Tag: The Green Room

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for special performance by Mighty Souls Brass Band.

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

Mighty Souls Brass Band, a Memphis‐based rotating collective of composer‐players versed in a multitude of musical traditions, isn’t a soul band, nor is it a funk band, a marching band, or a swing band. And yet, depending on where you catch them live, you’ll hear all of those influences and more from around the globe.

For proof, check the band’s debut album — Lift Up!, on Blue Barrel Records — largely recorded live, to catch the infectious synergy of the group. You’ll hear all of these influences, but you’ll also hear the writing and arrangement talents of MSBB’s members, who themselves composed ten of the album’s dozen tracks. This vigorously creative impulse to weave something new from the threads of various traditions is what makes Mighty Souls Brass Band a unique act even among brass ensembles. This is a band that knows where its roots lie, but also where its branches are reaching, far out into the world, a world that seems invariably to express its deepest spiritual desires and celebrations through music.

Mighty Souls Brass Band is a group attuned to that desire, that celebratory spirit. It’s a music that swings, that soars, that swoons — all of which is suggested by that profound, that humble, that most human of words: “Soul.”

For their penultimate album on Stax Records, Booker T. & the MGs stretched the boundaries of the Memphis Sound, tackling the Beatles’ masterpiece LP, Abbey Road. Using the newfound artistic freedom granted since Stax had split with Atlantic Records, this is the band’s most complex and adventurous recording, perfectly timed for the rise of FM radio and music that need not fit on one side of a 45.

The group also debuted a new look for Joel Brodsky’s iconic album cover, trading in their matching mohair suits and manicured coiffes for bell-bottoms, fringe jackets, and scruffy beards.

Joining series host Dr. Charles Hughes (Rhodes College) will be members of the MDs, a Memphis-based Booker T. & the MGs tribute band that performed the entire McLemore Avenue album at the Stax Museum in 2017.  This October, the band rearranged another Beatles classic, Revolver, for a capacity Crosstown Arts crowd.

Free and open to the public

Join us in The Green Room for a performance by Memphis-based jazz group, L.A.P.D.

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

Comprised of four hard-working musicians from Memphis, L.A.P.D. respects the city’s rich musical heritage while forging new ground, all in the name of the groove.

L.A.P.D. is Logan Hanna on guitar, Arthur Edmaiston on saxophone, Patrick Fusco on organ, and Danny Banks on drums and cymbals.

The deep swing and tough grooves played by this band of professionals was honed through years of logging late nights in clubs and on tours around the globe. So much attention has been given to the study of the music recorded in the 1960s (sometimes referred to as “soul jazz”) that listeners will wonder if they have been transported back in time.

L.A.P.D. presents music that harkens back to an era when there was always a Hammond organ in the nightclub and everyone came to have a good time. The beautifully complex instrumental tones and their authentic rhythmic feel for the organ-fueled soul jazz music of yesteryear will make you want to shout!

The eclectic repertoire consists of titles spanning several generations of music with all of it delivered in the classic organ quartet style made famous by Jack McDuff, Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, and Big John Patton.

What sets L.A.P.D. apart is the arranging and composing skills of Patrick and Logan. Several original compositions are present in the band’s book as well as sly arrangements of familiar classic and modern rock radio staples. If you have ever wondered what the melodies of Jimi Hendrix and Soundgarden might sound like filtered through a greasy saxophone, then L.A.P.D. has that and more in store for you.

Join us as visual, musical, and performance artist Lawrence Matthews, also known as Don Lifted, transforms the Crosstown Arts Green Room visually and sonically with a performance featuring sculptural video installations and music from his recently released albums Alero and Contour. With special guests Blueshift Ensemble.

Audiences will be immersed in music performed live and surrounded by swirling nostalgic imagery that follows the narrative of each song. This performance features a special collaboration with Memphis-based contemporary chamber music group Blueshift Ensemble. New Don Lifted merchandise will be available for purchase, as well as special-edition physical copies of the albums.

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

Production on his most recent album, Contour, began in Memphis in late 2015. In 2018, the record was finished and mastered in Hollywood by Grammy Award-winning Engineer Mike Bozzi (Flower Boy, Ctrl, Good Kid, Maad City, To Pimp A Butterfly, Damn, Blankface LP).

“Matthews is a multi-disciplinary creative with connections reaching deep into the Memphis art scene. Born in Memphis, his musical style incorporates hip-hop, alternative rock and electronic music resulting in emotionally vulnerable storytelling and eclectic production. A hot emerging artist, Matthew’s work began to garner acclaim before he had completed his Bachelor’s in Fine Art at University of Memphis, awarded the Deans and Department of Art Creative Achievement Award in 2015. In 2016, he was awarded the Arts Accelerator Grant from Arts Memphis. His performances helped inaugurate Crosstown Arts’ new space in Crosstown Concourse and have been featured events at the Brooks Museum and Memphis College of Art. Matthews is also the program director of the Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the work of Black Memphis based artists.”

Join multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and producer Paul Taylor and indie-pop duo The PRVLG at The Green Room for a special performance.

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

ABOUT PAUL TAYLOR

What do seemingly disparate artists Chuck Prophet, Eric Gales, Shelby Bryant, David Shouse, Robert Ellis, John Nemeth, Ann Peebles, Dead Soldiers, Big Ass Truck, Lady Rizo, Amy LaVere, Mason Ruffner, Luther Dickinson, Kelley Mickwee, The PRVLG, Cameron Bethany, Shawn Lane, Sid Selvidge, Devil Train, Aashish Khan, and many more have in common?

Answer: They have all utilized the talents of Memphis musician Paul “Snowflake” Taylor.

One of the best kept secrets in Memphis, yet well respected by those who know of him outside of the city, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and producer, Paul “Snowflake” Taylor has been writing and recording his own material as a one-man band since very early childhood and working as a professional musician since he was 14 years old.

With three solo releases under his belt — “Open Closed” (2007) & “Share It” (2009), both on Makeshift Records, and self-released The Old Forest Trail EP (2015), Paul has now embarked on a new project called New Memphis Colorways and released a new EP, Old Forest Loop, which embodies wide-ranging influences from his storied career as a Memphis musician.

ABOUT THE PRVLG

A privilege is considered a rare opportunity, which is exactly why The PRVLG fits this dynamic duo so effortlessly. Their act brings the rhythm section to the forefront of the stage unlike any other band around.

Creating a timeless sound that seamlessly mixes a vintage flare with a contemporary delivery, this set of twins certainly bring an element to music that is unheard of. Their blend of Indie pop-esque melodies with some funk, soul, jazz, and r&b make for a Memphis version of Prince.

With Christian on bass and Christopher on drums and both singing simultaneously, the pair craft a truly authentic live show which showcases monster musicianship that is truly one of a kind.

Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a special performance by Greg Ward’s Rogue Parade.

Considered one of the most versatile saxophonists of his generation, bandleader, composer, and arranger Greg Ward is proud to launch his new group, Rogue Parade. A quintet of heavyweight creative Chicago musicians, Rogue Parade features guitarists Matt Gold and Dave Miller, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Quin Kirchner.

Having earned wide acclaim as a sideman with artists like Prefuse 73, Lupe Fiasco, Tortoise, William Parker, Andrew D’Angelo, and Mike Reed, Greg Ward is now excited to introduce his wide-spanning audience to his new, innovative group, Rogue Parade, a unique two-guitar instrumentation that blends the sonic worlds of acoustic and electronic.

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

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“His results may be not ‘jazz’ in the usual sense, but they do make for a creative blending of genres and styles that results in fresh and intriguing music.” — JEROME WILSON of ALL ABOUT JAZZ

“This album welcomes everyone to hear their own impressions of the music… All the excellence of modern jazz without a hint of the grandiosity. You can make your imagination at home here.” — MICHELLE MERCER of NPR

“Ward’s breath-softened, woody tone sustains a bedrock of naturalness even as he breaks into unfettered flights, tempered on occasion by a pristine, neo-classical precision — a blend of fearlessness, merriment, pathos, and perhaps a measure or two of irony.” — DAVID WHITEIS of JAZZTIMES