The Green Room

Join cellist Jonathan Kirkscey and Jane Slatery from Church Health for a mindfulness meditation workshop featuring live music integrated into the class.   Free and open to the public. Participants should bring their own yoga mat or blanket.   Jane Slatery is an advanced practice psychiatric-mental health clinical nurse specialist. She incorporates mindfulness practices in […]

Crosstown Arts presents saxophone and percussion ensemble AlteredSound Duo in a performance featuring works by David Vayo, Adam D. O'Dell, Chelsea Loew, Kerrith Livengood, and Alex Minceck.

Location: Crosstown Arts Green Room 

Join us for the third installment of the Green Room Sessions, an exercise in close listening and thoughtful discussion about classic songs and albums from the Stax Records catalog.

This month, Dr. Charles Hughes will examine Isaac Hayes' seminal album, Hot Buttered Soul. The anchor of Stax's massive 27 album and 30 single "Soul Explosion" in 1969, the album highlights the burgeoning genius of Hayes as a performer and composer. With only five songs and no obvious radio hit, it was a major risk for both Hayes and the label, but it paid off, as the album sold well over a million copies and Hayes became an overnight star.

Joining Dr. Hughes will be former Stax Records owner Al Bell, who initiated the "Soul Explosion" and played a key role in encouraging Hayes and other Stax artists to explore new sounds and to use the album format to experiment and bring in new audiences.

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, Memphis' premier reggae soul band. This popular Memphis-based group describes their sound as "Reggae/Lover's Rock/Dancehall/DUB/ STAX Soul."

The LIVE from THE GREEN ROOM music series offers an intimate experience with some of the best up-and-coming artists in the region. Enjoy an inviting lounge setting and an array of artists — some you’ll already know and others you're waiting to discover.

Tonya Dyson is the real deal in the revival movement and the new soul underground. She seamlessly blends gospel, jazz, and R&B, instantly rebooting Memphis' soul legacy.

Join us for a performance by the Obruni Dance Band in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts on Wednesday, March 20.

The Obruni Dance Band specializes in West African highlife music, the eminently danceable grooves that have dominated popular music in Ghana for nearly a century, where cascading guitar arpeggios swirl around intricately locked bass and drums. Obruni is the brainchild of bassist and singer Adam Holton, who studied the music of Ghana for a time. (from Alex Greene, The Memphis Flyer)

Crosstown Arts presents Chicago-based drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven in the Green Room on Thursday, March 21.

Makaya McCraven is a beat scientist. The bleeding edge drummer, producer, and sonic collagist is one of Chicago’s savviest cultural players and a multi-talented force whose inventive process & intuitive, cinematic style defy categorization.

Join Memphis Symphony Orchestra clarinetist Rena Feller for the second Spotlight Concert Series performance at Crosstown Arts. Rena will be joined by flutist Delara Hashemi, bassoonist Susanna Whitney, and pianist Susan Snyder for a program of works by Johann Joachim Quantz, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jacques Ibert, Walter Piston, and Max Friedman (premiere).

The Mystic is a catalyst; through music, story, silence and dialogue, we hope to strengthen our attachment to hopes and dreams. In the mystic, diversity is a prerequisite for all creativity, which is why Crosstown Concourse is the perfect home. In The Mystic, the world is far-better served by different beliefs than it could ever be if limited by rigid uniformity. The Mystic is hosted by a rotating panel including Rabbi Micah Greenstein, Chris Miner, Dr. Scott Morris, Dr. Sonia Walker and Kirk Whalum.

With a line-up of Philadelphia musicians whose influences range from Sun Ra to Bulgarian brass bands, West Philadelphia Orchestra is a unique live ensemble in today’s auto-tuned musical world. They began playing Romanian ballads, Macedonian folk-dance songs, Bulgarian wedding music, and Klezmer in late 2006, and have continued expanding their repertoire of Eastern European music.