Events

Stephen Lee is the Founder/Artistic and Executive Director of the Memphis Jazz Workshop, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. He has an undergraduate degree in Jazz Performance from City College University in New York City. Master in Education from Freed Hardeman. He has been in the education sector in Memphis since 2010, teaching for three years in the Shelby County Schools system, five years at the Stax Music Academy, and seven years as a fellow for the Memphis Music Initiative.

He has worked with Gregory Porter, Esperanza Spalding, Kirk Whalum, Warren Wolf, Corcoran Holt, Ulysses Owens Jr and many more. Lee has received numerous awards, including the Rhythm of Gospel Award, Steinway & Sons Top Music Teacher Voted by Amro Music Store, WC Handy Award, and Jimmie Lunceford Award. He has been nominated for a First Round Stellar Award and the Kennedy Center's Citizen Artist Fellowship. He is a proud Carver Cobras Alum and member of Omega Psi Psi.

Saxophonist Michael Shults has been praised for his “strong, imaginative” improvisations (Downbeat Magazine) and “fresh and intelligent musical ideas” (The Pitch). Now he and is quartet are teaming up with experienced bandleader and an in-demand sideman Bennett Wood for an unforgettable Jazz Month performance at Crosstown Arts.

The S.C. Ramblers is a brass band hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, specializing in the trademark sounds of street bands, initially made popular by the street musicians of New Orleans.

Whether it's a classic jazz tune or a current pop song, in the style of the New Orleans brass band, it’s an automatic party when you hear the S.C. Ramblers, perform live!

Everything Yes is an American jazz fusion band spearheaded by the drummer Zack Graybeal, known famously as ZackGrooves on his platforms, Sean Reeser, prolific composer, producer and tenor sax master, and Cole Sipe, composer, sound engineer and magistral bassist. This powerhouse of a band brings a fresh take on the style while staying true to the roots.

Join Indie Memphis & Crosstown Arts for our March Shoot & Splice all about music in film! Crosstown Sync’sMckenzii Webster and Charles Seaton will discuss their process for musicians to have their music licensed for film & TV, plus how filmmakers can best utilize their services. Immediately following will be a discussion with Memphis film composers Paul Vinsonhaler and Jeff Cohran about their process in creating the music for filmmakers across the city and beyond.

Matt Otto currently performs his original compositions and jazz standards with his Kansas City-based quartet as well as traveling several times per year to New York and L.A. for performances and recordings.

Matt has recorded and performed with the Grammy-nominated Anthony Wilson Nonet (The Power of Nine, Groove Note 1035, 2006), The Rashid Bakr Quintet, has performed in Los Angeles with the Grammy Nominated Alan Ferber Big Band as well as having recorded on over 50 CDs as both a leader and a side man.