Tag: The Green Room

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by singer-songwriter Gurf Morlix.

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

There was a time, and not that long ago in the grand scheme of things, when Gurf Morlix didn’t really think of himself as a songwriter. A guitar player, sure — armed from the get-go with the dead-aim chops and cool-handed confidence of a natural-born gunslinger. Later on, he took on the mantle of producer too, parlaying his myriad strengths as an ace sideman into an equally lauded career helping a veritable who’s who of the most formidable poets in Americana find their “growl” and cut their deepest grooves on record. But songwriter? That handle took him a bit longer to fully embrace.

Nevermind the fact that his perspective on the matter was inevitably skewed by his years of working with such grading-curve-blowing talents as Blaze Foley, Lucinda Williams, Butch Hancock, Robert Earl Keen, Mary Gauthier, and Ray Wylie Hubbard: a high bar is a high bar, and Morlix, for all of his famed minimalist aesthetic both onstage and in the studio, has never been one to cut corners when it comes to quality.

Through the years, Morlix also produced such artists as Lucinda Williams, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Tom Russell, Butch Hancock, Ian “Mac” McLagan, Slaid Cleaves, Michael Penn, the Pinedogs, and the Setters. His numerous recording credits include works by Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Miller, Peter Case, Bob Neuwirth, Trish Murphy, Marvin Etzioni, Andrew Hardin, Jim Lauderdale, Don Walser, Michael Penn, Linda McRae, Danny Tate, and Mojo Nixon, among others.

Crosstown Arts presents the Coalescent Quartet in a special performance in The Green Room. The program will feature varied works from composers Edvard Grieg, Fernande DeCruck, Zack Browning, and Memphis-based Dr. Evan Williams from the faculty of Rhodes College.

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

Formed in 2016, the Coalescent Quartet explores the diverse saxophone quartet repertoire from traditional to contemporary works. Its members Nathan Bogert, Michael Shults, Nick Zoulek, and Drew Whiting bring together years of combined chamber music experience and disparate pedagogical backgrounds to present sensitive, exciting, and distinctive performances. In addition to being active performers, the Coalescent Quartet are dynamic educators. Its members have taught at Ball State University, Silver Lake College, the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, the University of Memphis, and Oakland University. Collectively, the quartet has presented master-classes across the country, including at Kent State University and the Ohio State University. As champions of new saxophone quartet repertoire, in its short lifespan the quartet has commissioned composers such as Ted King-Smith and Martin Bresnick, and arranged music by Evan Ziporyn for saxophone.

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a special Valentine’s Day performance by Kortland Whalum.

Tickets: $10 (SOLD OUT)
Doors at 7 pm | Performance at 7:30 pm

Unforgettable: An Evening with Kortland Whalum gives music lovers a front row seat to singer Kortland Whalum’s “tribute to the love song.” Unforgettable showcases some of the most endearing romance songs of the last century, including songs from Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, and Ed Shereen, as well as Kortland’s original material. Expect to hear the languages of love translated through jazz, pop, and soul.

Please join us for a special album release party with Crosstown Art’s own Paul Taylor. He’s releasing his first full-length album — “The Music Stands” — under the nom de plume, New Memphis Colorways. And he’s assembled a very interesting cast of musical characters for the evening — Susan Marshall & Reba Russell on background vocals, Pat Harrington on electric guitar, David Collins on keyboards and auxiliary sounds/textures, Rob Douglas on bass, and Kyle Neblitt on the drums.

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

Some of Paul’s friends and musical associates have already chimed in about “The Music Stands”:

“Paul has really come into his own here. Although the songs are deceptively simple, there’s a world inside each track. These little musical creations are killer. They will creep up on you. They’ll reach out and grab you. It’s all very soulful. And a little magical too. Kinda proggy. Kind of indie. And utterly impossible to describe. I dig it.” — Chuck Prophet

“Paul’s out of his damn mind. He conjures more original musical ideas in 12 bars than most musicians do with entire albums. ‘The Music Stands’ finds him, as always, accessing strangenesses and welding the unexpected with a singular vision.” — Cory Branan

Having put out three releases under his birth name, including “Open Closed” (2007) & “Share It” (2009), both on Makeshift Records, as well as self-released The Old Forest Trail EP (2015), Paul has now embarked on a new project called New Memphis Colorways. New Memphis Colorways more fully embodies the wide-ranging influences from his storied career as a Memphis musician. This moniker debuted with his self-released Old Forest Loop EP (2018) and continues with the forthcoming “The Music Stands,” due out on 1/31/2020.

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by singer-songwriter Will Kimbrough.

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

These days, former Memphian Will Kimbrough zig-zags the world singing songs and playing guitars, often solo, but also in many other collaborations.

Will Kimbrough’s guitar and multi-instrumental prowess makes him an in-demand producer and session musician. Some of his latest productions include Doug Seegers, Shemekia Copeland, Radney Foster, and Jimmy Buffett. During his years as a touring guitarist, Will toured with Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Mavis Staples, and Allen Toussaint, among other notable artists.

Will’s songs have been recorded by the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Todd Snider, Little Feat, Hard Working Americans, Jack Ingram, and many others throughout the years.

Will is deeply rooted in classic rock-n-roll, old-school country, gospel, traditional blues, and folk music. This is a man who loves, and lives, real music.

Join us for a performance by KO & The Crew in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts.

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

KO & The Crew presents an eclectic blend of jazz, hip-hop, poetry, neo-soul, and rhythm & blues. The band, led by musician and poet Kori Wallace, is an ensemble of instrumentalists and vocalists whose goal is to redefine the way stories are told. Sing along with, dance to, and see for yourself what makes The Crew special.