Crosstown Arts

Michael Shults Quintet featuring Clint Ashlock
2019-08-22 14:30 - 16:30 (America/Chicago) | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us in the Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by Michael Shults Quintet featuring Clint Ashlock.
Kansas City transplant and current professor of saxophone at the University of Memphis Michael Shults joins forces with one of the central figures of the Kansas City scene – trumpeter and composer Clint Ashlock – and a rhythm section of Memphis stalwarts, presenting original music and standards. With Alvie Givhan, piano, Alan Maguire, bass, and James Sexton, drums.
Tickets: $10
Doors 7pm | Performance 7:30pm
About Clint Ashlock:
Trumpeter/composer/bandleader Clint Ashlock grew up in the Kansas City area. A dedicated and tireless contributor to the scene, Clint has performed with such luminaries as Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Nicholas Payton and Natalie Cole, as well as being a mainstay on the local KC circuit, most notably as Artistic Director of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, leader of his own groups of varying size and genre, and as a member of ensembles such as The Project H and The Marcus Lewis Big Band. Ashlock has produced a number of recordings, including the latest KCJO album “Rhapsody,” which includes a 30-minute tour-de-force arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue,” “New Jazz Order” featuring Bobby Watson, and with Denver pianist Ben Markley, entitled “The Return.” As a trumpeter, Ashlock reflects the lineage of his hard bop idols such as Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw, and his big band writing is heavily influenced by Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Kerry Strayer and Dan Gailey. Ashlock has been featured as a soloist at the First Jazz Education Festival in Shanghai, China, and at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Sydney, Australia, as a clinician across the country, and currently needs to stop buying so many shoes.
About Michael Shults:
Saxophonist Michael Shults has been praised for his “strong, imaginative” improvisations (Downbeat Magazine) and “fresh and intelligent musical ideas” (The Pitch). A first-call musician on the Kansas City jazz scene for nearly a decade, Shults remains an active performer in the Fountain City and beyond, and has twice appeared as a sideman on the Jazzweek National Radio Airplay Charts. As a graduate student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Michael was a finalist in the 2012 North American Saxophone Alliance Jazz Artist Competition, and was the winner of the Graduate College Soloist category in the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards Issue. He has performed by invitation as a featured soloist at the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conference, the Jazz Education Network conference, the Wisconsin Music Educator’s Association conference, the Minnesota Music Educator’s Association conference, and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.
Michael is Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Memphis. Prior to Memphis, he taught for four years at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He is a Yamaha and D’Addario performing artist and performs on their instruments and reeds exclusively.

Opening Reception — Scott Carter: Counterpoint
2019-08-23 13:00 - 15:00 | Crosstown Arts, West Gallery, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for an exhibition of new work by Scott Carter. The artist’s intent is that this body of work reflects a fragile intertwining of music, performance, and sculpture while reflecting both digital and intuitive methods of problem solving in the studio.
About the exhibition:
This exhibition emphasizes a relationship between disparate voices. As a metaphor, these
voices represent contrasting and divergent forms of the artist’s creative practice. Carter’s
interest in music, performance and sculpture oscillates between utter failure, disinterest and frustration to moments where both practices seemingly make sense existing in the same place, both physically and metaphorically. This body of work represents the struggle to produce in both creative fields.
During his recent residency at Crosstown Arts, Carter was allowed the freedom and space to work intuitively and pursue both of these creative endeavors with the assistance of digital tools and advanced fabrication equipment. The artist’s intent is that this body of work reflects a fragile intertwining of music, performance and sculpture while reflecting both digital and intuitive methods of problem solving in the studio.

Artist statement:
The connections between humans and the built environment interest me, serving as the
primary source material for my work. I formulate thoughtful assessments of my environment, exploring connections between art, design and sound.
The physical development of my work is related to a tactile sense for materials. Through
the process of examining materials and their function, I am interested in bestowing new
value and subverting function. My practice often involves a re-purposing of materials ranging from drywall, carpet, and fluorescent lights to used guitars, drum sets, and
electronic components. Metaphorically, these material transitions allow me to explore my
interests in the way we experience culture, objects and physical environments.

About the artist:
SCOTT CARTER (b. 1984, United States) is a Wisconsin-based artist, whose work is influenced by the experience of living amongst mass-produced materials, spaces and objects that are inherent in contemporary architecture and design. His work manifests as immersive installations and interactive objects that facilitate subtle shifts in value and attempt to redefine utility in relation to everyday experiences. His practice parallels contemporary discourse in art, design, architecture, and sound.
Scott received his MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in
2011, where he was the first recipient of the Eldon Danhausen Fellowship for Sculpture.
He has attended funded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont and the Ox Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan. In addition he is a recipient of the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship for Midwestern artists (2013) and a first place recipient of the Beers Contemporary Emerging Artist Award in Sculpture (2013)
Selected solo shows include include Velocity – Linda Warren Projects, Chicago, Il (2017); The Nature of Being – Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah, Ga (2015); The Shape of Things – Beers Contemporary, London (2014); Disonar – Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Il (2013) and Force Majeure – Linda Warren Projects, Chicago, Il (2012); Recent group exhibitions include as site specific installation for In Situ and Linda Warren Projects at Expo Chicago (2014), Building Stories – Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan WI (2014) and I am What I am Doing – La Esquina Gallery, Kansas City, MO (2014).
In addition, he was a visiting artist as part of DeFINE Art 2015 at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah Georgia and recently completed a three month residency as part of the Kohler Arts/Industry program in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Opening Reception — Jia Wang: Residual Imprint
2019-08-23 13:00 - 15:00 | Crosstown Arts, East Gallery, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for an opening reception of new work by Jia Wang. On view through Oct. 20.
Jia’s work explores the traumatic memories that are prevalent in a family. Examining and displaying how trauma is revealed through complex family relationships and how it alters an individual and a family’s identity when visualized. Her work addresses both a personal and cultural perspectives, through site-specific installation comprised of video, collage, and photographic images.
In Jia’s work, she exploring domestic violence and sharing her visual inquiry into trauma through personal storytelling. These stories are both past’s future and future’s past, physically and psychologically speaking. In traditional Chinese culture, the family is the most basic unit and many aspects of Chinese life can be tied to honoring one’s parents or ancestors. Family practices, such as interactions between family members and disciplinary actions, are passed down from one generation to another. Family is the most intimate relationship but also the most confusing as love and hostility can be difficult to separate.
About Jia Wang:
Jia Wang was born in Lanzhou, Gansu Provence, China. She holds a BFA in Photography from the Beijing Film Academy, Beijing, China and an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Jia has exhibited internationally including in the Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China, the Yeiser Art Center, Pauducah, KY, and the PH21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary. Her art work has published in Art Maze Mag, UK, ArtAscent Magazine, USA, and the PhotoWorld magazine, China. Residences include the Chanorth Residency Program and the Crosstown Arts Residency Program. In Fall 2019, Jia will participate in the Bronx Museum’s AIM (Artist in the Marketplace) Program.

Opening Reception — Wang Chen: The Sin Park
2019-08-23 13:00 - 15:00 | Crosstown Arts, Screening Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for an opening reception of new work by artist Wang Chen. Chen’s work will be on view in the Screening Room at Crosstown Arts and projected onto walls in the East Atrium. On view through October 20.
Wang Chen is a multimedia artist whose work incorporates installation, performance, drawing and animation to create digital videos that depict fantasy worlds with humanoid characters, whom she uses to examine gender, sexuality, and politics. By layering different mediums into one digital composition, Chen creates an overwhelming fantasy world of multiple, moveable layers and elements that together become unstoppable and continuously transforming as a way of considering the possibilities of imagined worlds.
In her videos, hand-sewn costumes fuse the human body into the virtual space where humanness blends in, dissolves, and potentially succumbs to the digital fantasy. As the costumed performer, Chen herself becomes a physical component of the worlds she creates, becoming multiple. These clones represent variously unstable identities: undefined genders, cartoonish humanoids, ghostlike apparitions and thus can adopt multiple identities, abstracting her own role as the artist-architect to become many things at once.
Chen’s playground of electric city-space, neon landscapes, and nightmarish amusement parks becomes itself a representation, if not a fun-house mirror, of our own reality. The juxtaposition and melting of these dark yet fantastical scenes act as a playful reflection of Chen’s complicated response and rejection of societal norms while constructing a new vision of gender and sexuality in our world.
This work may not be appropriate for younger audiences.
About Wang Chen:
Wang Chen was born in China and is a multimedia artist currently living and working in NYC. The installations that Chen creates begin with physical drawings. Chen makes costumes and props for her videos and builds unimaginable spaces using virtual reality. Chen received her BFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work has been exhibited/screened internationally in China, UK, US, Sweden, Venezuela, and Greece. Chen has participated in several residencies including The Studios at MASS MoCA and the NYFA Immigrant Mentoring Program. She is the fellowship recipient of Roswell Artist in Residency, Vermont Studio Center and Nars Foundation.

Chuck Mead "Closer to Home" Tour
2019-08-23 15:00 - 17:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for a performance by Grammy-nominated country singer Chuck Mead. Mead’s latest solo album, Closer to Home, was produced by Matt Ross-Spang at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis.

Tickets: $15
Doors at 7:30 pm | Show at 8 pm

About Chuck Mead:

CHUCK MEAD is a Country singer with a rock n roll heart. He’s also a renowned songwriter, producer, music director, musicologist and architect behind the rebirth of Lower Broadway and the Global Neo Traditional Country music movement.
This Kansas native, has been at the forefront of what has come to be known as Americana Music for the better part of 25 years. Perhaps best known for co-founding the famed ‘90s Alternative Country quintet, BR5-49, whose 7 albums garnered a CMA Award for Best International Touring Act and three Grammy nominations, helped build an indelible bridge between authentic American Roots music and millions of fans worldwide.
Since then he’s toured the globe, entertained thousands on the high seas, released 3 solo albums, made 137 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, co-produced critically acclaimed tribute albums to Johnny Cash & Waylon Jennings, acted as Musical Director/Supervisor/Producer of the Broadway hit musical Million Dollar Quartet AND the companion CMT television show Sun Records.
With a deep connection to Memphis and a burning desire to keep building musical bridges, Chuck packed up the band and took time out of his crazy schedule last summer to record his fourth solo album with Matt Ross-Spang (Margo Price/John Prine/Jason Isbell/Al Green) at legendary Sam Phillips Recording Studios, the result of which, ‘Close To Home’ was released on June 21, 2019 on Plowboy Records.

Scott Carter: Counterpoint
2019-08-23 - 2019-10-21 | Crosstown Arts, West Gallery, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States

Jia Wang: Residual Imprint
2019-08-23 - 2019-10-21 | Crosstown Arts, East Gallery, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for an exhibition of new work by Jia Wang. Jia’s work explores the traumatic memories that are prevalent in a family. Examining and displaying how trauma is revealed through complex family relationships and how it alters an individual and a family’s identity when visualized. Her work addresses both a personal and cultural perspectives, through site-specific installation comprised of video, collage, and photographic images.
In Jia’s work, she exploring domestic violence and sharing her visual inquiry into trauma through personal storytelling. These stories are both past’s future and future’s past, physically and psychologically speaking. In traditional Chinese culture, the family is the most basic unit and many aspects of Chinese life can be tied to honoring one’s parents or ancestors. Family practices, such as interactions between family members and disciplinary actions, are passed down from one generation to another. Family is the most intimate relationship but also the most confusing as love and hostility can be difficult to separate.
About Jia Wang:
Jia Wang was born in Lanzhou, Gnasu Province, China. She holds a BFA in Photography from the Beijing Film Academy, Beijing, China and an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Jia has exhibited internationally including in the Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China, the Yeiser Art Center, Pauducah, KY, and the PH21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary. Her art work has published in Art Maze Mag, UK, ArtAscent Magazine, USA, and the PhotoWorld magazine, China. Residences include the Chanorth Residency Program and the Crosstown Arts Residency Program. In Fall 2019, Jia will participate in the Bronx Museum’s AIM (Artist in the Marketplace) Program.

TOMORROW at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts! Come hear the TULSA REVUE featuring John Fullbright, Paul Benjaman, Jacob Tovar & special guest Jesse Aycock! Experience individual sets from each artist with a supporting cast of players, as the the evening wraps with all joining together for a family jam of epic proportion.

Wang Chen: The Sin Park
2019-08-23 - 2019-10-21 | Crosstown Arts, Screening Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us in the Screening Room at Crosstown Arts for a new exhibition of work by Wang Chen. Chen’s work will also be exhibited on the pop-out walls in the East Atrium.
Wang Chen is a multimedia artist whose work incorporates installation, performance, drawing and animation to create digital videos that depict fantasy worlds with humanoid characters, whom she uses to examine gender, sexuality, and politics. By layering different mediums into one digital composition, Chen creates an overwhelming fantasy world of multiple, moveable layers and elements that together become unstoppable and continuously transforming as a way of considering the possibilities of imagined worlds.
In her videos, hand-sewn costumes fuse the human body into the virtual space where humanness blends in, dissolves, and potentially succumbs to the digital fantasy. As the costumed performer, Chen herself becomes a physical component of the worlds she creates, becoming multiple. These clones represent variously unstable identities: undefined genders, cartoonish humanoids, ghostlike apparitions and thus can adopt multiple identities, abstracting her own role as the artist-architect to become many things at once.
Chen’s playground of electric city-space, neon landscapes, and nightmarish amusement parks becomes itself a representation, if not a fun-house mirror, of our own reality. The juxtaposition and melting of these dark yet fantastical scenes act as a playful reflection of Chen’s complicated response and rejection of societal norms while constructing a new vision of gender and sexuality in our world.
This work may not be appropriate for younger audiences.
About Wang Chen:
Wang Chen was born in China and is a multimedia artist currently living and working in NYC. The installations that Chen creates begin with physical drawings. Chen makes costumes and props for her videos and builds unimaginable spaces using virtual reality. Chen received her BFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work has been exhibited/screened internationally in China, UK, US, Sweden, Venezuela, and Greece. Chen has participated in several residencies including The Studios at MASS MoCA, the NYFA Immigrant Mentoring Program, and the Crosstown Arts artist residency program. She is the fellowship recipient of Roswell Artist in Residency, Vermont Studio Center and Nars Foundation.

Alvin Youngblood Hart's Muscle Theory at The Green Room
2019-08-24 15:00 - 17:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Roots, Rock, Rebellion. Grammy-award winning artist Alvin Youngblood Hart returns home to Memphis for a special night in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts.
Alvin is the cosmic American love child of Howlin Wolf and Link Wray. Respected around the world as a “musician’s musician,” Alvin Youngblood Hart’s praises have been sung by everyone from Bob Dylan to guitar gods Eric Clapton & Mick Taylor.
Tickets: $10
Doors 7:30pm | Show at 8pm

The Mystic
2019-08-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
On the last Tuesday of each month join Crosstown Concourse neighbors and friends for The Mystic.
The Mystic is a time set aside each month to experience the undefinable together through music, dialogue and silence. The Mystic is not affiliated with any defined belief system, but is a shared listening experience intended to deepen our understand of one another.
The Mystic is hosted by a rotated panel including Rabbi Micah Greenstein, Chris Miner, Dr. Scott Morris, Dr. Sonia Walker, and Kirk Whalum, with a variety of musical guests.

Remission
2019-08-27 13:00 - 17:00 | TN
Art exhibition featuring new work by Noah Miller
This series of work was made by Miller during a season of treatment and recovery during chemotherapy. He self labels this as “not my best artwork, but necessary for the process and for the mind, a self catharsis in a way.”
By placing this artwork out of his mind and having it published, he plans to move forward in life and with his work. This is a celebration of life in addition to an exhibition of thought. Projections, photography, poetry, and collages were made as a way to not let his hands or mind be idle during the process of treatment.

Austin Lucas at The Green Room
2019-08-28 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Austin Lucas returns to Memphis for a performance at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts with his band, The Bold Party, on their fall US tour.

Tickets: $10

Doors 7:00pm | Performance 7:30pm

“Sometimes an artist just has a voice that’s so true and so clearly coming directly from the soul that you just can’t argue with it, and Austin Lucas is one of those guys.” – BBC Radio
It’s been over two decades since the songwriter packed his bags and left Bloomington, Indiana, the Midwestern town where he spent his childhood years falling in love with rock & roll, embracing his punk roots, and standing his ground whenever intolerant locals didn’t understand his way of life. He returns to that place – both creatively and physically – with his seventh studio album, Immortal Americans. Written after a tumultuous period that found Lucas getting sober, supporting his partner through a battle with cancer, and breaking up with his longtime record label, Immortal Americans is a clear-eyed album for murkier times, rooted in stripped-down heartland rock songs that find the artist reflecting upon the changes in both his hometown and himself.
Co-produced by Lucas and Will Johnson (Centro-matic), recorded/engineered by Steve Albini, and captured in a series of live, full-band performances, Immortal Americans was written after Lucas resettled in Bloomington. He’d been away for years, touring the world as an independent solo artist before signing a record deal with New West in 2013. In many ways, the albums he released during that period were reflections of the music he’d grown up with, from the mountain music of his father (bluegrass musician Bob Lucas) to the punk records that soundtracked his teenage years. Appropriately, Lucas earned a fanbase as a folksinger with punk roots – or was it the other way around? – while touring the country with artists who represented both ends of that spectrum, sharing shows with Willie Nelson one minute and Chuck Ragan the next.

Crosstown Arthouse Presents Avant-Garde Cinema: ERASERHEAD
2019-08-29 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features. This week: ERASERHEAD
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
This is it — David Lynch’s 1977 avant-horror masterpiece, ERASERHEAD. Henry (JACK NANCE!) finds out he has a child with someone he isn’t quite sure he has been with. Henry invites his girlfriend and the baby to come live with him in his apartment. Dad, mom, and baby bring to life every nightmare you have ever had — on the big screen. Come for the monster baby, and stay for the lady in the radiator singing the great Peter Ivers’ “In Heaven.”

The PRVLG at The Green Room
2019-08-29 14:30 - 17:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us at The Green Room for a performance by The PRVLG, a musical twin duo from Memphis. This is a benefit concert for their mother who has Multiple Sclerosis. All funds raised will be donated towards her treatment

Tickets: $10

Doors at 7pm | Performance 7:30pm

A privilege is considered a rare opportunity, which is exactly why The PRVLG fits this dynamic duo so effortlessly. Their act brings the rhythm section to the forefront of the stage unlike any other band around.
The duo, consisting of twin brothers Christian and Christopher Underwood, grew up surrounded by music. The brothers developed a very unique musical connection, which is on full display in their live performances. As bass and drum players, the pair have the ability to lock in a powerful rhythm and bass foundation, effortlessly making up for each other’s shortcomings and complementing one another’s strengths.
Growing up in a musical family and listening to their father – a guitarist – play classics by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Isley Brothers, and Earth Wind & Fire, it was only natural for them to begin writing together at the age of 16 and continue to develop their writing talent from then. Since officially forming in early 2017, the duo named themselves The PRVLG, chosen due to the privilege they experienced by growing up playing music together and connecting with others through the universal language.

Grace Askew at The Green Room
2019-08-30 14:00 - 16:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us at The Green Room for a performance by Memphis musician Grace Askew, celebrating her first full-length album release in five years.
The 12-song culmination of writing and performing a new song every day for over 500 days straight, Denim & Diesel is a raw and vulnerable collection of stories about the struggles of daily life. The album was self-produced and recorded at Grace’s home — a.k.a “Tumbleweed Ranch,” a creaky, old, tin-roofed ranch house on 100 acres in Eads, TN, and features two co-writes with Mike Doughty (of ’90s cult band “Soul Coughing).
Jana Jana, one of Memphis’ hottest, new female-led bands, is fronted by Jana Misener (founding member of Memphis Dawls and Giant Bear). With live cello loops and soaring vocals, Jana Jana’s soul-inspired indie rock is an orchestrated tempest.
$25 presale | $30 night of show
Doors at 6:30 pm | show at 7 pm
About Grace Askew:
Grace Askew is a sixth-generation Memphian and a highway child. With seven studio albums, two international songwriting competitions, gold medals, multiple appearances on NBC’s The Voice, and over a decade of touring under her belt, Grace has established herself as a relentlessly creative artist and a powerhouse of talent. Growing up to the humming lullaby of the nearby interstate, she fell asleep imagining all the places she would travel one day.

WLOK Black Film Festival presents Dreamgirls
2019-08-30 14:00 - 16:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
WLOK presents a screening of Dreamgirls at Crosstown Theater as part of its annual Black Film Festival.
Deena (Beyoncé Knowles), Effie (Jennifer Hudson) and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) form a music trio called the Dreamettes. When ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) spots the act at a talent show, he offers the chance of a lifetime, to be backup singers for a national star (Eddie Murphy). Taylor takes creative control of the group and eventually pushes the singers into the spotlight. However, one becomes the star, forcing another out, which teaches them about the high cost of fame.
Black Film Festival Ticket Cost: $5.00 adult, $3.00 child; $12.00 for all five films for adults; $8.00 for all five films for children
To Purchase Tickets, Call WLOK at (901) 527-9565; more info: http://www.wlok.com/wlok-black-film-festival/
WLOK is hosting its annual Black Film Festival from August 29-September 1 at Levitt Shell, The Memphis Pink Palace Museum IMAX Theater, The Malco Paradiso, The National Civil Rights Museum, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Crosstown Theater.

The Music of Al Jarreau
2019-08-31 14:00 - 16:00 | Crosstown Arts, East Atrium, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, United States
Jazz tribute to American jazz singer Al Jarreau, featuring Ashley K. Davis (Keys/MD), Donald Thomas (Vocals), Marlon Branch (Guitar), Eddie Gatewood (Bass), and Cedric Keel (Drums).
Tickets: $15
Doors at 6:30 pm | Show at 7 pm
The Crosstown Jazz Series, presented by Strictly Jazz Entertainment in collaboration with Crosstown Arts, is designed to salute classic jazz music as contemporary musicians perform the work of the legends.

About Strictly Jazz:
Strictly Jazz Entertainment is committed to cultivating a growing community in the knowledge and appreciation of jazz. We facilitate dialogue and collaboration between the devoted supporters of jazz and the brand new constituents – those new to the genre – for the furthering of the jazz community. We provide a bridge between leading artists and a community that typically does not embrace jazz by promoting concerts in various venues to generate an atmosphere that is viable for the absorption of pure jazz.

Shoot & Splice: Memphis On Set
2019-09-03 13:30 - 16:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
National film and television shows (like the Hallmark “Graceland” films & Bluff City Law) have caught on to what an incredible place Memphis is to make their work. For the September Shoot & Splice, Sharon O’Guin (Deputy Film Commissioner for the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission) will talk about the hard work the Commission is doing behind the scenes to both bring national level productions to Memphis and assist local film and television professionals. Then hear some on-set experiences from some very talented Memphians, including Kevin Brooks, Kerri Mahoney and Jil Szewski – all three currently working on Bluff City Law.
Shoot & Splice is a monthly filmmaker forum presented collaboratively by Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts.
Free and open to the public
Doors at 6:30 pm | Presentation at 7 pm
KEVIN BROOKS is a multi-talented film director, writer, cinematographer and editor. As a senior in the University of Memphis Film Program, Kevin was selected to participate in the Sundance Ignite program. Kevin has since made several short films and has won the Memphis Film Prize two years in a row. Kevin serves as a board member at large for the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission. Kevin is currently in pre-production for a feature and works on the set of Bluff City Law.
KERRI MAHONEY is a multidisciplinary designer who has developed print, interactive and product design projects since 1997. Having a deep love for roots music, Kerri has been working with the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation based in New Orleans, LA since its inception to create marketing materials and merchandise for its annual concert, held in New Orleans. Most recently, she has been designing album art for clients such as Electraphonic Recording, Fat Possum Records, Big Legal Mess Records, Modern Harmonic, Amazon, and Madjack Records. In between making insanely great record covers, Kerri works in the Art Department for Bluff City Law.
SHARON O’GUIN is the Deputy Film Commissioner for the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission. Founded in 1985 by joint City/County resolution, The Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission is the official City/County economic development agency for film and television. The Commission Office works primarily to assist and/or recruit funded projects which will economically impact multiple sectors of the local community—local hires, local vendors, etc.
JIL SZEWSKI is currently the Art Department Coordinator for Bluff City Law. Jil has worked as an art department production coordinator for many television and film productions, including Bluff City Law, Truth Be Told, Wedding At Graceland, The Kids Are Alright, How To Get Away with Murder, Ballers, Pitch, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, Ken Jeong Made Me Do It, Whitney, Rock My RV, Only Lovers Left Alive and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.

Two Tons of Steel at The Green Room
2019-09-04 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts welcomes Americana pioneers and legends Two Tons of Steel to The Green Room.

Tickets: $10
Doors 7pm | Performance 7:30pm

Before there was Americana, before there was Texas Country, Two Tons of Steel rocked a sound that blended the best of musical worlds and pushed the envelope with a signature brand of country punk.
The San Antonio-based group packed the small bars and local hangouts and quickly became the Alamo City’s most-loved band, earning them a spot on the cover of Billboard Magazine in 1996. It was the beginning of a twenty year journey for the 4-piece ensemble.
Releasing “Two Tons Of Steel” in 1994 and “Crazy For My Baby” in 1995 on Blue Fire Records, a sponsorship deal with Lone Star Beer quickly followed. In 1996, the band began traveling outside of Texas, including stops at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the National Theater in Havana, Cuba, and European tours to greet fans who had embraced their Texas-born sound.
Two Tons of Steel continues as an institution at Texas’ Gruene Hall, where its annual Two Ton Tuesdays summer series draws 12,000 fans and as a popular act at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. They have been repeatedly voted “Best Country Band” by the San Antonio Current, one of its hometown weeklies.

Crosstown Arthouse Presents Grindhouse Features: SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG
2019-09-05 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features. This week: SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp.
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
BRAND-NEW 4K RESTORATION! Included in MoMA’s permanent collection and considered to be among the most significant features ever by an African-American filmmaker, SWEET SWEETBACK is a brutal and shocking story of survival and is credited as one of the first blaxploitation films.
Director/writer/producer/editor/composer Melvin Van Peebles stars as a black orphan raised in a brothel and groomed to be a sex show performer. Set up by his boss and two corrupt cops for a murder he didn’t commit, Sweetback escapes custody and is thrust into an increasingly hallucinogenic world of violence and bigotry where no one can be trusted, and the possibility of death lurks at every corner…Cos Featuring a rousing score from a nascent Earth, Wind, & Fire, as well as surrealist visuals from stalwart genre cinematographer Robert Maxwell (THE CANDY SNATCHERS), Van Peebles creates an unforgettable study of perseverance in the face of racism.

The Orrin Evans Trio at The Green Room
2019-09-05 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us in The Green Room for a performance by jazz pianist Orrin Evans.
Tickets: $10
Doors 7pm | Show at 7:30pm
Many may know Orrin Evans as the pianist for Jazz juggernauts The Bad Plus. But with more than 25 albums to his credit, without ever relying on the support of a major label, Evans has become the model of a fiercely independent artist who’s made a habit of rattling the jazz world’s confining cages. That determination has paid off in accolades like topping the “Rising Star Pianist” category in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll.
As a daring pianist, Evans combines raw-edged vigor and left-field nuance into a sound wholly his own. As an adventurous composer he traverses stylistic boundaries with abandon, drawing on full-throttle swing, deep-rooted blues, expressive soul, or bracing excursions into the avant-garde. As an audacious bandleader, he delights in daring fellow musicians to take bold risks, whether in mutable small group settings or his raucous Captain Black Big Band. As an inventive collaborator, his projects range from the nerve-rattling collective trio Tarbaby to the latest twist in his never predictable story, becoming the first new member to join The Bad Plus in the band’s nearly 20-year history.
Evans’ broad-minded, provocative approach has led to a stunning variety of collaborations with a who’s-who of modern jazz including Nicholas Payton, Sean Jones, Oliver Lake, JD Allen, Christian McBride, Eric Revis, Buster Williams, Karriem Riggins, Bill Stewart, Nasheet Waits, Kevin Eubanks and Kurt Rosenwinkel, among countless others.
In 2018, Evans relaunched his Imani Records label with a newfound focus on projects by young, innovative musicians, beginning with albums by saxophonist Caleb Wheeler Curtis and bassist Jonathan Michel. He’s also produced recordings by JD Walter, Denise King, Joanna Pascale, Sharel Cassity, and Eric Revis.
Evans pays homage to his mentors and influences while passing the torch to new generations. He’s recently performed concerts paying homage to the late Geri Allen alongside drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and a celebration of the centennial of Thelonious Monk at Duke University, along with curating concert series at Philly’s South and New York’s Smoke. As an educator he directed the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts’ Jazz Standards and taught at Connecticut’s Litchfield Jazz Camp.

Live Score to Seijun Suzuki's Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards!
2019-09-06 15:00 - 17:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Memphis-based Detective Bureau presents a live score of Seijun Suzuki’s “Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards!”
Detective Bureau explores late ’60s and early ’70s Afro-Brazilian soul jazz stylings. Featuring Joe Restivo (guitar), Marc Franklin (trumpet), Landon Moore (bass), Pat Fusco (keys), George Sluppick (drums), and Felix Hernandez (percussion).
Tickets: $10
Doors 7:30pm | Performance 8pm
Seijun Suzuki was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humor, nihilistic cool, and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predominately B-movies for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967, working most prolifically in the yakuza genre. His increasingly surreal style began to draw the ire of the studio in 1963 and culminated in his ultimate dismissal for what is now regarded as his magnum opus, Branded to Kill (1967).

The Grammy Award-Winning Rebirth Brass Band at Crosstown Theater
2019-09-08 14:00 - 16:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join us for a performance by the Grammy Award-winning, New Orleans-based Rebirth Brass Band on the Kemmons Wilson Family Stage at Crosstown Theater.
Tickets: $20
Doors at 6 pm | performance at 7 pm
“UNBELIEVABLE. HARD AS HELL,
FREE AS A RAY OF LIGHT, THERE IS
NOT A BAND ON EARTH THAT IS BETTER. STUNNING.”
— FLEA (OF THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS)

About Rebirth Brass Band:
Whether seen on HBO’s Treme or at their legendary Tuesday night gig at The Maple Leaf, Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band is a true New Orleans institution. Formed in 1983 by the Frazier brothers, the band has evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter to playing festivals and stages all over the world. While committed to upholding the tradition of brass bands, they’ve also extended themselves into the realms of funk and hip-hop to create their signature sound.
“Rebirth can be precise whenever it wants to,” says The New York Times, “but it’s more like a party than a machine. It’s a working model of the New Orleans musical ethos: as long as everybody knows what they’re doing, anyone can cut loose.”
In the wake of the sometimes- stringent competition amongst New Orleans brass bands, Rebirth is the undisputed leader of the pack, and they show no signs of slowing down.

Open Crit
2019-09-10 13:00 - 15:00 | TN
Crosstown Arts’ Open Crit series is a monthly critique event where visual artists are invited to bring new and/or in-progress studio work for critical feedback and group discussion particular to each artist’s practice.

A dedicated facilitator with experience in a group critique setting will guide discussion for each critique event, which will include up to 4 artists’ work, with 15-25 minutes devoted to the work of each.
All visual artists and anyone interested in joining the discussion are welcome to participate regardless of their level of expertise, prior professional art experience or background/education in fine art. Participation is free and open to the public. Input during the critiques from everyone in attendance is welcomed and encouraged.
No formal preparation is necessary for participating artists, who will have an opportunity to introduce and contextualize their work on view at the beginning of each critique. Participating artists are only asked to be open to (and interested in) considering reactions to their work by the group, which will always be done in a supportive, constructive and casual environment, but could at the same time be challenging.
Special thanks to Art Center Supply Store for donating a $25 gift certificate for each participating artist.

To participate, artists can sign up here:
Open Crit Request form

Contact Mary Jo at maryjo@crosstownarts.org with any questions!
Artists are asked to bring no more than 8 individual pieces (in any medium). Maximum run time for time-based work(s) is 10 minutes.
Participating artists are encouraged to invite friends, peers and colleagues to the open crits, both to see their work in progress and to give constructive feedback.

Spotlight Concert Series feat. Trombonist Greg Luscombe
2019-09-10 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Join MSO principal trombonist Greg Luscombe and pianist Brian Ray for a special performance in The Green Room.
Featuring works by Leonard Bernstein, Jacques Casterede, Arthur Pryor, Lars-Erik Larsson, Tommy Dorsey, and Eugen Reiche.
General Admission $10 | $5 at door with Student ID
Doors at 7pm | Performance 7:30pm
The Spotlight Concert Series showcases members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra in the intimate Green Room at Crosstown Arts. The series provides the Memphis community the opportunity to get to know and learn more about the talented musicians that make up the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Each month will feature a different musician or small chamber group as soloist or featured ensemble.

About the artists:
Greg Luscombe has served as the principal trombonist with the Memphis Symphony since 1989. He also served as the Orchestra Personnel Manager for two seasons. Since August of 2008, Mr. Luscombe is also Professor of Low Brass at the University of Mississippi. Mr. Luscombe has been a featured soloist on various subscription concerts with the Memphis Symphony. He recently performed in recital at Henderson State University, University of Northern Alabama, and at the University of Tennessee (Martin). Last season, he performed the David Concertino with the Dyersburg (TN) Community Orchestra. This season, he will be performing the Grondahl Concerto with the Germantown Symphony Orchestra in April. Mr. Luscombe has also performed and recorded with the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony and the Mexico City Philharmonic. He has also done a variety of commercial work including theatre engagements and recordings. He also performs professionally on euphonium and bass trumpet. Mr. Luscombe was recently invited to perform as a guest artist on a recital series at the Eastern Trombone Workshop (ETW-2011) held annually in Fort Meyer, Maryland – one of the largest events for trombone in the world. Mr. Luscombe is married to Beth Luscombe, a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra viola section.
In addition to private piano instruction at Rhodes College, Brian Ray is the departmental collaborative pianist and also teaches piano classes at the University of Memphis. He has been a soloist with the University of Memphis Orchestra and the Memphis Civic Orchestra and has performed extensively as an assisting pianist in voice recitals. His most recent collaborative ventures have included art song recitals of works by Richard Hundley, Samuel Barber, Libby Larsen, and Rebecca Clarke. He has been a student of Allison Nelson and Joan Gilbert. His areas of research include the piano works of Joseph Marx, piano repertoire of the 20th century, works for piano ensemble, and harpsichord.

A Bloch Party, featuring cellist Alisa Horn and pianist Maeve Brophy
2019-09-11 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Welcome award-winning musicians Alisa Horn and Maeve Brophy back to Memphis with a “Bloch Party” featuring works for cello and piano.
The program will feature works by Ernest Bloch, Ethyl Smyth, and Nadia Boulanger at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts.
Doors 7 pm | Performance 7:30 pm
General Admission $10 | $5 with student ID
Alisa Horn is a freelance cellist and loves performing and teaching a wide variety of musical genres from classical to jazz to rock and beyond. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Alisa has performed as soloist with orchestra playing pieces by Miaskovsky, Bloch, Dvorak, Bruch, and Elgar. She was a winner of the WAMSO-Young Artist Solo Competition and a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony. Alisa has attended many music festivals, including Aspen Music Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Meadowmount, Sewanee Summer Music Center, Henry Mancini Institute, Newport Jazz Festival (Rhode Island) , and Newport Jazz Festival (Oregon). With pianist, Jue He, Alisa recorded the Rachmaninoff and Miaskovsky Sonatas and the duo was featured on McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase.
Along with jazz legends Marvin Stamm and Bill Mays, Alisa is a member of The Inventions Trio, which performs a fusion of jazz and classical repertoire. The Trio has toured extensively and has released three albums including the diverse works of Bill Evans, Bill Mays, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Claude Debussy, and Miles Davis.
On Broadway, Alisa has played in many shows including the 2017 revival of Sunday in the Park with George, An American in Paris, If/Then, Dogfight, Venice, Little Miss Sunshine, Carrie, and Next to Normal. Alisa performs with Broadway singer, Mary Testa, and Broadway orchestrator, Michael Starobin, who released their album “Have Faith” in 2015. She has played with many singer/songwriters and pop artists/bands such as John Legend, Devotchka, Rod Stewart, The Roots, and Phish.
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. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist and Registered Yoga Teacher.

Open Call — Color Schemes: The Value of Intensity
2019-09-11 - 2019-10-14 | TN
Color Schemes: The Value of Intensity
Open call to visual artists in any medium whose use of color is a primary consideration in their work. Our senses are affected by the vibrations of color immediately and intrinsically.
This exhibition will focus on the meaning, sensitivity, and passion that the intensity of color creates.
Please submit up to 10 images of work, a short statement, and bio.
Important Dates:
Deadline for submissions: Monday, October 14, 2019
Notifications will be sent out Friday, October 25, 2019
Exhibition dates: November 22, 2019 – February 9, 2020
Submit Your Work

Women in the Arts Cocktails & Chit-Chat
2019-09-12 12:00 - 14:00 | Crosstown Arts Art Bar, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, United States
Female artists of all genres and women who work in the arts sector are invited to join us for cocktails and conversation at Art Bar at Crosstown Arts. Stick around afterward for a Crosstown Arthouse screening of Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am at Crosstown Theater at 7:30 pm.
The meet-up is free, and tickets to the film are $5.

Crosstown Arthouse presents Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
2019-09-12 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
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)
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is an artful and intimate meditation on legendary storyteller Toni Morrison. It examines her life, her works, and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career. Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, America and the human condition.

A Celebration of Black Composers
2019-09-13 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Come join us at Crosstown Theater as we celebrate the works of composers of African descent from around the world.
Featuring rhythms from gospel to jazz, the serene to classical influences, there is something for everyone. Featuring award-winning artists James Rodriguez (baritone), Gwendolyn Alfred (soprano), Alisa Horn (cello) and Artina McCain (Piano).
Doors 7 pm | Performance 7:30 pm
General Admission $12 | $5 at door with Student ID
About the performers:
Described as a pianist with “power and finesse” (Dallas Arts Society), Artina McCain enjoys an international career throughout Europe, China and the US as a solo and chamber performer, pedagogue, and speaker. McCain’s solo and chamber performances have been heard on radio shows in Chicago, Austin, Toronto, and Hong Kong. An American Prize winner for her solo piano recordings, she will release an album of works entitled “Heritage: The American Composer” on the MSR label. She has won performance awards from the Austin Critics Table for the “Black Composers” Concert Series and is a three-time Global Music Awards winner for the album I, Too (Naxos), Shades, and Trombone Czar with husband and bass trombonist, Martin McCain. Dr. McCain is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis and co-artistic director of the Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition.
Gwendolyn Alfred, DMA, Assistant Professor of Voice, Area Coordinator, Texas Southern University is an educator and professional vocalist. She recently premiered a newly commissioned opera for Houston Grand Opera which landed her in the prestigious Texas Monthly magazine. Her most recent solo debuts were with the Houston Symphony, Houston Civic Symphony, and the Fort Bend Symphony. Alfred was honored as a Living Legend of Southeast Texas specifically for her outstanding leadership in the music field.
Praised for his “authoritative and rich baritone,” James D. Rodriguez most recently performed and co-hosted the Carnegie Hall Linkup Concerts with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and sang the baritone solos in Handel’s Messiah with the San Antonio Symphony. He made his Opera in the Heights debut in the role of Tonio (Pagliacci) and was part of the holiday Spanish concert series, ConciertOh! de Invierno. Other notable roles include Escamillo (Carmen), Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Belcore (L’Elisir d’Amore), Captain Magallanes (Salsipuedes), Rappaccini (La Hija de Rappaccini), and the title roles in Don Giovanni and Rigoletto with such companies as Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera IOWA, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, the Natchez Festival of Music, and the Moores Opera Center. Concert appearances include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Fauré’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Carlisle Floyd’s Pilgrimage, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and Stainer’s Crucifixion. He regularly performs solo recitals, most recently with Austin Chamber Music Center, Phil Kramer Recital Series (Houston), Memorial Classic Music Series (Houston), and Coe College Music Department (Iowa). He was a finalist in the Concorso Lirica International Competition and the first place winner in the Texas Young Artist Vocal Competition.
Alisa Horn is a freelance cellist and loves performing and teaching a wide variety of musical genres from classical to jazz to rock and beyond. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Alisa has performed as soloist with orchestra playing pieces by Miaskovsky, Bloch, Dvorak, Bruch, and Elgar. She was a winner of the WAMSO-Young Artist Solo Competition and a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony. Alisa has attended many music festivals including Aspen Music Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Meadowmount, Sewanee Summer Music Center, Henry Mancini Institute, Newport Jazz Festival (Rhode Island) , and Newport Jazz Festival (Oregon). With pianist, Jue He, Alisa recorded the Rachmaninoff and Miaskovsky Sonatas and the duo was featured on McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase. Along with jazz legends Marvin Stamm and Bill Mays, Alisa is a member of The Inventions Trio which performs a fusion of jazz and classical repertoire. The Trio has toured extensively and has released three albums including the diverse works of Bill Evans, Bill Mays, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Claude Debussy, and Miles Davis.
