum for Kafé Kirk, a monthly jazz series in Crosstown Theater featuring musical and spiritual collaborations with special guest artists. This month’s guest: jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon
Doors at 5 pm | performance at 6 pm
General admission tickets — $45
VIP tickets (includes a meet-and-greet and free CD) — $60

About Kirk Whalum:
Soulful, passionate, stirring … these are the words most often used to describe Kirk’s music. Forged from his Memphis gospel roots and his 1980s initiation into the thriving Houston nightclub scene, Kirk’s big, rich tenor sound is unmistakably his.The 80s were highlighted by Kirk’s stepping out of his blossoming sideman role and forming his own band. It was there that Kirk ultimately developed both his “voice” and songwriting in the crucible of the local club scene — especially at a rooftop club called Cody’s. It was also in Houston where jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” him and brought him on tour, which led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including Cache, Kirk’s first No. 1 album. Kirk and Bob also received a Grammy nomination for their collaboration album, Joined at the Hip.
After moving to Los Angeles, Kirk became an in-demand session player for top artists like Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones, and, most notably, Whitney Houston, amongst many others. It’s his sax heard on the mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You.” Kirk soon followed that career high point with his phenomenal hit album released on Warner Bros. Records, For You, perhaps the most successful of over 25 solo recordings to date. Others include his eclectic, and much-lauded, Gospel According to Jazz series, (Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4). In addition to his many solo projects, Kirk was also a member of the popular soul/jazz group, BWB, which features Kirk as the “W” of the group with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Norman Brown (guitar).
About Wycliffe Gordon:
Wycliffe Gordon experiences an impressive career touring the world performing to
great acclaim from audiences and critics alike.
Jazz Journalists Association named him “Trombonist of the Year” for the 12th time in
2019, and Downbeat Critics Poll named Wycliffe “Best Trombone” for the fifth time
last year (2018, 2016, 2014, 2013 & 2012). Most recently Wycliffe received the
“Louie Award” honoring his dedication and commitment to the music of Louis
Armstrong, and received the International Trombone Association Award in 2017,
which recognizes the highest level of creative and artistic achievement. In 2015,
Wycliffe was presented the Satchmo award from the Sarasota Jazz Club, received the
Louis Armstrong Memorial Prize presented by the Swing Jazz Culture Foundation,
and was named Artist of the Year (2015) by the Augusta Arts Council. He is also a
past recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award, among others.
In addition to an extremely successful solo career, Gordon tours regularly leading
his quintet, headlining at legendary jazz venues and performing arts centers
throughout the world. He is commissioned frequently, and has an extensive catalog
of original compositions that span the various timbres of jazz and chamber music.
Musicians and ensembles of every caliber perform his music throughout the world
and his arrangement of the theme song to NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard
daily across the globe.
Gordon is a former veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet, the Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra and has been a featured guest artist on Billy Taylor’s “Jazz at
the Kennedy Center” Series. Gordon is also one of Americaʼs most persuasive and
committed music educators, and currently serves as full time Artist-in-Residence at
Augusta University in Augusta, GA.
Wycliffe Gordon is a Yamaha Performing Artist and has his own line of Wycliffe
Gordon Pro Signature Mouthpieces by Pickett Brass. Visit www.wycliffegordon.com.

Spillit/Shoot And Splice: Tales From the Set
2019-10-08 14:00 - 17:00
Spillit, Indie Memphis, and Crosstown Arts are teaming up for a special Spillit/Shoot and Splice collaboration.
We’re pulling back the curtain and looking at the stories behind films as local filmmakers share their tales from set.
Doors at 6:30 pm | presentation at 7 pm
Shoot and Splice events are free and open to the public. Presented by Spillit, Indie Memphis, and Crosstown Arts.
Storytellers: – Kathy O. Lofton, Donita Sharkey, Morgan Rose Stewart, Nathan Reisman, Noah Glenn, Chris McCoy, Lawrence Matthews
Judges: Curtis C. Jackson, Elle Perry, Troy L. Wiggins
Spillit MC: Josh Campbell

Crosstown Arthouse presents THE UNHOLY THREE (1925) + NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
2019-10-10 14:30 - 16:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $10 (at the door only)
Double feature with THE UNHOLY THREE and a live score by BLUESHIFT ENSEMBLE, followed by a screening of NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
THE UNHOLY THREE was Tod Browning’s first shot at telling the story of three sideshow performers who grow sick of living the impoverished life they lead and hatch a plan to get rich. Tweedledee (Harry Earles) is a dwarf who disguises himself as a baby. Professor Echo, a ventriloquist, becomes Mrs. O’Grady — Tweedledee’s “grandmother.” Professor Echo’s girlfriend, who is a pickpocket, becomes his “granddaughter.” Theft, fake talking parrots, murder, ALMOST child murder, circus strongmen, and an unhinged pet ape!!!!
BLUESHIFT ENSEMBLE is a Memphis-based contemporary chamber music ensemble dedicated to bringing artists and audiences together through artistic collaboration. By programming both new and existing classical repertoire alongside multi-genre collaborations, Blueshift aims to connect a wider audience to today’s classical music. The ensemble draws upon Memphis’s uniquely diverse musical heritage by combining classical music with popular music genres such as rock, blues, soul, and hip hop and featuring local musicians, visual artists, and composers. The astronomical term “blueshift” indicates an object’s moving closer toward the observer. Blueshift aims to bring concert music and art out of the concert hall and into the Memphis community.
SECOND FEATURE: NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
A tall, handsome ‘preacher’ — his knuckles eerily tattooed with ‘love’ and ‘hate’ — roams the countryside, spreading the gospel … and leaving a trail of murdered women in his wake. To Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), the work of the Lord has more to do with condemning souls than saving them, especially when his own interests are involved. Now his sights are set on $10,000 — and two little children are the only ones who know where it is. ‘Chill…dren!’ the preacher croons to the terrified boy and girl hiding in the cold, dark cellar … innocent young lambs who refuse to be led astray.

Crosstown Arthouse presents THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921) + GANJA & HESS (1973)
2019-10-17 14:30 - 16:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $10 (at the door only)
Double feature with THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921) and a live piano accompaniment by Maeve Brophy, followed by a screening of SECOND FEATURE: GANJA & HESS (1973).
THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921): The last person to die on New Year’s Eve before the clock strikes twelve is doomed to take the reins of Death’s chariot and work tirelessly, collecting fresh souls for the next year. So says the legend that drives THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (Körkarlen), directed by the father of Swedish cinema, Victor Sjöström. The story, based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf, concerns an alcoholic, abusive ne’er-do-well (Sjöström himself) who is shown the error of his ways, and the pure-of-heart Salvation Army sister who believes in his redemption. This extraordinarily rich and innovative silent classic (which inspired Ingmar Bergman to make movies) is a Dickensian ghost story and a deeply moving morality tale, as well as a showcase for groundbreaking special effects.
MAEVE BROPHY gave her first solo piano recital at age 9 and made her orchestral debut at 15. She has given solo and collaborative performances in Wells, England; the Amalfi Coast; Kiev, Ukraine; New York; San Francisco; Seattle; Aspen; Nashville; and Memphis. She has performed for the Memphis Chamber Music Society and the Artist Ascending Series in Memphis and is a regular performer with the Luna Nova Ensemble. Maeve has performed as soloist with the Chernygev Symphony in Kiev as well as the Paducah Symphony and the Central Florida Philharmonic. She has a BA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Texas Christian University. She also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and at the New England Conservatory of Music with Russell Sherman. She has worked as a freelance accompanist in Memphis and played for numerous student recitals at the University of Memphis. She has taught students privately as well as at the Boston College of Adult Education.
SECOND FEATURE: GANJA & HESS (1973): Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and horror, Bill Gunn’s revolutionary independent film GANJA & HESS is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity. Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) stars as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), bestowing upon him the blessing of immortality … and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant’s beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her missing husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power blood holds. Later recut and released in an inferior version, this edition represents the original release, restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation, and mastered in HD from a 35mm negative.

The Midnight Hour at Crosstown Theater
2019-10-19 15:00 - 17:00
Join us for a performance by The Midnight Hour, featuring Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge.
Tickets: $20 advance | $25 day of show
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 8 pm
Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge — the pair behind the unforgettable score for the Netflix series Marvel’s Luke Cage —have announced an extensive North American fall tour for their acclaimed 10-piece ensemble, The Midnight Hour, featuring very special collaborative opening sets from the group’s incredibly talented vocalists Loren Oden and Angela Muñoz, and guitarist Jack Waterson.
The Midnight Hour is Black Excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. Performing with their jazz rhythm section and an orchestral section, reminiscent of maestros such as David Axelrod and Quincy Jones, The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip hop.

Pablo Sáinz Villegas at Crosstown Theater
2019-10-22 14:30 - 16:30
Join us for a performance by Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas at Crosstown Theater.
Time: doors at 6:30pm / performance at 7:30pm
Tickets: $20 (students $10 with ID at the door)
“virtuosic playing characterized by its vividly shaded colors and irresistible exuberance …”
— The New York Times
“Master of the guitar”
— Plácido Domingo

About the artist:
Praised as “the soul of the Spanish guitar,” Pablo Sáinz Villegas has become a worldwide sensation known as this generation’s great guitarist. With his “virtuosic playing characterized by irresistible exuberance,” as described by The New York Times, his interpretations conjure the passion, playfulness, and drama of Rioja, his homeland’s rich musical heritage. He is known for his passionate, emotive, and open-hearted playing, whether he is performing at intimate recital halls, or playing with Plácido Domingo to an audience of over 85,000 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, where maestro Domingo hailed him as “the master of the guitar.”
Sáinz Villegas has continued to thrive over the past year connecting in new ways with his audience. He was one of the few selected artists to participate at the 2018 Grammy’s Classical event at Carnegie Hall in New York, and he recorded an anticipated duo album together with tenor Plácido Domingo. Highlights of his recent collaborations with Domingo include a performance on a floating stage on the Amazon River streamed worldwide to millions, as well as a special anniversary concert at Chile’s National Stadium. Last season, Sáinz Villegas also made his debut at Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival under the baton of Carlos Kalmar at the Millennium Park to an audience of 11,000 people and accomplished summer tours with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He also gave the world premiere of ‘Rounds,’ the first composition for guitar by five-time Academy Award-winner John Williams.
Routinely drawing comparisons with legendary exponents of his instrument such as Andrés Segovia, Sáinz Villegas has already appeared on some of the world’s most prestigious stages including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Philharmonie in Berlin, and at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Known for a sound so rich and full that it does not need amplification, his concerto performances regularly inspire new invitations and re-engagements in more than 30 countries. He has played with the world’s top-level orchestras including the Pittsburgh, Bergen, and Israel Philharmonics, as well as Cincinnati, Spanish National, and Boston Symphonies. He made a series of important debuts under the baton of Frühbeck de Burgos, and has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with conductors including Juanjo Mena, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Carlos Kalmar, Gustavo Gimeno, and Cristian Macelaru.
Sáinz Villegas continuously searches for ways to communicate with young audiences and to inspire them with music. A born communicator, the guitarist explains: “Music is among things we cannot touch and that is what makes it most powerful.” Over the last decade, he has created projects that bring music beyond the performance halls, reaching more than 20,000 children and youth through volunteering his time, establishing music programs, visiting schools, and creating unique community activities around the globe. His efforts have granted him invitations to play for the Spanish Royal Family and the Dalai Lama.

Crosstown Arthouse presents HAXAN (1922) + DEEP RED (1975)
2019-10-24 14:30 - 16:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $10 (at the door only)
Double feature with HAXAN (1922) and a live score by 1000 LIGHTS, followed by a screening of DEEP RED (1975).
HAXAN (1922): Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary silent film HAXAN uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages and early modern era suffered from the same ills as psychiatric patients diagnosed with hysteria in the film’s own time. Far from a dry dissertation on the topic, the film itself is a witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous. Christensen’s mix-and-match approach to genre anticipates gothic horror, documentary re-creation, and the essay film, making for an experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema.
Is 1000 LIGHTS a post punk band? A proto-punk band? A goth band? A band of Memphis’ heaviest hitters? All of the above? Meet A Thousand Lights. Guitarist Joey Killingsworth (Jocephus and the George Jonestown Massacre, Super Witch, Grendel Crane, Static Bombs), drummer Russ Thompson (The Margins, Static Bombs, New Intruders, Pisshorse), bassist Chris McCoy (Super Witch, Static Bombs, New Intruders, Pisshorse), and vocalist Jesse James Davis (Yesse Yavis, Model Zero) owe their partnership to the Memphis Does Bowie benefit show. Thompson, who has been a musical partner with McCoy since their days in the legendary 90s art punk band Pisshorse, sat in with McCoy and Killingsworth’s metal juggernaut Super Witch to cover the Bowie classics “Scary Monsters and Super Creeps,” “Cat People,” and “It Ain’t Easy.” Davis, dressed as Low-era Bowie, brought the house down fronting Winchester and the Ammunition. Memphis Does Bowie raised more than $20,000 for Memphis area charities. In 2017, Killingsworth, Thompson, and McCoy were playing together in the death rock project Static Bombs when the trio tapped Davis for a pair of shows: Gimmie Shelter, a benefit for homeless charities that saw Memphis musicians paying tribute to the Rolling Stones; and a slot at Memphis’ hottest Halloween party, hosted by Black Lodge Video, where the band, joined by saxophonist Seth Moody, performed The Stooges Funhouse album in its entirety. These shows were such a raging success that the group decided to make it permanent, renaming themselves A Thousand Lights, after a line from The Stooges’ “Down On The Street.” As you can tell from the choices of artists they paid tribute to, A Thousand Lights sound is slippery and diverse, incorporating elements from the earliest days of punk and post punk that bands like Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Love and Rockets synthesized into goth rock. Their debut EP “3nc EP” is available now on iTunes & Spotify.
SECOND FEATURE: DEEP RED (1975): 4K restoration! From Dario Argento, the man behind some the greatest excursions in Italian horror (SUSPIRIA, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, THE CAT O’ NINE TAILS), comes DEEP RED: arguably the ultimate giallo. Aided by a throbbing score from legendary proggers Goblin, this hallucinatory fever dream is punctuated by some of the most expert setpieces the genre has to offer. One lonely night, musician Marcus Daly (David Hemmings, BLOW UP), looks up from the plaza below and witnesses the brutal axe murder of a woman in her apartment. Racing to the scene, Marcus just misses the perpetrator — or does he? As he takes on the role of amateur sleuth, Marcus ensnares himself in a bizarre web of murder and mystery where nothing is what it seems.

Spaceface Annual Halloween Show w/ The Upside Down Ensemble
2019-10-26 15:00 - 17:00
Join us on the Kemmons Wilson Family Stage at Crosstown Theater for a performance by psychedelic garage-rock band Spaceface.
Tickets: $10 advance | $15 door
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 8 pm

Halloween season is here, and Spaceface is ready to haunt your dreams. The local psychedelic anomaly will be performing a double set at Crosstown Theater.
Alongside the city’s favorite astral apparitions, members of The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will be performing under the guise of THE UPSIDE DOWN ENSEMBLE. Don’t miss this hair-raising combination of psych and strings.
As per usual, the night will also feature several other Memphis acts. The indie pop outfit fronted by Harlan Hutton is sure to shock souls and raise spirits, and DJ Chandler Blingg (Jess Jackson of JCKSN AVE) will be keeping the groove going all night long.
Memphis has too much talent to be contained, so in keeping with tradition, a vendor area in the North Plaza courtyard (outside the theater) will feature some of the best local painters, crafters, and visual artists.
Featuring: Amber George /Jess Tinsley/Margaret Wilder/ Jess Kirk
So, mortals, come and bear witness to the spookiest party of the year!

Indie Memphis Film Festival
2019-10-30 12:00 - 18:00
Indie Memphis kicks off its annual film festival at Crosstown Theater with an opening party at 5 pm.
That’s followed by a sold-out screening of Harriet, the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, at 6:30 pm.
Stick around for the Hometowner Narrative Shorts #1 Competition at 9:30 pm. Featuring Always Open, The Eureka Hotel, Life After Death, Now the Sun Asks to Rise, TAGGED, The Bee, and The Indignation of Michael Busby.
For the full Indie Memphis Film Festival schedule, go here.

Crosstown Arthouse presents HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959)
2019-10-31 13:00 - 15:00
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Film begins at 6 pm sharp.
FREE ADMISSION (as part of Crosstown Concourse’s Trunk or Treat event)
In HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) is an eccentric millionaire who rents a reportedly haunted mansion for one night under the pretense of hosting a party for his wife, Annabelle, whom he believes to be after his fortune. He explains to his guests that any among them who survives in the house for one night — during which all communication with the outside world will be cut — will receive a prize of $10,000.

Kafé Kirk with special guest Bob James
2019-11-03 12:00 - 14:00
Join Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum for Kafé Kirk, a monthly jazz series in Crosstown Theater featuring musical and spiritual collaborations with special guest artists. This month’s guest: Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer Bob James.
Doors at 5 pm | performance at 6 pm
General admission tickets — $45
VIP tickets (includes a meet-and-greet and free CD) — $60
About Kirk Whalum:
Soulful, passionate, stirring … these are the words most often used to describe Kirk’s music. Forged from his Memphis gospel roots and his 1980s initiation into the thriving Houston nightclub scene, Kirk’s big, rich tenor sound is unmistakably his.The 80s were highlighted by Kirk’s stepping out of his blossoming sideman role and forming his own band. It was there that Kirk ultimately developed both his “voice” and songwriting in the crucible of the local club scene — especially at a rooftop club called Cody’s. It was also in Houston where jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” him and brought him on tour, which led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including Cache, Kirk’s first No. 1 album. Kirk and Bob also received a Grammy nomination for their collaboration album, Joined at the Hip.
After moving to Los Angeles, Kirk became an in-demand session player for top artists like Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones, and, most notably, Whitney Houston, amongst many others. It’s his sax heard on the mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You.” Kirk soon followed that career high point with his phenomenal hit album released on Warner Bros. Records, For You, perhaps the most successful of over 25 solo recordings to date. Others include his eclectic, and much-lauded, Gospel According to Jazz series, (Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4). In addition to his many solo projects, Kirk was also a member of the popular soul/jazz group, BWB, which features Kirk as the “W” of the group with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Norman Brown (guitar).
About Bob James:
From his early days in Marshall, MO, Bob James’ music has captivated audiences throughout the world.
Known primarily as a jazz artist, he has influenced musical genres from Classical to Hip-Hop. His work at the groundbreaking record label CTI allowed James to hone his skills on projects for Hank Crawford, Grover Washington Jr., and Paul Simon among others.
The release of his solo album, One, launched a stellar career of recordings and performances. His gold selling album, Touchdown included his composition “Angela” which became the theme song for the sitcom, Taxi.
More recently Mr. James has become known as a pioneering member of the best-selling
contemporary jazz group Fourplay, whose members over the years have included guitarists Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, and the late Chuck Loeb along with Nathan East on bass and Harvey Mason on drums.
While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on hip hop, having been sampled often. Two of James’ songs —“Nautilus” from 1974’s One and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s Two — are among the most sampled in history.
James continues to draw sold-out audiences worldwide, not only as a solo artist, but with
collaborations with artist such as David Sanborn, Marcus Miller and The Bob James Trio.
The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn.

Crosstown Arthouse presents STALKER (1979) with DUBICEL (2019)
2019-11-07 13:30 - 15:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series is proud to present DUBICEL, the work of animator, writer and director Yashira Jordan. Yashira was an inaugural participant in the Crosstown Arts Residency program. DUBICEL (12 minutes) is a cosmic child who lives in a galactic dome alone and wants to open the walls that imprison him to discover what is beyond and to discover the stars. Despite having the gift of materializing mysterious objects of his dreams, he cannot find the one what allows him to open the window of his dome, until one of them gives him the key to be able to reach what he needs. But this one is not an object. It is a living being. This short film was made by Ecological art recycling.
One of the most immersive and rarefied experiences in the history of cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky’s STALKER (161 minutes) embarks on a metaphysical journey through an enigmatic post-apocalyptic landscape. A hired guide — the “Stalker” of the title — leads a writer and a scientist into the heart of the Zone, the restricted site of a long-ago disaster, where the three men eventually zero in on the Room, a place rumored to fulfill one’s most deeply held desires. Adapting a science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, and making what would be his final Soviet feature, Tarkovsky created a challenging and visually stunning work, his painstaking attention to material detail and sense of organic atmosphere further enriched by this vivid new digital restoration. At once a religious allegory, a reflection of contemporary political anxieties, and a meditation on film itself—among many other interpretations—Stalker envelops the viewer by opening up a multitude of possible meanings.

About Yashia Jordan:
Yashira Jordán was born in La Paz (Bolivia) in 1985. Shem made her first short film when she was 12. She studied Fine Arts in UNLP Argentina, specialized in Film 2010. She is a BERLINALE TALENT 2007 Universidad del Cine (Film University of Buenos Aires) – BAFICI and a BERLINALE TALENT 2008 from Berlin International Film Festival. Winner of “IBERMEDIA Project Scholarship” for Ecuador and Venezuela.
Selected for Producers Network- Marche du Film- Cannes in Ventana Sur, Buenos Aires two times. Director, writer, and producer of the film DURAZNO, with which she has participated in various Major and indie festivals and other film events around the world, such as the European Film Market of the Berlinale Film Festival, Rencontres du Toulouse-France, Guadalajara, Morelia, Mexico; Visions du Reel, Switzerland, Latin side of the Doc, Hot Docs, Canada, Girona cinema, Barcelona, Alianza Francesa, Buenos Aires, Argentina.BR LAB, Brazil. among others.
Co-founder of the Animation Studio CELESTE since 2011, where she became Executive Producer of animation in BELISARIO -a Full-dome series won 2019 Quirino Awards in Tenerife for Best Innovate Animation together with the Planetarium of the City of La Plata, Argentina, and the production company Cut to the Chase in Argentina. Creator of the Latin American Stop Motion Workshop (Taller Latinoamericano de Stop Motion, TLSM) with the support of Festival international du film d’animation d’Annecy and Jamie Caliri’s Dragon Frame. TLSM which in its four versions hosted more than 500 participants from all over Latin America, and experts such as Alex Juhasz (The Little Prince, The Bababook), Mark Shapiro of LAIKA, Francesca Maxwell (Art Director of Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson), Juan Pablo Zaramella from Argentina, Veronique Ecrenaz and Folimage from France. Director and Producer of the stop-motion short film DUBICEL.
Director of DIAMANTE in development her second film, was selected to ISLAB, in la ISLA del SOL, LA PAZ Bolivia and in Volumetric Filmmaking Depthkit Though Works Arts – Art Residency in New York City 2019. During her career, she attended talks, meetings, and workshops with filmmakers like Werner Herzog, Win Wenders, Mike Leigh, Lucrecia Martel, Wim Wenders, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Lisandro Alonso, and Alex McDowell among others.

Mellotron Variations Concert Film Premiere
2019-11-08 13:30 - 15:30
Join us for the premiere of the Mellotron Variations concert film, recorded live at Crosstown Arts on April 21, 2018. Mellotron Variations is a performance of new works and collaborations for the Mellotron by Robby Grant, Jonathan Kirkscey, John Medeski, and Pat Sansone. Projections by Winston Eggleston and John Markham. Videography by Justin Thompson.

Film begins at 7:30 pm

Free

Contains some adult content

Mellotron Variations was the brainchild of Robby Grant & Jonathan Kirkscey. Given unlimited access to Memphian Winston Eggleston’s collection of expertly restored vintage Mellotrons and original tape banks, Grant and Kirkscey composed and performed a complete body of work using the exceptionally rare and finicky instrument. The 2016 concert was recorded and subsequently released on vinyl as Duets for Mellotron.

Seeking to continue their Mellotron experiments, Grant and Kirkscey put together a new set of work with the addition of keyboard giants John Medeski (Medeski Martin & Wood) and Pat Sansone (The Autumn Defense, Wilco). This 2018 concert was recorded and released as a record; Mellotron Variations and was also filmed. The Mellotron Variations concert film captures the excitement of this rare event as well as featuring behind-the-scenes footage of how the music was created. The Mellotron Variation Concert Film is presented with a newly created 5.1 surround mix. There will be a short Q&A with some of the participating musicians immediately after the screening.

Mellotron Variations concert film featuring the music and compositions of Robby Grant, Jonathan Kirkscey, John Medeski and Pat Sansone. Shot, directed and edited by Justin Elliott Thompson. Additional concert cinematography by Kevin Brooks and Edward Valibus Phillips. Produced by Robby Grant and Crosstown Arts. Surround mix by Daniel Lynn. Concert visuals and projections by Winston Eggleston and John Markham.

Book Launch for Revolution in Black and White: Photographs for the Civil Rights Era
2019-11-12 12:00 - 14:00
The Withers Collection is hosting the official book launch and signing for Revolution in Black and White: Photographs for the Civil Rights Era by Ernest Withers on Tuesday, Nov. 12 from 6-8 pm at Crosstown Theater.
Doors open at 6 pm in the theater for a booksigning. There will be slideshow at 7 pm, followed by a panel discussion at 7:30 pm with Richard Cahan, Michael Williams, and Rosalind Withers. Moderated by Emmy-nominated journalist and author, Katina Rankin, evening anchor for WATN-TV Local 24.
The event is free and open to the public. RSVP required. Printed or digital RSVP tickets MUST be presented at the venue.
Please be advised that there will be a documentary film crew recording this event.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ernest C. Withers was one of the most prominent African-American photographers of the civil rights era. During the course of his work, he took thousands of photographs that document the civil rights movement―from the Emmett Till trial in 1955 to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968.

What set his work apart was that he went beyond the political struggles to explain the civil rights movement that changed the country. Withers was primarily a local photographer, working as a freelancer for the Memphis World and Tri-State Defender starting in 1948. His photographs of the everyday world―bridge clubs, funerals, people at work and play, and street life―create a stunning record of what it was like to live in Memphis and the Mid-South. He was also a noted baseball photographer, documenting Negro League baseball in Memphis, and a noted music photographer, taking thousands of photographs of jazz, blues, rock ’n’ roll, and R&B performers.

This book combines this work for the first time and uses first-hand accounts of people who lived in the South to explain these transformative years. The photographs, taken as bare-bones journalism, rises to the level of fine art decades later.

They are also important examples of photojournalism, documenting decades of struggle in Memphis and the Mid-South. They serve as an important missing link in the civil rights narrative.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Richard Cahan and Michael Williams are noted photo historians. They have teamed up to produce more than twelve books. Most are based on long-lost archives or photographic collections. Called “the eloquent archival sleuthing duo” by Booklist magazine’s Donna Seaman, they have written award-winning books about photography, art, and history, including two on Vivian Maier, the reclusive nanny whose discovered photographic work has become a worldwide sensation.

Crosstown Arthouse presents MY 20TH CENTURY and ANACRONTE
2019-11-14 13:30 - 15:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series is proud to present ANACRONTE, the work of animator, writer and director Yashira Jordan. Yashira was an inaugural participant in the Crosstown Arts Residency program. ANACRONTE: What on first instance appears to be a conflict between good and evil is actually a struggle within every one of us. We can choose to cope with evil and fight for our dreams or surrender to the will of others. Anacronte and the Sorcerers of Evil put humanity’s happiness to the test, leaving us as both winners and losers. Anacronte was produced by Yashira Jordan and directed by Raul Koler and Emiliano Sette.
Ildikó Enyedi’s fairytale-like, unconventional ironic film luminaire MY 20TH CENTURY was awarded the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 1989. On the eve of the 20th century, two twin girls, Lili the anarchist and Dóra, a luxurious woman of loose morals, along with Mr. Z., who loves them as an entity, all reach the Hungarian border at the same time on board the Orient Express. Their story, rushing under the spell of Edison’s inventions, is a special ‘research of happiness’, reclaiming the ‘mass murdering century’ from the restlessly changing world and the miracle of existence. Tarkovsky’s fabulous actor, Oleg Yankovsky, performs an unforgettable double with the young Polish actress Dorotha Segda.

About Yashia Jordan:
Yashira Jordán was born in La Paz (Bolivia) in 1985. Shem made her first short film when she was 12. She studied Fine Arts in UNLP Argentina, specialized in Film 2010. She is a BERLINALE TALENT 2007 Universidad del Cine (Film University of Buenos Aires) – BAFICI and a BERLINALE TALENT 2008 from Berlin International Film Festival. Winner of “IBERMEDIA Project Scholarship” for Ecuador and Venezuela.
Selected for Producers Network- Marche du Film- Cannes in Ventana Sur, Buenos Aires two times. Director, writer, and producer of the film DURAZNO, with which she has participated in various Major and indie festivals and other film events around the world, such as the European Film Market of the Berlinale Film Festival, Rencontres du Toulouse-France, Guadalajara, Morelia, Mexico; Visions du Reel, Switzerland, Latin side of the Doc, Hot Docs, Canada, Girona cinema, Barcelona, Alianza Francesa, Buenos Aires, Argentina.BR LAB, Brazil. among others.
Co-founder of the Animation Studio CELESTE since 2011, where she became Executive Producer of animation in BELISARIO -a Full-dome series won 2019 Quirino Awards in Tenerife for Best Innovate Animation together with the Planetarium of the City of La Plata, Argentina, and the production company Cut to the Chase in Argentina. Creator of the Latin American Stop Motion Workshop (Taller Latinoamericano de Stop Motion, TLSM) with the support of Festival international du film d’animation d’Annecy and Jamie Caliri’s Dragon Frame. TLSM which in its four versions hosted more than 500 participants from all over Latin America, and experts such as Alex Juhasz (The Little Prince, The Bababook), Mark Shapiro of LAIKA, Francesca Maxwell (Art Director of Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson), Juan Pablo Zaramella from Argentina, Veronique Ecrenaz and Folimage from France. Director and Producer of the stop-motion short film DUBICEL.
Director of DIAMANTE in development her second film, was selected to ISLAB, in la ISLA del SOL, LA PAZ Bolivia and in Volumetric Filmmaking Depthkit Though Works Arts – Art Residency in New York City 2019. During her career, she attended talks, meetings, and workshops with filmmakers like Werner Herzog, Win Wenders, Mike Leigh, Lucrecia Martel, Wim Wenders, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Lisandro Alonso, and Alex McDowell among others.

Spillit Grand Slam
2019-11-15 13:00 - 16:00
Winners and runner-ups from each Spillit Slam from 2019 take the stage at Crosstown Theater to share their six minute homecoming stories and compete for the title of 2019 Spillit Grand Master Storyteller of Memphis.
Tickets: $20 at the door

Crosstown Arthouse presents Synonyms
2019-11-21 13:30 - 15:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp at Crosstown Theater
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale, the latest from Nadav Lapid, SYNONYMS features a dynamic lead performance from newcomer Tom Mercier, whose feral intensity practically bursts out of the frame. Mercier plays Yoav, a disaffected young Israeli who flees Tel Aviv for Paris to start a new life.
Desperate to erase his origins, Yoav sees becoming French as his only hope for salvation. Step one is to replace his language. From now on, he will not utter a single word of Hebrew and his dictionary becomes his constant companion. His work at the Israeli embassy is a burden, but studying for his naturalization test also has its pitfalls. And the young French couple he befriends has some rather strange ideas about how to help him.
Based on writer-director Nadav Lapid’s own experiences, Synonyms explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place. Yoav’s attempts to find himself awaken past demons and open up an existential abyss in this tragicomic puzzle that wisely knows how to keep its secrets.

North Mississippi Allstars Record Release Party
2019-11-29 14:00 - 16:00
North Mississippi Allstars celebrate their latest release, Up and Rolling, on the Kemmons Wilson Family Stage at Crosstown Theater.
Welcome Luther and Cody Dickinson back home to Memphis as they celebrate the release of their ninth studio effort, Up and Rolling. Joining them will be Memphis-born comedian Deric Poston.
Tickets: $25
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 8 pm
While inspired by the community and music of that Sunday more than 20 years ago, Up and Rolling is the sound of modern Mississippi. Luther hopes “the music is rooted but spreads evasively from the kudzu jungle grown over Junior’s concrete slab and Otha’s porch boards thru the Zebra Ranch’s razor wire chain link fence. Transcending time and space, music reaches out into the dark of night like the wisteria vine, looking for free-hearted souls to latch onto and wedge into the foundations of hate, slowly tearing down walls a generation at a time.”

Kafé Kirk with special guest Wendy Moten
2019-12-01 12:00 - 14:00
Join Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum for Kafé Kirk, a monthly jazz series in Crosstown Theater featuring musical and spiritual collaborations with special guest artists. This month’s guest: Memphis-based jazz vocalist Wendy Moten.
Doors at 5 pm | performance at 6 pm
General admission tickets — $45
VIP tickets (includes a meet-and-greet and free CD) — $60
About Kirk Whalum:
Soulful, passionate, stirring … these are the words most often used to describe Kirk’s music. Forged from his Memphis gospel roots and his 1980s initiation into the thriving Houston nightclub scene, Kirk’s big, rich tenor sound is unmistakably his.The 80s were highlighted by Kirk’s stepping out of his blossoming sideman role and forming his own band. It was there that Kirk ultimately developed both his “voice” and songwriting in the crucible of the local club scene — especially at a rooftop club called Cody’s. It was also in Houston where jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” him and brought him on tour, which led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including Cache, Kirk’s first No. 1 album. Kirk and Bob also received a Grammy nomination for their collaboration album, Joined at the Hip.
After moving to Los Angeles, Kirk became an in-demand session player for top artists like Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones, and, most notably, Whitney Houston, amongst many others. It’s his sax heard on the mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You.” Kirk soon followed that career high point with his phenomenal hit album released on Warner Bros. Records, For You, perhaps the most successful of over 25 solo recordings to date. Others include his eclectic, and much-lauded, Gospel According to Jazz series, (Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4). In addition to his many solo projects, Kirk was also a member of the popular soul/jazz group, BWB, which features Kirk as the “W” of the group with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Norman Brown (guitar).
About Wendy Moten:
When Wendy Moten talks about her more than 20 years in the music industry, a few words come up over and over: growing, collaborating, learning. Lucky, fortunate.
A surprising juxtaposition emerges: one of pop music’s most powerful voices, who hopes that her legacy will be as a collaborator, open to creating great art.
It’s a refreshing perspective from a vocalist with Wendy’s resume. The Memphis-born singer has earned a vast collection of professional credits in Contemporary, R&B, Jazz, Rock, and Country since launching her career with her self-titled debut record (EMI) in 1992. That album produced two Billboard charting singles, including the enduring ballad “Come In Out of the Rain” and the up-tempo dance hit “Step by Step.”
On the heels of that release, Wendy was chosen to open for Michael Bolton during his North American stadium tour and connected with fans worldwide through sold-out headlining performances at venues like the famed Budokan in Japan. In 1994, she recorded the GRAMMY ® nominated single “Whatever You Imagine,” from the animated film The Pagemaster starring Macaulay Culkin. Additional film soundtrack credits include 1993’s Mr. Wonderful starring Annabella Sciorra and Matt Dillon.
Julio Iglesias and Wendy Moten Wendy recorded two more albums for EMI: Time For Change, an international smash and European best-seller, with “Change Of Heart” and “Your Love Is All I Know;” and Life’s What You Make It, which showcased her versatility as an artist, vocalist, producer and songwriter.
That’s when Wendy got an invitation that she says was pivotal to the course of her career. She travelled the world with Julio Iglesias as a featured vocalist for 15 years, connecting with worldwide audiences, growing tremendously as a performer and discovering herself as an artist.
Through that experience and in the years since, Wendy has earned a reputation, not just for her powerhouse voice but for her professionalism and versatility – a chameleon behind the mic, she’s worked in every genre imaginable – and as a talented vocal and musical arranger and songwriter, her recording credits reach across genre lines with artists like Michael Bolton, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Al Jarreau, Joss Stone, John Mayall, Kenny Rogers, Jeffrey Osborne, Montgomery Gentry, Brooks & Dunn, Alice Cooper, Mindy McCready, Marcia Ball, Joe Louis Walker, Bonnie Tyler, Todd Snider and many others.
Wendy Moten and Kirk Whalum by Patty W. PadgettIndeed, the list goes on endlessly: her stunning lead vocal on the Stevie Wonder mega-hit, “All I Do,” from saxophonist Kirk Whalum’s GRAMMY® winning album, “For You;” her duets on records like Michael McDonald’s No Love to Be Found; featured vocals on Buddy Guy’s 2009 GRAMMY® nominated album Skin Deep and the recently released Good Road to Follow by John Oates. In 2009, she released Tis the Season, a collaboration with American jazz, pop, and Latin pianist Clay Perry and in 2013 shared backing vocal duties with Bekka Bramlett at Bonnaroo’s Rock ‘N’ Soul Dance Party Superjam, rocking out with an all-star lineup including John Oates, Jim James, Larry Graham, Billy Idol, R. Kelly, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Shoot & Splice: Holiday Film Trivia
2019-12-03 13:00 - 15:00
Throughout the year, Indie Memphis & Crosstown Arts brings cinematographers, directors, editors, writers, and technicians to Shoot & Splice, the monthly filmmaking forum. Come help us celebrate the end of another year with the Sixth Annual Shoot & Splice Cinema Trivia blowout with Trivia Masters Chris McCoy and John Beifuss! Test your filmmaker mettle! Prizes! Holiday cocktails! Food and deliciousness! Did we say, FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC?
DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 PM
TRIVIA CONTEST STARTS at 7:00 PM

Crosstown Arthouse presents Band of Outsiders
2019-12-05 13:30 - 15:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp at Crosstown Theater
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
Four years after Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard reimagined the gangster film even more radically with BAND OF OUTSIDERS (Bande à part, 1964, 95 minutes). Two restless young men (Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur) enlist the object of both of their fancies (Anna Karina) to help them commit a robbery — in her own home. This audacious and wildly entertaining French New Wave gem is at once sentimental and insouciant, effervescently romantic and melancholy, and it features some of Godard’s most memorable set pieces, including the headlong race through the Louvre and the unshakably cool Madison dance sequence.

The Bad Plus at Crosstown Theater
2019-12-08 14:00 - 17:00
Join us for a performance by jazz trio The Bad Plus on the Kemmons Wilson Family Stage at Crosstown Theater.
Tickets: $25
Doors at 7:30 pm | Show at 8 pm
The Bad Plus came together at the end of the 20th century and has avoided easy categorization ever since, winning critical hosannas and a legion of fans worldwide with their creativity, unique sound, and flair for live performance. The intensely collaborative trio has constantly searched for rules to break and boundaries to cross, bridging genres and techniques while exploring the infinite possibilities of three exceptional musicians working in perfect sync.
The band consists of founding members Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums) and new member Orrin Evans (piano) — a group of passionate collaborators with no single “leader.”
——-
“Bad Plus have grown from upstart into institution. Best Jazz Album of 2018.”
— Rolling Stone
“A combustible trio with a book of finely orchestrated, catchy original tunes, and a knack for radically reconstituted pop covers.”
— The New York Times
“By any standard, jazz or otherwise, it is moving, mighty music…bad to the bone, hot players with hard-rock hearts.”
— Rolling Stone
“The Bad Plus are the Coen brothers of jazz: Midwesterners, both ironic and dead earnest, technically brilliant, beyond versatile, a little chilly sometimes, but funny, surprising, and pretty hard to pin down.”
— The New Yorker
“One of the great, true groups in jazz of the past 25 years.”
— Joshua Redman

Crosstown Arthouse presents Handsworth Songs
2019-12-12 13:30 - 15:30
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp at Crosstown Theater
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
In October 1985, Britain witnessed a spate of civil disturbances in the Birmingham district of Handsworth and in urban centers of London. These were violent, tragic events, marked by the death of an elderly black woman, Joy Gardner, and a white policeman, Keith Blakelock .
HANDSWORTH SONGS (BLACK AUDIO FILM COLLECTIVE/JOHN AKOMFRAH)/1986/58 minutes) takes as its point of departure these events and the inability of the British media to go beyond its concern with demonizing or rationalizing the rioters and their motives, to break the anxiety-driven loop of morbid responses to the presence of blacks in Britain.
Handsworth Songs explores the idea that the riots represented less a self-contained drama of rage with a single origin and trajectory than a multiplicity of issues, ambivalences , to do with race, longing, and belonging – not all of which could be shored up by recourse to a rhetoric of civil disorder. The film’s sense of multiplicity extends to a rethinking of black British presence and a refuting of the idea of a homogenous black community with a single sense of presence characterized by uniformity of ambition and expression.
Instead the film evokes a broad range of voices, tones, registers. And it is through this panoply of positions and presences that Handsworth Songs approaches the riots and expresses its central idea — that it is not the riots in their dramatic unfolding, nor even in the wake of their violent eruption, which provide us with a route into the drama.
Handsworth Songs contends that the meaning in the malaise is to be found in events outside the frame of contemporary reportage, in moments which seemed to have little affective relation to the expressions of discontent which characterized the riots – in the annals of post war news reportage around race in Britain, transformed in the film into an archive of black (un)belonging, in the expression of hopes of belonging brutally deferred.

A Performance of Big Star's Third & More
2019-12-15 14:00 - 17:00
Join us for a performance of Big Star’s Third and more on the Kemmons Wilson Family Stage at Crosstown Theater.
Tickets: $30
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 8 pm
Featuring Big Star’s Jody Stephens and conducted by Carl Marsh, the album’s original arranger. Plus, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Chris Stamey (the dbs), Mitch Easter, Skylar Gudasz, Django Haskins (the Old Ceremony), Brett Harris, Charles Cleaver, Dale Baker, Jimmy Stephens, and members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Kirk Whalum's "A Gospel According to Jazz" Christmas
2019-12-20 14:00 - 17:00
Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum presents his 8th annual “A Gospel According To Jazz” Christmas Tour with John Stoddart and Kevin Whalum, along with this year’s featured guests, vocalist Maysa and guitarist Adam Hawley.
Tickets: $45-$75
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 8 pm
This show will be in support of Room In The Inn.

Gamble Brothers Band & CYC at Crosstown Theater
2019-12-21 14:00 - 17:30
The Gamble Brothers Band and CYC join forces for a double bill reunion at Crosstown Theater.
Tickets: $25
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 8 pm
About Gamble Brothers Band:
The Memphis-based Gamble Brothers Band formed in 2001, released three albums, and toured the U.S. with their guitar-less sound of R&B, soul and rock. The four-piece band played their last show at Mud Island Amphitheater when they opened for the Black Crowes in fall of 2006. Since then, Art Edmaiston, Al Gamble, Blake Rhea and Chad Gamble have all gone on to record and tour internationally with other well-known groups. Those artists include Grammy-winning Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, the Gregg Allman Band, JJ Grey and Mofro, Marc Broussard, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and more.
About CYC:
Seamlessly mixing funk, rap, metal, and jazz, CYC first made their name in Midtown coffee shops and beer joints, and ended their run as late-night stalwarts on Beale. The band became a springboard for launching Memphis music internationally as CYC members have since toured and collaborated with Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Buddy Guy, Gregg Allman, Yo Gotti, 8Ball & MJG, Dr. John and many more. It has been twenty years since CYC last performed but the grooves are fresh as ever and the band has been waiting for the opportunity to unleash the gems from the archives.

Shoot & Splice: The Business of Acting
2020-01-07 13:00 - 15:00
Join Indie Memphis & Crosstown Arts for Shoot & Splice: The Business of Acting with Jade Abrielle. Jade will discuss the many facets of being a professional actor, both on set and off, including how to market yourself, identifying your type, how to get an agent, audition taping, budgeting for your career, and more. Whether you are an actor or a filmmaker looking to learn more about the actor’s process, you don’t want to miss this presentation.
Doors at 6:30 pm | Presentation at 7 pm
Free and open to the public
Jade Abrielle is a Memphis native, known for her raw and powerful vulnerability in dramas and dry sarcasm in comedies. She is represented by Kathleen Schultz Associates. She lived in Atlanta for six years while pursuing her Bachelors in Mass Communications and Film Production from Clark Atlanta University. During her years in Atlanta, she appeared in commercials, web-series, independent films, and television shows such as Discovery ID’s “Homicide Hunter” and TV One’s “Justice By Any Means.”
Since returning to Memphis, she’s made her debut on the Hattiloo Theater stage. She just wrapped a TV pilot for BET and is currently working on an indie feature and a short film. She’s looking forward to participating in more projects in her hometown. “My mission as an artist is to create work that helps heal the human spirit, evolve the thought process, and ultimately inspire change within myself and others.”

Shoot & Splice is presented collaboratively by Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts.
