Tag: The Green Room

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.

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by The Reba Russell Band.

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

Reba Russell’s name is synonymous with the Memphis music scene. She is a published songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, backing vocalist, bandleader, and producer, as well as a touring and recording artist. Reba Russell and her band tour throughout the United States and Europe and have released eight independent albums.

She is a highly respected Memphis studio/session vocalist, but she is perhaps more popularly known as a powerful live performer. The list of credits for recording artists that Reba has performed backing vocals in session for is vast. A few notable credits are: U2 (When Love Comes to Town, BB King/ Bono; Class of 55 Homecoming featuring Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins; and Huey Lewis and the News’ album Soulsville. Russell has also performed with local and regional acts, including Tracy Nelson, Jim Dickinson, Sid Selvidge, and Lucero.

The Memphis Chapter of NARAS awarded a Premier Player Award for vocals to Reba in both 1998 and 1999. She was also named an Emissary of Memphis Music by the Memphis Shelby County Music Commission in 2009. In 2011, Reba Russell was nominated for the Koko Taylor Vocal Award by the Blues Foundation during their annual Blues Music Awards Show in Memphis. For over 35 years, Reba Russell has performed in almost every venue, studio, and event around the Memphis area and continues to be a stalwart of the Memphis Music Scene.

In 2018, The Reba Russell Band was honored with a brass note on Beale Street.