Crosstown Arts

Making Movies
2023-02-23 13:30 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Making Movies in The Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Bio: English (Spanish below)
Making Movies is a psychedelic Panamanian band that makes American music with an asterisk: because Making Movies’ sound encompasses the entirety of the Americas. It’s through this broader perspective that Making Movies crunches classic rock into Latin American rhythms — African-derived percussion and styles like rumba, merengue, mambo and cumbia — in a way that feels oddly familiar, yet delivers the invigorating chills of hearing something singularly special.
Over the course of their career, the quartet has turned heads as a Tiny Desk newcomer (with “A La Deriva”), a voice for immigrant rights (with “I Am Another You” which reached #3 on Billboard‘s Latin Pop Album chart), and as a co-writer alongside salsa icon Rubén Blades (with Latin GRAMMY nominated song “No Te Calles”).
Making Movies has toured extensively, appearing with the likes of Arcade Fire, Rubén Blades, Los Lobos, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Bomba Estereo, Galactic, Flor De Toloache, and Thievery Corporation. The band’s fourth album XOPA was just released on L.A.-based label Cósmica Artists.

en Español:
Ya sea que canten en inglés o en español, o que toquen guitarras eléctricas o instrumentos autóctonos, Making Movies está causand un revuelo por su sonido original descrito por Rolling Stone como “una mezcla ecléctica de percusión de rumbero, órganos delicados y rock grunge distorsionado.”
Durante el transcurso de su carrera, el cuarteto ha llamado la atención como debutante en Tiny Desk (con “A La Deriva”), como voz en pro de los derechos de inmigrantes (con “I Am Another You”, que llegó al n.° 3 en la lista de álbumes de Pop Latino de Billboard), y como coautores con el ícono de la salsa Rubén Blades (con el tema “No Te Calles” nominado a un GRAMMY Latino).
La banda emplea un complemento normal rock de guitarra/bajo/batería/percusión, pero sus miembros incorporan sintetizadores, efectos e instrumentos autóctonos de América Latina a su música. Entretejen estilos tan diversos como la cumbia y el blues, la salsa y el soul, el son cubano y el rock’n’roll — todo combinado para formar su propio sonido original.
Making Movies ha realizado muchas giras, presentándose con figuras tales como Arcade Fire, Rubén Blades, Los Lobos, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Bomba Estéreo, Galactic, Flor de Toloache y Thievery Corporation. El cuarto álbum de la banda se lanzará durante el verano del 2022, bajo el sello Cósmica Artists de Los Ángeles.
“por su contenido y sonido, uno de los mejores albums del año” – National Public Radio
“(Making Movies), íconos del movimiento pro-inmigrante” – Chicago Tribune

Memphis Symphony Orchestra: SERENADE AND SONG - THE MSO STRINGS
2023-02-24 12:30 - 14:30 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Paul and Linnea Bert Classic Accents · 2
SERENADE AND SONG – THE MSO STRINGS
Friday, February 24, 2023 · 6:30 pm
Crosstown Theater
Purchase tickets here
Kalena Bovell, conductor
Marcus King, baritone
STILL Danzas de Panamá
TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade for Strings
RAVEL Mother Goose Suite
COPLAND Old American Songs
Kalena Bovell and the MSO Strings plumb the musical depths of the music for strings.

Jim Snidero Quartet
2023-02-24 13:30 - 16:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents the Jim Snidero Quartet in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, February 24, 2023
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door | $10 student tickets available
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Described in a recent 5-star review in DownBeat magazine as having “incredible prowess and tender musicality,” New York saxophonist and composer Jim Snidero encapsulates what is both unique and compelling about jazz, reflected in over 10 million plays on Spotify. Hailed as having a sound “at the highest level among his fellow alto saxophonists of the 21st century” (All About Jazz), and improvisation that is “mind-boggling and, at the same time, hugely enjoyable” (The Guardian), Snidero is a veteran recording artist placing in both DownBeat critic and reader polls (EMI, Milestone, Savant …) and sideman (Mingus big band, Jack McDuff, Eddie Palmieri, Frank Sinatra …) who can truly say “been there, done that.”
The players:
Jim Snidero – alto saxophone
Alvie Givhan – piano
Liam O’Dell – bass
James Sexton – drums

Artist Talk: Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo and Katrina Perdue
2023-02-26 08:00 - 10:00 | TN
Crosstown Arts presents an Artist Talk with Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo and Katrina Perdue in the East and West Galleries.

The Galleries at Crosstown Arts
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Talks: 2-4 pm
Tickets: Free and open to the public
Current exhibiting artists Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo and Katrina Perdue will discuss their work, processes, and influences. It’s a chance to get a special glimpse behind the curtain and better understand the art and the artists. The talks will be presented in each gallery, with each artist speaking in the gallery where their work is on view. Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo will speak first, and Katrina Perdue will speak second. The event is free and open to the public.

Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo is an interdisciplinary artist based in Memphis, Tennessee. She is a co-founder of BASEMENT, a provisional artist-run space in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she was also a co-curator from 2019-2022. Her work has been shown throughout the eastern United States and internationally including the Mint Museum, Ackland Art Museum, Duke University, and Field Projects among others. She received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Studio from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her BA in Studio Art and English Literature from Davidson College.
She was a 10-month artist-in-residence at Crosstown Arts (2021) and is an upcoming artist-in-residence at the McColl Center (2023). She was a 2021 New Public Sculpture Fellow with the UrbanArts Commission in Memphis, and a 2021 recipient of TriStar Arts’ inaugural Current Art Fund project grant. She was awarded the 2022 Tennessee State Fellowship through the Southern Prize and State Fellowship Program, and was the finalist for the Southern Prize.
Katrina Perdue is a textile artist and educator living and working in Memphis, Tennessee. Her love for hand stitching has grown over the past twenty years from first learning machine sewing, quickly followed by hand knitting, and most recently to a full time studio practice focusing on the art and impact of mending and repair. She was selected to be a textile studio assistant at Penland School of Craft for a summer 2019 mending workshop, a 2020 Arts Memphis ArtsAccelerator Grantee, and an adjunct instructor of Textiles at the University of Memphis.
Katrina was born and raised in the Midwest, spent several years living in the Mid-Atlantic, and now calls Memphis — the heart of the Mid-South — home.

Mahogany Chamber Music Series: “Vocal Juggernauts”
2023-02-26 12:00 - 13:30 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents the Mahogany Chamber Music Series: “Vocal Juggernauts” at Crosstown Theater.
Crosstown Theater
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Doors at 5:30 pm | Concert at 6 pm
Tickets: $20 | $5 students
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
The Mahogany Chamber Music Series is a series of three chamber music concerts curated by Dr. Artina McCain, spotlighting Black and other underrepresented composers and performers.
Featuring:
Angela Yoon, soprano
Paulina Villareal, mezzo soprano
Marcus King, tenor
Jason Terry, piano
Artina McCain, piano
Angela Yoon, soprano
Coloratura soprano Angela Yoon is known for her delightful and beautifully expansive voice and her ability to deliver texts through music. As a soprano soloist, she has been named as a winner and finalist in various competitions and has performed solos, recitals, and concerts as a guest artist throughout the United States, South Korea, Germany, Canada, and France. Her performances include a wide range of genres. She has been featured on radio broadcasts and recordings such as National Public Radio (NPR) and appeared as the soloist and principal artist in oratorios, cantatas, and operas including Poulenc’s Gloria, Phan’s Vietnamese Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Esther, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Missa Brevis St. Joannis de Deo, Willcock’s Magnificat, Allegri’s Miserere, Bach’s St. John’s Passion, and Perez-Velazquez’s Ídolos del Sueño. Her roles have included Kitty (The Last Savage), Thi Mao (The Tale of Lady Thị Kính), La fée (Cendrillon), Madame Goldentrill (Impresario), Sandman (Hansel and Gretel), the Plaintiff (Trial by Jury), and Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance).
She is interested in creating interdisciplinary musical experiences for her audiences through collaborating with other fields such as visual art, science, social justice, history, and even political science. Her current performance programs include WWI program Broken Harmony: Reconstructing Art, diversity concert program Colorful Harmony: Melodies from Near and Far, and a social justice concert program on refugee, human trafficking, marginalized youth, and undocumented immigrants entitled Songs of Hope: Unveiling Darkness. Songs of Hope will be premiered at Birmingham Museum of Art in the fall of 2022 followed by performances at Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Hall.
She serves on the voice faculty at Belmont University, and prior to Belmont she was on the faculty at Samford University and Baylor University. As an educator, Yoon has had diverse experiences with musicians and non-musicians alike. Her voice and musical theatre major students have been accepted to music schools in the U.S. and abroad as well as professional opera houses, theaters, and cruise lines. Non-musicians, too, have benefited from her expertise in vocal pedagogy and voice therapy, helping to place them in nationally-syndicated broadcasting companies.
Paulina Villareal, mezzo soprano
Mexican mezzo-soprano Paulina Villarreal is a prominent recitalist, cabaret, operatic, and musical theater singer around the United States and Mexico. A graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Dr. Villarreal has been a soloist and resident artist in important companies and orchestras around the United States like Opera Saratoga, Cincinnati opera, Opera Fusion: New Works, the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Pops (Boston, MA), Opera Memphis, Opera Steamboat, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Appalachian Symphony Orchestra and the Decatur Millikin Symphony Orchestra. In the entrepreneurship and administrative world, Dr. Villarreal is the founder and artistic director of the annual concert series “Cantos para Hermanar al Mundo”, devoted to the promotion of classical vocal genres hosted in Northern Mexico. She is currently a professor of voice at the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, and the Young Singer Program Director at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, a prestigious summer training program in the United States.
Trained as a classical vocalist, Villarreal is now in demand for her singing versatility in musical theater, and commercial music genres. An advocate of new music and crossover works, she has closely collaborated with contemporary American composers like William Bolcom, Laura Kaminsky, Ricky Ian Gordon and Derek Bremel, and recognized by important foundations like the Kurt Weill Foundation in New York, and the Comic Opera Guild in Michigan for performing a wide variety of vocal genres.
Recent performance credits and career highlights include the world premiere of Mango Suite with the Princeton Symphony, Simply Sondheim: Stephen Sondheim’s 85th Birthday Celebration with the Boston POPS, Sondheim vs Webber with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Macy’s ArtWave Sampler with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Alma de España with Cincinnati Song Initiative, featured performances with the Wagner Society of Cincinnati, HPAF’s Hollywood Hits season opener at the Big Island of Hawaii, a tour of William Bolcom’s Complete Cabaret Songs (Die Neue Galerie, NYC; National Women Museum of Arts, Washington DC, Cohen Studio Theater, Cincinnati) and multiple recitals promoting her extensive research on Mexican composer Maria Grever.
Marcus King, tenor
Marcus King is a graduate of the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in music education, cum laude, and a master’s in vocal performance. In the summer of 2009, he premiered the John Baur opera Magdala at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY, in the role of St. Peter. During the summer of 2008, he attended the International Institute of the Vocal Arts program in Chiari, Italy, studying with Mrs. Mignon Dunn. His home voice teacher is Pamela Gaston of the University of Memphis. He is the 2010 first-place winner of the Memphis Beethoven Club Competition, district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions (2008 and 2009) and first-place winner of the N.A.T.S competition district level in Memphis, TN. He also participated in the AIMS program in Graz Austria, where he made it to the finals of the annual Aims Meistersinger Competition. In 2013 he made his European debut in Norfolk, England, as Demetrius in the Yorke Trust Summer Opera production of Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and in 2014 rejoined the company as Ubalde in Gluck’s Armide. In December of 2014, he traveled to Japan as a soloist in the New York-based professional touring group, D&P Joubert LLC/ The Glory Gospel Singers. He has been a young artist for the Utah Festival Opera as well as The Charlottesville Opera, formerly known as Ash Lawn Opera. For Charlottesville Opera, he played the role of Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto. For Opera Memphis, he has had many solo roles, such as Mr. Gobineau in The Medium, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Samuel in Pirates of Penzance, Joe Harland in Later the Same Evening, and the doctor in La Traviata. In the Spring of 2018, he played the role of Erminio in The Triumph of Honor for Opera Memphis’ Midtown Opera Festival. Soon after, he debuted at Opera on the Rock in Little Rock Arkansas, in a new work entitled Troubled Island
Jason Terry, piano
Praised for his “passion and commitment” at the keyboard, Jason Terry has given performances throughout North America, Asia, and Europe as both a soloist and collaborative pianist. His performances have been broadcast on NPR stations from border to border. During the 2022—23 season, he will appear throughout the U.S. including Carnegie Hall, the Peabody Institute, and the National World War I Museum. In addition to live performances, he was recently invited to serve as a recording artist for Steinway’s Spirio piano and is a recording artist for a forthcoming music theory textbook which promotes diverse examples of literature. An artist-teacher, he continues to serve as a piano faculty member for the world-renowned Interlochen Arts Camp and has been on faculty for the Beijing International Music Festival as a master teacher. He is an enthusiast of arts advocacy, especially in matters of social and cultural diplomacy. Since 2017, he has been affiliated with the NGO American Voices and has traveled to teach and perform throughout the Middle East. Moreover, recent grants have supported his work using art to fight against social injustices such as human trafficking.
Aside from teaching and performing, Terry is interdisciplinary in his research. Since 2020, he has worked with physical therapist Dana Daniel Blake (DPT) to create resources for pianists to better understand the musculoskeletal system and how it most efficiently operates while sitting at the piano. So unique is this research that it was selected for presentation at the 2021 national conference of the American Physical Therapy Association and the 2022 Performing Arts Medicine Association’s International Symposium. Moreover, this research earned him the 2022 Innovator of the Year national award from Physical Therapy Learning Institute. Alongside his interest in the physical requirements needed to play the piano is his work with the physical instrument itself. Since 2020, Terry has been an apprentice in the piano technology field and is currently working towards earning the Registered Piano Technician (RPT) credential. Merging physical performance techniques and a comprehension of the mechanics of the instrument is the basis for a graduate piano pedagogy course he has developed.
Jason remains active as a music researcher and writer and continues to present and publish throughout the world. During this past year, he has received invitations to present and perform on a range of diverse topics such as “Genderism & the Arts” (University of Gothenburg-Sweden), “Music & Cultural Diplomacy” (Tampa, FL), and “The Solo Piano Literature of Hazel Scott” (University of Arizona). Since 2018, Jason has authored and published biographies for Steinway & Sons’ Immortal Artists. His scholarship in the field of piano performance history is extensive, and portions were recently included in the Carnegie Hall archives. Furthermore, his investigation on the origin of the plagal-amen cadence has been accepted for presentation at several prestigious institutions around the world including Oxford University.
Dr. Jason Terry is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at Samford University where he serves as Director of Keyboard Studies.
Artina McCain, piano
Described as a pianist with “power and finesse”, “beautiful and fiery” (KMFA Austin) and having a “sense of color, balance and texture” (Austin Chamber Music Center) Artina McCain, has built a three-fold career as a performer, educator and speaker. As a recitalist, her credits include performances at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre in London, Weill Hall at Carnegie and Merkin Hall in New York City and more. Other highlights include guest appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra.
Dedicated to promoting the works of Black and other underrepresented composers, McCain curates Underrepresented Composers Concerts for multiple arts organizations. She is an American Prize winner for her solo piano recordings of these works and won a Gold Global Music Award for her recent album project Heritage. In 2021, Hal Leonard published her transcriptions of Twenty-Four Traditional African American Folk Songs. In 2022, she was the mistress of ceremony for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
McCain was a featured inspirational leader in the award-winning PBS documentary series Roadtrip Nation: Degree of Impact in an episode exploring the real-world impact of professionals with doctoral degrees in and outside of academia.
McCain’s performances have been heard on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), Germany’s WDR and television appearances including features on CSPAN for the MLK 50 Commemoration. McCain is a three-time Global Music Awards winner including collaborative projects I, Too (Naxos), with soprano Icy Monroe, focused on African American Spirituals and Art Songs and Shades, a collaboration with her husband and duo partner Martin McCain.
After not performing for 6 years while battling a performance injury, she now enjoys a prolific concert career with more than 10 years of full injury recovery. She uses her recovery to serve as an advocate of musicians’ wellness–curating articles, lectures, and forums to educate teachers and students. Her article on performance injury and Muscle Activation Techniques was published in the Piano Magazine. McCain has presented on wellness and other topics at Universities and the Music Teachers National Association Conference and the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy.
McCain graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University. She received her Master of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Currently, she is Associate Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Keyboard Area at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis and Co-Founder/Director of the Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition.
In her spare time, Artina enjoys boutique shopping, traveling internationally and is an avid tea aficionado.
Artina McCain is a Yamaha Artist.

The Freedom Affair
2023-02-28 13:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents The Freedom Affair in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20 | $15 in advance
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
“The vibe is very early ’70s soul flirting with both gospel and a few psychedelic R&B touches, and their choir of voices should appeal to both the dusty soul junkie and the choral aficionado who deeply appreciates group singing.” – TANKBOY
The Freedom Affair is a 9-piece soul juggernaut from Kansas City, MO. The band formed in 2017 with a vision to write original soul music inspired by the traditions of the genre’s past with a universal message looking toward the future.
With their debut album Freedom Is Love, The Freedom Affair has received critical acclaim and have established themselves as a force in the soul music scene across the states and abroad. Keep your eyes and ears open for their songs and album art featured in the series Bel-Air, an Apple commercial, a Netflix series, etc… This band is just getting started.
The Freedom Affair’s live shows have proven to be soul-stirring, transformative events moving audiences both physically and emotionally to joy, tears, and elation. Crowds rave about the fireworks these folks bring to the stage. Run, don’t walk, to catch one of this band’s live shows.

Crosstown Arts Resident Artist Talks
2023-03-02 12:00 - 14:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, March 2, 2023
Talks begin at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
Crosstown Arts resident artists will give presentations about their work in the Green Room at Crosstown Arts. The event is free and open to the public.
Su-Yee Lin writes stories and poetry that grapple with issues of identity, memory, environment, and mythology. Her work often lies on the border between the real and the strange, and she is interested in the intersections between the surreal and the natural world. She was a Fulbright Fellow to China and has had work published in the Pushcart Prize anthology, Tor.com, Electric Literature, Bennington Review, Day One, Nashville Review, The Offing, and other literary journals, and short stories translated into Italian and Chinese.
Keith S. Wilson is an Affrilachian Poet and a Cave Canem fellow. He is a recipient of an NEA Fellowship, an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant, and an Illinois Arts Council Agency Award, and has received both a Kenyon Review Fellowship and a Stegner Fellowship. His book, Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love (Copper Canyon), was recognized by the New York Times as a best new book of poetry.
Edo Rosenblith (B. 1988 Tel Aviv, Israel) received a BFA in painting in 2011 at the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Visual Art at Washington University-St. Louis in 2017. Edo is a compulsive draftsman who works in a variety of mediums: murals, painting, drawing, printmaking, and book arts.
Kelsey Harrison’s sculptural work has been shown in institutions nationally including The Jewish Museum, Abrons Art Center, and The Knockdown Center in New York, SOMArts in San Francisco, The Sullivan Galleries in Chicago, The College of William and Mary in Virginia, and the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the Utah Museum of Fine Art in Salt Lake City. Harrison received her BFA in Sculpture from Purchase College, State University of New York and her MFA in Sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Memphis.
Brittney Boyd Bullock, an artist working in fiber, mixed-media, and abstraction, explores the tension between searching and finding, obsession and order, and lightness and darkness through two- and three-dimensional forms. Contemplative and personal, the process-driven works interrogate anxiety and wonder using materials in a new way, forcing her to make meaning in the arbitrary jumble.
Jennifer Sargent makes intricate drawings and handwoven tapestries. As an artist weaver she considers herself both a contemporary practitioner and a part of a longer continuum that is thousands of years old. This idea is both a comfort and a challenge. One of two elements is always present in Sargent’s work, either story telling or the natural world (whether wild or domesticated). Sargent creates an abstracted sense of these ideas or experiences through the layering of pattern and color.

Crosstown Arts Film Series presents WINGS OF DESIRE
2023-03-02 13:00 - 15:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Crosstown Arts Film Series presents WINGS OF DESIRE at Crosstown Theater.
WIM WENDERS / 1987 / 128 minutes / PG-13
Tickets: $5 at the door
Doors at 6:30 p.m. | Films begin at 7:00 p.m. (sharp!) at Crosstown Theater
Wings of Desire is one of cinema’s loveliest city symphonies. Bruno Ganz is Damiel, an angel perched atop buildings high over Berlin who can hear the thoughts — fears, hopes, dreams — of all the people living below. But when he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he is willing to give up his immortality and come back to earth to be with her. Made not long before the fall of the Berlin wall, this stunning tapestry of sounds and images, shot in black and white and color by the legendary Henri Alekan, is movie poetry. And it forever made the name Wim Wenders synonymous with film art.
The Crosstown Arts Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.

Jazz Month Kick Off with Central High School Big Band
2023-03-03 12:00 - 13:30 | Central Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Central Atrium
Friday, March 3, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
Founded in 1909 and known as “THEE” high school because Central was the first High School in Memphis, the band program was vital to the school culture from its inception. The award-winning Memphis Central High School Jazz Band has been in existence for many years and has produced many talented musicians such as pianist James Williams, saxophonist Gary Topper, pianist Dr. Ashley Davis. The band has been the winner of the University of Memphis Jazz Band festival as well as Jazz Festivals in St. Louis; Mobile, AL; in Disney World; and others around the mid-South. Central High SchoolJazz Band students are routinely members of the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association’s All-West Jazz Band as well as Tennessee’s All-State Jazz Band. The Jazz Band was selected, through a blind peer review process as a finalist for the 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019 Savannah Swing Central National Jazz Band Competition in Savannah, GA. The band won the Jean Faircloth award and first place in 2019. In 2020, The Memphis Central High School Jazz band was named finalist for the 25 th and 26 th Annual Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival. More recently, the jazzband was selected and performed at the 2022 Tennessee Music Educators State Conference and the 2023 Jazz Education Network International Conference. The Jazz band is one of several performing ensembles in the Central High band program which includes marching band, wind ensemble, symphonic band, concert band, pep band, percussion ensemble, as well as other small chamber ensembles.

*SOLD OUT* Patrice Williamson, Jenna McLean, and Deborah Swiney
2023-03-03 13:30 - 15:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Patrice Williamson, Jenna McLean, and Deborah Swiney with the Michael Shults Quartet in the Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, March 3, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door | $10 student tickets available
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Three of the most legendary women in jazz unite for one special performance, backed up by the Michael Shults Quartet.
PATRICE WILLIAMSON
Jazz Times magazine states that “Patrice Williamson isn’t a singer, she’s a one-woman jazz sampler. – She is a woman of many voices, each distinctly intriguing all distinctly her own.”
Patrice Williamson’s childhood home in Memphis, Tennessee, was filled with song. Her late father, Webster Williamson, an avid amateur singer, choir director, and pillar of the St. Stephen’s Baptist Church music ministry, introduced his children to both sacred music and the secular styles of greats like Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, and Lena Horne. With the encouragement of her mother, Lillie Rivers Williamson, Patrice followed in the footsteps of her elder sister, Denise, taking up the violin and making her debut at age four. From then on, she was hooked on music and performing.
A favorite of the Boston music scene, Patrice’s sensitive ballad work and fluent scat style have garnered invitations to perform at the famed Blue Note Jazz club in New York City, and with many well-known instrumentalists such as Danilo Perez, Joe Lovano and Terri Lyne Carrington. As a Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music, her work has taken her to Perugia, Italy, Seoul, South Korea, Peru and India, where she performed with saxophonist Donald Harrison in the New Delhi Jazz Festival.
Her independent recordings, My Shining Hour and Free to Dream, have received high praise from jazz critics around the country. In 2014 Patrice started The Ella Project, a multi-faceted tribute leading up to Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday, including a concert series, biographical performance, and recordings, including Comes Love, an album celebrating the collaboration between Fitzgerald and legendary guitarist Joe Pass.
JENNA MCLEAN
Jenna McLean is a jazz vocalist and Lecturer in Music and Entertainment at the University of Memphis Lambuth in Jackson, Tennessee. As an accomplished performer, vocal technician, songwriter, and educator, she finds her artistic drive in bringing new twists to timeless standards of the Great American Songbook as well as pop, funk, and soul tunes. With a love and devotion for jazz, opera, R&B, and folk music, she maintains the belief that all music is good music as long as it speaks to the soul and grooves.
Jenna was the 2019 winner of the Downbeat Student Music Awards Graduate Vocal Soloist Category, and a 2019 recent recipient of the Pathways to Jazz Grant. She performs regularly at renowned Colorado Jazz Venues including Dazzle and Nocturne, and has performed and presented multiple times at the Jazz Education Network conference and the Five Points Jazz Festival in Denver. She has had the pleasure of performing alongside renowned musicians such as Bobby McFerrin, Aubrey Logan and the New York Voices, and also performs regularly with incredible Denver-based jazz musicians such as Steve Kovalcheck, Ben Markley, Eric Gunnison, Tom Amend, Dawn Clement, Annie Booth and others.
DEBORAH SWINEY
Deborah Swiney has definitely earned the title of a true chanteuse. Throughout her performance, you get to enjoy a trip back to Harlem to experience the iconic era of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn; you get to dance across the Great American Songbook; and you get to take a flight to Rio where you could close your eyes and imagine relaxing on a Copacabana or Ipanema beach. Being a Memphis native, you might even get a splash of blues.
In a city that loves its blues, rock, jazz, and gospel, Deborah has carved out a niche uniquely her own. This is evident with her highly praised co-produced debut album, I Remember Rio, a Brazilian-inspired album with “Memphis-Soul seasoning” (All about Jazz). I Remember Rio is filled with classic Bossa Nova standards and tunes written by the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim as well as Deborah Swiney’s “Bossa Nova Casanova” and guitarist, Ed Finney’s title song, “I Remember Rio”. Jazz Weekly describes her as bringing “ a strong and Sarah Vaughan-esque voice to deliver soulful reads of Brazilian…” Transcending the standard definition of a Jazz songstress, her melodic and sultry approach to Bossa Nova and other Brazilian stylings are natural without betraying her Bluff City roots.

Le Tumulte Noir
2023-03-04 12:30 - 13:30 | East Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The East Atrium
Saturday, March 4, 2023
Show begins at 6:30 pm
Tickets: Free
Le Tumulte Noir is a Memphis-based jazz group that specializes in music from the 1930s and 1940s in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stéphanne Grappelli (often referred to as “gypsy jazz”). The group is celebrating its 10th year and features John Bass, Sylvester Sample, Gary Topper, Clint Wagner, and John Whittemore.

Charu Suri Quartet
2023-03-04 13:30 - 16:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Charu Suri in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, March 4, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20 ($10 students)
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
“Charu’s raga-based improvisations are singular.” – Multi Grammy-award winning pianist Arturo O’Farrill
Pianist and composer Charu Suri treads fearlessly between genres, pulling global influences that range from the mood-anchoring Indian ragas, Sufi music, to the trio. Her ground-breaking albums, The Book of Ragas, and its sequel, The Book of Ragas vol. 2 have often elicited the response, “I’ve never heard this type of sound before.”
One of the few female composers from India to perform work at Carnegie Hall, Charu has lived in four continents, and writes music that reflect her journey as both a traveler and her training as a classical music piano prodigy. She has been playing the piano since the age of five, and performing since the age of nine, and one of her best memories is winning an international piano competition at the age of 15.
What started purely as an experiment with her “Book of Ragas” has turned into a niche that she is now increasingly becoming known for. Her latest album is RAGAS & WALTZES, a first collaboration between her and Preservation Hall’s jazz drummer, Joe Lastie.
In this album, dedicated to her late father, she explores European waltzes through her own jazz lens. The album also includes two ragas, performed by guitarist Noshir Mody and flutes by Al Jewer. RAGAS & WALTZES has received a lot of praise from critics. JAZZIZ Magazine has praised its classic reinvention of the European waltz, and All About Jazz said, “These are all Suri originals, with which she creates a mood that is a mix, tune-by-tune, of longing and solemnity, then of a lilting and uplifting beauty, segueing into tender reverence that shifts gear into a segment of lively swing before drifting back to loving respect. And that swing is surely inspired by New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s drummer, Joe Lastie, Jr., sitting in the recording session’s drummer’s chair.”
But she is no stranger to the art of the Songbook too (attribute this to her listening to numerous records of Bill Evans and Billie Holiday as a kid). “The New American Songbook” has garnered many awards, including a “Band Single of the Year” crystal trophy for her song, Bluesy, awarded by the International Singer-Songwriters Association (ISSA) in 2021.
Charu has performed at Lincoln Center and other prestigious concert halls around the world, including St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She often performs with her band, and sometimes as a soloist. She embarks on a multi-city RAGAS & WALTZES tour to India starting with a performance at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai, on September 16th.

Standard 4-Pack
2023-03-09 12:30 - 13:30 | Central Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Central Atrium
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Show begins at 6:30 pm
Tickets: Free
Standard 4-Pack is led by Victor Sawyer and features Randy Ballard (trumpet), Victor Sawyer (trombone), Stephen Lee (piano), and Neal Bowen (bass), performing a selection of favorite jazz standards.

Crosstown Arts Film Series presents THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
2023-03-09 13:00 - 15:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Crosstown Arts Film Series presents THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE at Crosstown Theater.
Luis Buñuel / 1972 / 102 minutes / PG
Tickets: $5 at the door
Doors at 6:30 p.m. | Films begin at 7:00 p.m. (sharp!) at Crosstown Theater
In Luis Buñuel’s deliciously satiric masterpiece, an upper-middle-class sextet sits down to a dinner that is continually delayed, their attempts to eat thwarted by vaudevillian events both actual and imagined, including terrorist attacks, military maneuvers, and ghostly apparitions. Stringing together a discontinuous, digressive series of absurdist set pieces, Buñuel and his screenwriting partner Jean-Claude Carrière send a cast of European-film greats — including Fernando Rey, Stéphane Audran, Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and Bulle Ogier — through a maze of desire deferred, frustrated, and interrupted. The Oscar-winning pinnacle of Buñuel’s late-career ascent as a feted maestro of the international art house, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is also one of his most gleefully radical assaults on the values of the ruling class.
The Crosstown Arts Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground, and documentary features.

Gritty City Bang Bang
2023-03-09 13:30 - 15:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Gritty City Bang Bang in the Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $12 in advance | $15 at the door
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Gritty City Bang Bang is the brainchild of guitarist Jonathan Bass. Original compositions by Bass are elevated by Memphis titans Mike Assad and Carl Caspersen. This trio delivers improvisation permeated with cinematic Americana vibes, bringing the funk when needed. Next to the likes of BBQ and Home Depot, there has never been a better destination for heavy lifting of the human soul.

MAR10 Day
2023-03-10 12:00 - 14:00 | Central Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Central Atrium
Friday, March 10, 2023
Events: 6-8 pm
Tickets: Free and open to the public
Mar10 Day is an annual salute to the entire Mario franchise. It takes place on March 10 each year because the date, written as “Mar10,” looks uncannily like “Mario.” The event gained traction on the internet as fans of the Mario franchise shared their love for the character online.
Crosstown Concourse will celebrate the holiday with a performance from Memphis’ own video game-themed band PXLS, old school arcade games, video game-themed mini golf, a portrait booth (perfect if you’re dressing up in video game-inspired attire!), video game-themed temporary tattoos, and more!
PXLS, returning to Crosstown Concourse in celebration of the Better Together event, is a Memphis-based video game music cover band with their own unique take on video game music. They play classic 8-bit and 16-bit era songs and invite listeners to relive the soundtrack to their childhoods. In addition to classic console game-inspired music, the band’s repertoire spans several genres like rock, jazz, and reggae.

Ole Miss Jazz Combo
2023-03-11 12:00 - 13:30 | Central Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Central Atrium
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
With a lineage that goes back to the late 1890s, the University of Mississippi’s jazz ensemble is one of the oldest in the nation. By 1927, the group adopted the name “The Mississippians,” which is still in use today by the premier ensemble of Ole Miss Jazz. Throughout the 20 th century, Ole Miss Jazz groups performed regularly at social functions on campus, gave concerts, and toured throughout the South. More recently, Ole Miss Jazz groups have performed at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in South Bend, IN, the National Convention of the Jazz Education Network, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. The Mississippians Jazz Ensemble will perform this summer at Jazz à Juan and Jazz in Marciac festivals in France and Jazzaldia in Spain.
Directed by Dr. Michael Worthy, Ole Miss Jazz includes two 18-piece big bands (The Mississippians and The Collegians), two student combos, a faculty combo, a traditional jazz combo, and the UM Salsa Project in collaboration with the Percussion Studio under the direction of Prof. Ricky Burkhead.
Learn more at: www.jazz.olemiss.edu

Deepstaria Enigmatica
2023-03-11 13:30 - 15:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Deepstaria Enigmatica: Memphibians Rising from the Mud, Making Musical Moods in the Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 advance | $20 at the door
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Deepstaria Enigmatica is a quintet of improvisers from Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to creating otherworldly soundscapes. Named for a rarely seen, bell-shaped jellyfish discovered by Jacques Cousteau, the group’s every note is inspired by that famous ocean explorer’s sense of discovery. But don’t assume the five veteran musicians create only chaos: they are as attuned to melodies and harmonies as they are to fine gradations of noise. What emerges with each extemporaneous performance can range from dark swirls of frenetic fury, to interplanetary hard bop, to sunlit, ambient dreamscapes punctuated with snatches of folk song.
The diverse experience of the players sets the tone for their deep dives:
David Collins is the composer and guitarist behind Frog Squad, a Memphis group who have blended jazz improvisation with visionary music as disparate as that of Horace Silver and Erik Satie; he’s equally at home playing simple, unfettered guitar lines or rocking, effects-drenched rave ups.
Chad Fowler played alto saxophone with both Frank Lowe and George Cartwright in the 1990s, and now teams up with the likes of William Parker, Kidd Jordan, Ivo Perelman, Zoh Amba, Matthew Shipp, or Brian Blade for music released on the Mahakala Music label; in Deepstaria Enigmatica, he also plays bass flute and an Otamatone portable synthesizer.
Keyboardist Alex Greene first studied musique concrète and computer synthesis with composer Judy Klein in the 1980s, before playing in a variety of Memphis groups ranging from Alex Chilton to Big Ass Truck to Reigning Sound, not to mention over twenty years of work with New York composer Dave Soldier; now he improvises with multiple keyboards simultaneously, including a vintage Roland Juno-106.
Since completing his jazz studies at the University of Memphis in 2016, drummer Jon Harrison has cast a wide stylistic net with the groups he’s joined, which include the Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra, Frog Squad, Hope Calyburn’s Soul Scrimmage, Joe Austin, Roderick Duran, PXLS, and the Church Brothers.
Bassist Khari Wynn, best known as the guitarist for hip hop sensations Public Enemy, regularly tests more unorthodox waters with groups such as Energy Disciples, often under the name Mysterioso Africano.
Together, these five musos cohere with a surprising unity of purpose, as their listening and playing gel into what often sound like prepared compositions. Sharing an uncanny telepathy, they transport listeners to new worlds of musical possibility.

Dave Spencer Quartet
2023-03-14 13:00 - 14:30 | Central Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Central Atrium
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
Dave Spencer, trumpet
Alvie Givhan, piano
James Sexton, drums
Sam Shoup, bass

Modern Masters Jazz Series: Peter Bernstein
2023-03-14 14:30 - 17:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Modern Masters: Peter Bernstein with the Ted Ludwig Trio in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
$25 | $20 in advance ($10 student tickets at the door)
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
​​Jazz guitarist Peter Bernstein has been a part of the jazz scene in New York and abroad since 1989. During that time he has participated in numerous recordings and performances with musicians from all generations. As a leader, Peter has released nine albums and a DVD. As a sideman Peter has appeared in groups led by Sonny Rollins, Bobby Hutcherson, George Coleman, Lou Donaldson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Fathead Newman, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Diana Krall, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Cobb, and many more. Current projects include his album, Monk, with Doug Weiss and Bill Stewart, a recently released solo record, Solo Guitar – Live at Smalls, and the highly acclaimed organ trio with organist Larry Goldings and drummer Bill Stewart.
“Peter’s an extremely elegant musician with a gorgeous tone that seems to relax you when you hear it.” – The Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles
“The jazz guitarist, among the most sought after in the New York area, has a feather-light touch, an encyclopedic knowledge of chords and the ability to play standards like he’s inventing them on the spot.” – The Los Angeles Daily News
“Mr. Bernstein is a fluidly improvising guitarist in the post-bop tradition, with control over harmony and a beautiful sound.” – The New York Times

MicroCinema: A String of Pearls - The Films of Camille Billops and James Hatch
2023-03-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts and Indie Memphis present MicroCinema: A String of Pearls – The Films of Camille Billops and James Hatch.
Crosstown Theater
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Doors at 6:30 pm | Screenings begin at 7:00 pm
Tickets: Pay-What-You-Can
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts are proud to present three films from A String of Pearls: The Films of Camille Billops and James Hatch. Newly restored, these three shorts, Take Your Bags, Older Women and Love, and Suzanne, Suzanne, highlight the longtime creative partnership of artists, writers, and filmmakers Camille Billops and James Hatch.
Many of the six films they made together pull from and explore Billops’ specific point of view, her life, and the lives of her family. These films are singular, deeply creative, and incisive in their examination of the stripping of culture and identity because of slavery (Take Your Bags), the experiences of love and dating later in life (Older Women and Love), and the deep ripple effects that abuse has on a relationship between mother and daughter (Suzanne, Suzanne).
We’re grateful to Malkah Manouel and Third World Newsreel for making this MicroCinema possible!

University of Memphis Jazz Combo 1
2023-03-17 13:00 - 14:30 | Crosstown Concourse, Central Atrium, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN
The Central Atrium
Friday, March 17, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
Under the direction of Dr. Michael Shults, University of Memphis Jazz Combo 1 is the top performing small group jazz ensemble at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. The all-star combo specializes in compositions by post-bop jazz masters including Wayne Shorter, Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, and Memphis’s own James Williams.
Nathan Graybeal, alto saxophone
Eli Wyatt, tenor saxophone
Jacob Loreant, guitar
Logan Clark, bass
Jacob Bross, drums

The Otis Mission
2023-03-17 14:30 - 16:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents The Otis Mission in the Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, March 17, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door ($10 students)
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
The Otis Mission is led by veteran drummer and prominent Memphis musician, James Otis Sexton.
While James is widely known as a versatile drummer, having performed, toured, or recorded with several world renowned and Grammy-winning artists, he is least known as a composer. For this reason, “The Otis Mission” was created, and it will solely perform James’ original musical compositions.
Because he’s performed in a plethora of musical genres including gospel, jazz, fusion, rhythm & blues, hip hop, salsa, and more, it’s no surprise that his music would reflect just that.
This promises to be a fun night of music and the inception of a new staple in Memphis music heritage.
This ensemble consists of James Sexton (drums), Tony Dickerson (keys), Alvie Givhan (keys), Deante Payne (mallets), Joe Restivo (guitar), and Ted Partin (bass).

Harley Kimbro Lewis presented by Folk All Y’all and Crosstown Arts
2023-03-18 14:30 - 16:30 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Doors open at 7pm | Show begins at 7:30pm
Tickets: $20 (purchase tickets here)
From Knoxville to Nashville via Hertfordshire, Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro & Sam Lewis collaborate for the first time on a slow cooked, laid back album reminiscent of an early American songbook. Produced at Wow & Flutter studios the old fashioned way; writing songs in the morning and rolling the tape in the afternoon, the album highlights Daniels Appalachian roots, Sams Nashville tones and Martins traveling riverside blues. Individually they have worked with some of the biggest names in the business. This is acoustic Americana at its finest.
The Harley Kimbro Lewis album received glowing reviews during its 2022 release with a comprehensive UK tour.
In March 2023 the trio will tour the US performing only six dates exclusively in the Southeast.
MARTIN HARLEY (UK based) has been making music and touring the world for over two decades. Exploring blues and roots in a style The Guardian referred to as Spellbinding, Harley has released eight albums to date. His carbon neutral ‘Blues Gone Green’ bicycle tour of the UK took place in 2011. He participated in the ‘World’s Highest Gig’ in the Himalayas. His motorcycle adventures have taken him across Mali in search of the roots of blues music. He toured Northern India and Nepal on a vintage Royal Enfield and spent a year living in his 1977 Holden station wagon in Australia. Recent nominations include AMA instrumentalist of the year, Best Acoustic Guitarist, and Best Acoustic Blues Artist. Notable appearances include performances at Glastonbury, Royal Albert Hall, Union Chapel and countless international venues and festivals.
DANIEL KIMBRO was raised on American Roots music in and around Appalachia and is a twice GRAMMY-nominated musician from Knoxville, TN with numerous recording credits and touring appearances. Splitting his time between Knoxville and Nashville, Daniel is a regular accompanist with John Hiatt, the Jerry Douglas Band, the Earls of Leicester, and The Transatlantic Sessions. He as appeared on stage with the likes of James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Sir Aly Bain, Cara Dillon, R.B. Morris, Bela Fleck, Molly Tuttle, Maura O’Connell, and many others.
SAM LEWIS is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter that has collaborated with everyone from Leon Russell to Chris Stapleton, who dubbed him a modern Townes Van Zandt. Lewis is often labeled with the word soulful and a style that meets at a juncture of many different genres; a place where feel-good music meets vital social commentary. A decade worth of touring his studio efforts have captivated audiences all around the world. His songs and stories are glued together with a unique stage banter developed from performing in numerous music halls, clubs, theaters, festivals and music cruises.
Only the best musicians & songwriters can make simplicity sound this good’ – Fatea Magazine UK
‘The roots equivalent of a Crosby, Still & Nash album, and very good it is too’ – Mojo UK (4/5)
‘A quality album at every step’ – Americana UK 8/10
‘If this doesn’t put a smile on your face, then you’re beyond saving’ – Blues in Britain
‘The best one can imagine both musically & lyrically’ – Maxazine NL
Minimum ticket price is $20 but you can name-your-own price above that if you’re feeling it. 100% of ticket revenue goes to our artists (you can see where any fees go in the check-out breakdown). Yep, all of it. Folk All Y’all is volunteer-run and subscriber-supported. Shows are presented in partnership with Crosstown Arts at The Green Room in Crosstown Concourse.
About The Green Room: Operated by Crosstown Arts, The Green Room is committed to providing the best possible environment for the two most important components of a musical performance: the artists’ work and the audience’s listening experience.
About Folk All Y’all: Intimate, attentive performances by exceptional singer-songwriters, proudly presented in Memphis, Folk All Y’all is a public, nonprofit listening room series supported by our pledges from our community.

(SOLD OUT) Stax Music Academy SONGBIRDS: A Tribute to Women in Jazz
2023-03-21 14:30 - 17:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Stax Music Academy: SONGBIRDS: A Tribute to Women in Jazz in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $10 GA (Free for SMA students and faculty)
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the jazz department at the Stax Music Academy will present a tribute to the pioneers and powerhouses that have blazed trails for women worldwide in jazz. The concert will feature SMA’s jazz vocal ensemble, Kind Of Blue, named after the iconic 1959 Miles Davis album. The vocalists will be accompanied by a band of instrumentalists from the SMA Jazz Department. This tribute includes nods to the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Nina Simone, and even contemporary artists like Esperanza Spalding and Jamila Woods. The music will speak to the strength, elegance, innovation, and devotion that women have embodied in the evolution across the diaspora of modern jazz music.
The Stax Music Academy jazz department, under the direction of SMA alumnus Kori Wallace, currently hosts three main ensembles. The premiere group, The Legacy Quintet, boldly carries the torch of Memphis’ rich musical history and features the program’s four top performing instrumentalists and top performing vocalist. Kind Of Blue, our jazz vocal ensemble, provides vocalists the opportunity to dive deeply into the nuances of the jazz language spoken by some of the greatest voices in American music. Lastly, we have the newly minted Phineas Newborn Jazz Orchestra. The PNJO shines a light on one of the titans of Memphis jazz, and creates the space for students to develop in large ensemble performance. The overall mission of the jazz department is to provide an environment for students to tap into the roots of Memphis music through its deep connection to jazz. Through that connection, students are also able to develop in their approaches to the many styles synonymous with this great city.

Memphis Jazz Through the Lens with Michael Kelley
2023-03-22 13:00 - 14:00 | TN
Memphis Listening Lab
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Talk begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free and open to the public
Memphis-based jazz aficionado Michael Kelley presents his collection of photographs of jazz luminaries preserving the deep, rich history of the artform.

(SOLD OUT) Iron & Wine: Back to Basics – Part Three With Anna Mieke
2023-03-23 14:00 - 17:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Iron & Wine: Back to Basics — Part Three at Crosstown Theater.
Crosstown Theater
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Doors at 6 pm | Show at 7 pm
Ticketing: $40-70
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Iron & Wine is the musical project of singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Born and raised in South Carolina, Beam was teaching film when his home recorded debut, The Creek Drank the Cradle, was released on Sub Pop records in 2002. Garnering both critical and popular acclaim, Beam was vaulted into the spotlight of the burgeoning indie-folk and Americana scenes. Now entering its 20th year, Iron & Wine have released seven full length recordings, numerous EPs / singles, and collaborations with Calexico, Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) and Jesca Hoop all on their way to becoming a four-time GRAMMY nominee. Iron & Wine’s music has captured the emotion and imagination of listeners with their distinctly cinematic songs; in particular they’ve become synonymous with the movies Twilight and Garden State and continue to find a home in your favorite film, TV show or streaming playlist. As the world continues to spin — so do Iron & Wine continue on their path of releasing new music and touring.
Anna Mieke’s world radiates with an intense heat that lies closer to the desert or the jungle than her hometown of Wicklow, Ireland. On her second album Theatre, she invites listeners into this warmth, enveloping us in a vivid dreamscape that mirrors her lush and adventurous upbringing. Her music is the⁠ surreal soundtrack of a vast personal plain steeped in nostalgia, family, memory, death and dreaming—where gritty reality and romanticism meet. This duality is the thematic core of Theatre, which focuses on the conflict between permanence and temporality, the immaterial and material, and how memories of places and people fade, warp, and reinvent themselves over time.

Memphis Symphony Orchestra: MOZART AND ELECTRIC GUITAR CONCERTO
2023-03-24 13:30 - 15:00 | Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Paul and Linnea Bert Classic Accents Series · 3
MOZART AND ELECTRIC GUITAR CONCERTO
Friday, March 24, 2023 · 6:30pm
Crosstown Theater
Purchase tickets here
Friday, March 24, 2023 | 6:30pm | Crosstown Theater
Kalena Bovell, conductor
D.J. Sparr, composer and electric guitar
HAHN Overture to Mozart
SPARR Violet Bond: Electric Guitar Concerto
VILLA-LOBOS Sinfonietta No. 1
MOZART Symphony No. 31 “Paris”
A concert of musical dedications: Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony headlines this concert, paired with works dedicated to him by two South American composers, Reynaldo Hahn and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Young composer and performer, D.J. Sparr brings his breathtaking electric guitar concerto, also dedicated to his musical inspiration: his grandmother, Violet Bond.

Red Bull Dance Your Style
2023-03-25 14:30 - 16:30 | Central Atrium, Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
The Central Atrium
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Doors at 6:30 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $5
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Red Bull Dance Your Style is returning to Memphis — challenging some of the best dancers in the US. Competitors will enter epic 1-on-1 battles, bringing improvisation to a new level. Unpredictable tunes, from mainstream hits to timeless classics, fire up the dance floor, allowing dancers to showcase their skills and wow the crowd! And here’s the catch — the crowd are the judge! Red Bull Dance Your Style Memphis is going down at Crosstown Concourse on March 25, 2023. Save the date!

The winner of Red Bull Dance Your Style Memphis will compete in the National Finals May 20, 2023, in Chicago.
If you are interested in competing, register for auditions near you here: https://win.gs/auditions

Morgan James (SOLD OUT!)
2023-03-25 14:30 - 17:00 | Crosstown Arts, The Green Room, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280, Memphis, TN, 38104, United States
Crosstown Arts presents Morgan James in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Doors: 7 pm | Show: 7:30 pm
VIP Entry at 6:15 pm | VIP meet-and-greet and performance at 6:30 pm
Tickets: $25 | VIP package available with additional $35
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
“A phenomenal talent whose feel for classic soul music is bone deep…This woman is on fire.” — The New York Times
Morgan James is a Juilliard trained singer, actress, songwriter and recording artist in New York City.
Morgan recently co-produced and starred in an all-female concept recording of “Jesus Christ Superstar” entitled “She Is Risen”. She independently released her studio albums of original soul music, entitled Memphis Magnetic, and A Very Magnetic Christmas recorded to analog tape in Memphis, Tennessee. Other albums include “Reckless Abandon”, which prompted the Huffington Post to call MJ the “Brightest Breakout Artist of the Year”. Last year, Morgan took on a full album cover of the Beatles’ iconic ‘White Album’ to celebrate the 50th anniversary; available on CD, vinyl, digital and full length concept video on her YouTube channel. She also took on Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” and covered it in its entirety. Morgan recorded two full-length albums with Epic Records: “Hunter”, an album of original R&B, and “Morgan James Live, a celebration of Nina Simone”. All of her music can be found on all streaming platforms, and hard copies on her website or at shows.
On Broadway, Morgan was in five back-to-back original companies: The Addams Family (starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth), Wonderland, Godspell and Motown: The Musical, and as a guest at Kristin Chenoweth’s For The Girls.
With viral sensation Postmodern Jukebox and with her own YouTube channel, Morgan’s music videos have accumulated more than 260 million views (and climbing).
For info, tour tickets and new album updates, please visit www.morganjamesonline.com. @morganajames
