Tag: jazz

Alex Greene & the Rolling Head Orchestra

Crosstown Arts presents Alex Greene & the Rolling Head Orchestra in The Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Session keyboardist and composer Alex Greene (Reigning Sound, Big Ass Truck, the Kropotkins, Deepstaria Enigmatica) has over three decades of experience in Memphis and New York, and has performed and recorded albums and soundtracks with the Rolling Head Orchestra since 2009. Whether he’s in singer/songwriter mode or leading a jazz band, his compositions combine strong melodic lines with unexpected, shape-shifting harmonies. Combining themes worthy of the Golden Age of Hollywood with more modernist sonic textures, and echoing artists as diverse as Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and Sun Ra, the classic jazz sextet of the Rolling Head Orchestra is now augmented by the eerie wail of the Theremin.

In 2010, the Rolling Head Orchestra scored the documentary Citizens Not Subjects: Reawakening Democracy in Memphis, leading to the album Depression Jubilee. The group has gone on to perform original scores for silent films since 2019, when Greene was a Resident Composer at Crosstown Arts, including soundtracks for A Trip to the Moon; Aelita, Queen of Mars; Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman; Flesh and the Devil with Greta Garbo, and, as commissioned by the Indie Memphis Film Festival in 2022, Häxan.

In this one of a kind show at The Green Room, Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra will focus on these cinematic set pieces as stand-alone works. Free to stretch out over Greene’s compositions, the band, featuring some of Memphis’ finest players, will bring the music to life as never before, blending jazz rhythms and horns with the haunting tones of the Theremin.

The University of Memphis Jazz Singers

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $10

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The University of Memphis Jazz Singers is comprised of 10 to 15 male and female vocal students. This group performs a wide range of music from traditional arrangements of jazz standards to more contemporary fusion jazz.

Kafé Kirk with Kirk Whalum & Jazzmeia Horn (SOLD OUT)

Crosstown Arts presents Kafé Kirk with Kirk Whalum and special guest Jazzmeia Horn in Crosstown Theater.

Sunday, April 23, 2023
Crosstown Theater
Box office opens at 5PM | Doors open at 5:30PM
Show begins at 6PM
Tickets: General Admission $45 (plus fees)

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Join Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum for Kafé Kirk, an ongoing jazz series in Crosstown Theater featuring musical and spiritual collaborations with special guest artists. This iteration’s performance will feature jazz singer Jazzmeia Horn.

JAZZMEIA HORN
Jazzmeia Horn is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She won the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition in 2015. Horn’s repertoire includes jazz standards and covers of songs from other genres, including by artists such as Stevie Wonder. She has been compared to jazz vocalists such as Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan, and Nancy Wilson.

“Horn is among the most exciting young vocalists in jazz, with a proud traditionalism that keeps her tightly linked to the sound of classic figures like Nancy Wilson and Betty Carter, but a vivacity of spirit and conviction that places her firmly in the present.” — The New York Times

KIRK WHALUM
Soulful, passionate, stirring…these are the words most often used to describe Kirk’s music. Forged from his Memphis, Tennessee, gospel roots and his 1980s initiation into the thriving Houston, TX nightclub scene, Kirk’s big, rich tenor sound is unmistakably his. The ’80s were highlighted by Kirk’s stepping out of his blossoming sideman role and forming his own band. It was there that Kirk ultimately developed both his “voice” and songwriting in the crucible of the local club scene—especially at a rooftop club called Cody’s. It was also in Houston where jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” him and brought him on tour, which led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including Cache, Kirk’s first #1 album. As well, Kirk and Bob received a Grammy nomination for their collaboration album, Joined at the Hip. After moving to Los Angeles, Kirk became an in demand session player for top artists like, Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones and most notably, Whitney Houston, amongst many others. It’s his sax heard on the mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You.” Kirk soon followed that career high point with his phenomenal hit album released on Warner Bros. Records, For You, perhaps the most successful of over 25 solo recordings to date; others include his eclectic, and much lauded, Gospel According to Jazz series, (Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4). In addition to his many solo projects, Kirk was also a member of the popular soul/jazz group, BWB, which features Kirk as the “W” of the group with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Norman Brown (guitar).

Kirk is the recipient of numerous awards and acknowledgements for his musical excellence including three Dove Award nominations, an NAACP Image Award nomination and has won two Stellar Awards- Gospel music’s highest honor. A twelve time Grammy nominee, Kirk won his first Grammy award (2011)for Best Gospel Song (“It’s What I Do”—featuring Lalah Hathaway) alongside life-long friend and gifted songwriter, Jerry Peters.

Strictly Jazz: The Music of Bill Evans

Crosstown Arts presents Strictly Jazz: The Music of Bill Evans in the Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Doors at 6:30 pm | Show at 7 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

The Crosstown Strictly 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.

This show features Gerald Stephens (piano), Art Edmaiston (tenor saxophone), Marc Franklin (trumpet/flugelhorn), Neal Bowen (bass), and Mike Assad (drums) with a special live painting experience by RODAN.

About Strictly Jazz:

Strictly Jazz Entertainment is committed to cultivating a growing community in the knowledge and appreciation of jazz. Strictly Jazz Entertainment facilitates 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. Strictly Jazz provides 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.

Gritty City Bang Bang

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.

Charu Suri Quartet

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.