Month: April 2004

Categories
Cover Feature News

The Music Issue

Family Affair

The Reigning Sound repeats in the annual Memphis Flyer Local Music Poll, but Makeshift makes its move.

In the summer of 2000, just a couple of weeks after joining the Flyer staff, a package appeared on my desk from an entity called “Makeshift.” Inside was a clearly handcrafted artifact called The First Broadcast, a compilation CD of local artists, most of whom were unknown to me. The disc was accompanied by a one-page explanation that Charles Foster Kane might call a “declaration of principles.”

“We would like to put Memphis on the map for having good music,” it read, and it didn’t seem arrogant or presumptuous. It did seem naive and ill-informed. At first. After all, how can you put Memphis on the map when Memphis is where the map begins? But the more I thought about it –and the more I listened and the more I talked to the barely adult schemers who formed Makeshift –the more it seemed like a healthy, even realistic attitude. These weren’t people clinging to a fading legacy. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, they were too busy being born to be busy dying.

At the time, I dubbed what Makeshift was doing “termite art,” after the category invented by film critic Manny Farber, because the forces behind Makeshift were going about their work with such interest and intent that they didn’t have time for self-consciousness.

So, as a music-scene watcher who found the group’s art-for-art’s-sake ethos and personal and professional modesty refreshing, and been glad to see that attitude remain intact as the scene has blossomed, I’m pleased as punch to put the Makeshift collective on the cover of this, the Fourth Annual Memphis Flyer Local Music Poll.

They deserve to be there: All four of the primary Makeshift artists — Snowglobe, the Glass, the Coach and Four, and Blair Combest –made the Top 10 of our local music survey for the first time ever. Two other Makeshift-connected bands — the Lights and the Color Cast –finished in the top 20 in their first poll appearances. And several voters, in selecting these bands, made a case for the Makeshift scene in its entirety.

If you’re new to this annual experiment, here’s how it works: Every spring we send out ballots to roughly 100 Memphians with a vocational (and, we hope, avocational) interest in the local music scene –writers, photographers, radio programmers, record-store owners and employees, club bookers, label owners, and other “industry” types. We ask them to name the five most “vital” artists in Memphis music today, purposefully leaving the criteria vague to allow each voter to judge vitality (not to mention “local”) in whatever manner they see fit. We also ask them to vote for their favorite local album of the past year and, this year, what one new or relatively unknown local act has the most potential to break out in the coming year (“Picked to Click”). We also give voters the opportunity to comment on their picks, because we have our say all year long and want to turn as much of the content over to the voters as possible.

This year, 40 music-scene onlookers chose to participate, down from last year’s high of 56 but on a par with the first two years of the poll. They voted for a total of 84 local artists and 25 albums. The top of the poll was unchanged from last year: The Reigning Sound, who won last year in a landslide, squeaked out a tight victory over last year’s runner-up, Lucero, who actually received the most votes and also won a closely contested “best album” race. The beloved North Mississippi Allstars finished third for the second straight year. The lesson here is that hard work and, right, oodles of talent pay off: What all three bands have in common is that they’ve made waves outside the city while still feeling like “local” bands.

But the good news for fans of change is that the top three bands are the only repeats from last year’s Top 10. Two others –Three 6 Mafia and the Lost Sounds — are past finishers who dropped out last year and made a comeback. But a full five of our finishers are making their Top 10 debut: The four Makeshift acts mentioned above and Free Sol, making their first poll appearance.

Over the next several pages, you can read about all this good stuff. Andrew Earles checks in with an in-depth profile of the Makeshift scene and the four individuals or bands that lead the way. Andria Lisle and I profile the other six bands in the Top 10. And we offer a sneak-peek at some of the most popular voter-getters in our “Picked to Click” category. Perhaps best of all, spread throughout the package, are voter comments on all these bands and the many more who didn’t crack the Top 10. And then there’s the cover itself: My hands-down favorite music-issue cover ever. In the Makeshift story, co-founder Brad Postlethwaite says he doesn’t want to always be the one in the front of the photos, which is exactly the attitude that makes him and the entire Makeshift collective such a wonderful part of the local music scene. But if you look at the cover, you’ll see we put Postlethwaite exactly where he deserves to be. —Chris Herrington

Best Local Album

of the Past Year

Album Votes

That Much Further West –Lucero (Tiger Style) 4

The Royal Sessions — The Bo-Keys (Yellow Dog) 3

Wild Emotions — The Preacher’s Kids (Get Hip) 3

Makeshift #3 –Various Artists (Makeshift Music) 3

Others receiving votes: 3rd & Beale — Barbara Blue (Big Blue Records); Too Much Love — Harlan T. Bobo (self-released); Unlimited Symmetry — The Coach and Four (Makeshift Music); The Color Cast — The Color Cast (self-released); Prettier Than Ugly –Blair Combest (Makeshift Music); Express Rising –Express Rising (Memphix); Disco Eraser –Final Solutions (Misprint); Back to the Bottom — The Gamble Brothers Band (Archer Records); I Can’t Stop — Al Green (Blue Note); Wrecked –Halfacre Gunroom (unreleased); Path Undefined — Candice Ivory (self-released); Official Bootleg #1 — Richard Johnston (self-released); Big Lonesome Radio — Mark Lemhouse (Yellow Dog Records); Polaris — North Mississippi Allstars (ATO/Tone Cool); Mix Tape: The Appeal –Project Pat (Hypnotize Minds); Haphazard — Skinny White Chick (Young Ave. Records); So That’s What the Kids Are Calling It? –The Subteens (Young Ave. Records); Da Unbreakables — Three 6 Mafia (Hypnotize Minds/Columbia); The Band With No Name –The Uninvited (self-released); In the Mood for Memphis –Various Artists (Inside Sounds); Jim Dickinson Field Recordings: Delta Experimental Projects Vol. 3 –Various Artists (Birdman). n

The 2004 Memphis Flyer

Local Music Poll

Voters were asked to name the five most vital artists or bands in Memphis music today. Forty voters participated, with points awarded as follows: five points for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote, three points for a third-place vote, two points for a fourth-place vote, and one point for a fifth-place vote.

Artist/Band Points Ballots

1. The Reigning Sound 64 17

2. Lucero 63 19

3. The North Mississippi Allstars 38 12

4. The Glass 27 8

5. Snowglobe 26 9

6. The Coach and Four 22 9

7. The Lost Sounds 22 7

8. Free Sol 18 6

9. Blair Combest 16 5

10. Three 6 Mafia 15 3

11. The Subteens 13 5

12. (tie) Saliva 13 4

12. (tie) Yo Gotti 13 4

14. The Bo-Keys 12 3

15. (tie) Jim Dickinson 10 3

15. (tie) The Lights 10 3

17. The Gamble Brothers Band 9 4

18. (tie) Candice Ivory 9 3

18. (tie) The Porch Ghouls 9 3

20. (tie) Automusik 9 2

20. (tie) Billy Gibson 9 2

20. (tie) The Color Cast 9 2

Others receiving votes: Robert Belfour, Big Star, The Bloodthirsty Lovers, Barbara Blue, Harlan T. Bobo, John Farrell Bonds, Cory Branan, Carmen, Joyce Cobb, Holly Cole, The Cool Jerks, Dearest Darlin’s, Delta Jax, DJ Boogaloo, Eightball & MJG, David Evans, Jeffrey Evans, The Fieldstones, The Final Solutions, FreeWorld, James Govan, Al Green, Andy Grooms, Gusto, Halfacre Gunroom, Teenie Hodges, Ingram Hill, Gary Johns, Richard Johnston, Rob Jungklas, Tyler Keith & the Preacher’s Kids, The Klopeks, Mark Lemhouse, Eric Lewis & Andy Ratliff, Lil’ Whyte, Johnny Lowebowe, Memphix, Willie Mitchell, Mr. Airplane Man, Mrs. Fletcher, Blind Mississippi Morris, Nervous Patterns, Larry Nix, Nu Jynsis, The Oscars, Kevin Paige, The Pirates, Tim Prudhomme, Christopher Reyes, Ross Rice, River City Tanlines, Valencia Robinson, Steve Selvidge, Preston Shannon, Six-Pack-a-Delia, The Tennessee Boltsmokers, The Tim Terry Experience, S.J. Tucker, Vending Machine, Viva L’American Deathray Music, Voodoo Village.

Staff Ballots

Chris Herrington:

1. The Reigning Sound

2. Lucero

3. The Lost Sounds

4. Snowglobe

5. The Coach and Four

Album:

Makeshift #3 –Various Artists (Makeshift Music)

Picked to Click: Tunnel Clones

Chris Davis:

1. The Reigning Sound

2. Snowglobe

3. The Lost Sounds

4. Lucero

5. The North Mississippi Allstars

Album:

Wild Emotions — The Preacher’s Kids (Get Hip)

Picked to Click: Halfacre Gunroom

Andria Lisle:

1. The Reigning Sound

2. The Lost Sounds

3. Johnny Lowebowe

4. Robert Belfour

5. Monsieur Jeffrey Evans

Album:

The Royal Sessions –The Bo-Keys (Yellow Dog)

Picked to Click: Chopper Girl

Thanks to all voters:

Tish Alexander

Tha Movement

Nancy Apple

WEVL-FM 89.9

Michael Boyer

KXHT-FM 107.1

Dennis Brooks

independent promoter

Betsie Brown

Blues Foundation

Matt Cole

Last Chance Records

Gary Crump

Snax Memphis

Kevin Cubbins

Easley Recording

Eddie Dattel

Inside Sounds

Chris Davis

The Memphis Flyer

Jimmy Davis

NARAS

Amanda Dugger

The Memphis Flyer

Andrew Earles

freelance writer

Julie Etheridge

Select-o-Hits

Michael Glenn

The New Daisy Theatre

Dave Green

The Hi-Tone Cafe

Eddie Hankins

WEVL-FM 89.9

Mark Jordan

freelance writer

Wayne Leeloy

Memphis &

Shelby County

Music Commission

Andria Lisle

The Memphis Flyer

Lisa Lumb

freelance writer

Cameron Mann

Young Avenue Sound

Don Mann

Young Avenue Sound

James Manning

The New Daisy Theatre

Pam McGaha

Stranjbrew Hoodoo

Mark McKinney

MADJACK Records

Jared McStay

Shangri-La Records

Bianca Phillips

The Memphis Flyer

Brad Postlethwaite

Makeshift Music

Lyndsi Potts

freelance photographer

Scott Rogers

Murphy’s

Mike Smith

Snax Memphis

Brian Venable

Last Chance Records

Chris Walker

independent booker

Steve Walker

Cat’s Midtown

Sherman Willmott

Shangri-La Records

Janet Wilson

WEVL-FM 89.9

JC Youngblood

Snax Memphis

 

The Makeshift Music Family:

1. Brad Postlethwaite

2. Nashon Benson

3. Luke White

4. JD Lovelace

5. Brad Stanfill

6. Sasha Barr

7. Daniel Ferris

8. Tony Dixon

9. Brad Bailey

10. Justin Minus

11. Tommy Pappas

12. Kevin Cubbins

13. Brandon Robertson

14. Jeff Hulett

15. John Argroves

16. Rebecca Weatherford

17. Tim Regan

18. Blair Combest

19. Paul Taylor

20. Clint Wagner

21. Andy Grooms

Categories
Music Record Reviews

Short Cuts

It’s All Around You

Tortoise

(Thrill Jockey)

A decade into their career as alt-jazz icons, Tortoise are still, well, plodding along with their patented combination of guitar licks, DJ loops, and drumbeats. Their methodology owes more to the shoegazer scene than it does, say, to jazz-rock fusion like Miles Davis and John McLaughlin’s Jack Johnson. As the band’s moniker implies, Tortoise’s songs are more likely based on a musical evolution that’s nearly imperceptible. Oftentimes, that makes for lazy, stoner soundtrack music — although occasionally, Tortoise have managed to use their instrumental nuances to tap into a wellspring of human emotion. Take, for example, “Djed,” the 20-minutes-plus opus that opened their second album, Millions Now Living Will Never Die.

For better or for worse, however, Tortoise doesn’t break any new ground on this, their fifth album. On these 10 tracks, John McEntire & Co. are borderline noodlers, oftentimes revisiting — without managing to successfully expound upon — a series of second-rate musical themes. There are a few glorious moments: the chiming tones of “Crest” and the soaring, Brazilian-influenced “The Lithium Stiffs,” which features a breathy vocal line from Kelly Hogan, Ö la Astrud Gilberto. But despite the realization that the longest cut on It’s All Around You clocks in at just under five-and-a-half minutes, the album still seems a little tedious. — Andria Lisle

Grade: C+

Tortoise performs at the Young Avenue Deli Monday, May 3rd, with Beans and the Ex-Models.

Aw C’mon/No You C’mon

Lambchop

(Merge)

Aw C’mon and No You C’mon — Lambchop’s sixth and seventh albums, released simultaneously — constitute a sprawling, eclectic set that highlights the band’s lush sound and Kurt Wagner’s wryly observant lyrics and eccentric vocal style.

As their titles suggest, these two C’mon‘s form a dialogue: They not only complement but talk to one another, casually arguing a theme. Each record represents a conflict common to indie bands but especially meaningful with the older members of Lambchop — the not-always-easy comforts of home versus the not-always-unpleasant tedium of touring.

Aw C’mon is the home side, examining the intricacies of marriage and family responsibilities and showcasing Wagner’s lyrical range. Perhaps indie-rock’s best dramatist of domestic mundanity, Wagner writes opaque songs that never simply state their meanings outright but reveal them gradually, if at all. It’s as if the songs are so deeply rooted in Wagner’s personal life and based so closely on people and predicaments that he has to write them in code — easily cracked by the attentive listener but not always necessary to the enjoyment of the song.

At its heart, Aw C’mon is an album about the ways men and women talk to each other, about the tactics they use to defend themselves or inflict wounds in a relationship. “Let’s begin again,” Wagner sings on “Every Time I Bring It Up It Seems To Bring You Down,” “And let’s not try to answer/With subtle irony/Instead of common sense.”

But as he sings on “I Haven’t Heard a Word I’ve Said,” “A dialogue is half-created/Out of our own words.” The other half is silence, both the necessary kind and the kind that lets problems rub away at a relationship until a blister rises.

Lambchop fills that silence with music, which forms the basis for No You C’mon. The band gets a little rowdier on these songs, varying up the tempos, arrangements, accompaniments, and approaches from song to song. On the feedback-saturated “Nothing Adventurous Please” and the doo-wop “Shang a Dang Dang,” Lambchop sounds newly invigorated by the possibilities of all these people making music.

While Aw C’mon is better written, No You C’mon is more musically vigorous. The former may be more rewarding, but the latter is more fun. Sure, you could pare down the set into one solid “A” album, but that would miss the point: With their rich sound and large roster, Nashville’s Lambchop has mastered a unique brand of restrained excess. All 22 songs on these two albums may not be essential, but they faithfully note and record life’s little inessentials. —Stephen Deusner

Grade (both records): A-

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Passing Off

In the space of a week, sentiment on the Shelby County Commission shifted away from what had seemed to be a bare consensus in favor of a $17.8 million payoff to Clark Construction Group for convention center cost overruns.

By the time the commission got around to voting on the much-deferred matter at its meeting Monday, at least four votes had turned around — one or two of them in the course of a spirited debate on the matter — and Clark had suffered a stinging rebuff. The final tally was three ayes, two passes, and eight fairly resounding nos.

What happened?

One reason, clearly, was an increased media focus on the proposal — including the Flyer‘s cover story last week and attention given the matter in The Commercial Appeal and on television news reports. Another, related factor was the dawning realization by commissioners that they were being asked to take the first hits on a controversy that, at least arguably, had more to do with another jurisdiction — that of city government.

Four of the no-voters on Monday — Republicans Tom Moss, Joyce Avery, and Linda Rendtorff and Democrat Joe Ford — had done complete turnarounds since last week. The most striking was reversal was that of Rendtorff, who began a statement Monday in support of the position of Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County mayor A C Wharton that the proposed settlement was in order.

But even as she professed to accept the mayors’ reasoning — including Wharton’s stated concerns about litigation costs and risk to the county’s bond rating from a lingering “contingent liability” — Rendtorff pointed out that, technically, the contract was between Clark on one hand and the city and the convention center board on the other.

She also obliquely noted that the prime mover in the effort to settle with Clark was Herenton, who has pointedly declined so far either to make public his reasons for supporting the settlement or to submit the issue to the City Council. (Although it was Clark attorney Karl Schledwitz‘s impression that Herenton has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the company.) Again this week, as he has previously, Herenton declined to be interviewed on the subject.

Rendtorff, commenting on a proposal from Julian Bolton that a limited set-aside be established for an ultimate agreement (“Let’s give Mayor Herenton something to work with,” he said), then floated a novel solution — that the city, in accordance with its contracting priority, should fund 70 percent of any settlement, leaving the county responsible for only the remaining 30 percent.

Moss, who made two unsuccessful attempts to get the issue deferred until the commission’s meeting of May 17th, agreed with Rendtorff that “we [county government] shouldn’t keep sticking our neck out on these things” and that the city should bear more of the burden for the convention center affair, both financially and PR-wise.

More than most, Moss felt the underlying tug-of-war. As a homebuilder himself, he is tuned in to the concerns of the development community, including the subcontractors who have been squeezed by the reluctance of Clark to pay them, and he remains convinced that some sort of settlement is in order.

But Moss is also a representative of District 4, an outlying suburban area whose generally conservative constituents are loath to spend out of the public treasury unless they get something tangible for it — like the new Arlington school, subject of intense controversy on the commission all last year.

Avery, another District 4 commissioner, had clearly heard from her constituents during the week leading up to Monday’s meeting. She also was made privy to findings of the Pearson Management Group, an advisory company hired by the city, which, as her colleague Bruce Thompson noted Monday, had advised against further payments to Clark. “I just have too many concerns, and I’ve learned too much that I wasn’t aware of,” she said after the meeting.

The commission’s apparent consensus in favor of litigation owed much to the unanimity, crossing political boundaries, among the body’s lawyers — Walter Bailey, David Lillard, and Bolton — that a settlement at this point, sans depositions and further legal discovery, was premature. And telling, too, was the appearance before the commission of Lance Fair, who reminded commissioners of the determined opposition to the agreement by his late father, former commissioner and convention center board chairman Morris Fair.

But the real determinant Monday was clearly a sense that the city — and Mayor Herenton, in particular — should go first. And go public.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Taking Matters into Her Own Hands

In an inconspicuous Circuit Court case LAST Friday, plaintiff Linda Taylor did her best to prove the age-old saying that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Taylor, representing herself in Judge Karen Williams’ courtroom, received a final extension in her civil suit against her former attorney, Kevin Snider. The case stemmed from Snider’s representation of Taylor in a Chancery Court suit against Shelby County. That suit was filed against the county for violation of Taylor’s civil rights, which led to the termination of her job in 1995.

At that time, Taylor had been a speech pathologist for four years with the county-run Head Start child development program. When the Head Start director introduced a new fingerprinting requirement for background checks for employees, Taylor objected on religious grounds. She contended that the policy was instituted without a state law or child-care licensing regulation requiring fingerprinting and provided other documents proving her clear background, including a “No Wants” arrest record from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Administrators disagreed with Taylor, and she was subsequently fired.

“After I lost my job I was completely affected,” Taylor said. “Many people have asked me why I don’t just give up and get another job with my credentials, but I can’t let it go.” She estimated that she has lost $262,000 in salary as a result of her 1995 termination.

“I understood where she was coming from, because my father is a minister and I understand her religious background,” said Snider. “It’s a legitimate issue. Unfortunately, the [Chancery Court] judge didn’t agree. If we had been able to have our day in court, at least we would have been in the ballgame.” That case was dismissed in 2001.

Taylor felt that she had been misrepresented by Snider and then sued him for more than $600,000.

“He didn’t do his job,” she said. “I’ve been told by other attorneys that had he had my best interests in mind I could have won my case. At that time, I had only paid him a $500 retainer fee, and I guess he thought he had done $500 worth of work.” Her complaint states that Snider “made four sentences; he then just sat down and just sat there in silence” during the Chancery Court proceedings. She also accuses Snider of presenting no case law or supporting affidavits.

After battling almost two years in court with no lawyer, Williams gave Taylor 30 days to secure legal representation and file the necessary paperwork in the case. She is trying to raise $3,000 to retain a new lawyer.

“I have no ill will at all toward her, but I disagree with why she’s upset,” said Snider. “It’s kind of like, ‘Don’t shoot the messenger.’ Would I represent her again? I don’t know. After someone sues you for a half million dollars, it’s hard to say yes, but then again, you can never say never.”

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Music Music Features

Altered States

Australian Phil Jones has been working Eastern philosophy into his music for years. He spent seven years training under a Hindu master in Europe, and in the 1960s, he put together a band that merged Indian mantras with a Western rock format. But until he learned to play the didgeridoo, it took him nearly two hours to reach a deep meditative state. Now, it only takes him 90 seconds.

Jones will teach students at Midtown Yoga to play the ancient instrument on Thursday, April 29th, in a workshop titled “Discovering the Sacredness of Breath and Sound.” He’ll repeat the meditation workshop at the Unity Church of Memphis on Sunday, May 2nd.

Didgeridoos are carved from the branches of Australian eucalyptus trees by the country’s aboriginal people. Traditionally, aborigines would go on a three- to four-week stint in the woods, known as “going bush,” tapping limbs to find ones that have been hollowed out by white ants.

“When they find an appropriate branch, they’ll cut it down and take it back to the village where the wood is treated and cleaned,” Jones explains. “They place beeswax at one end to make it soft against the mouth, and then they paint artwork on it. The whole process can take three or four months.”

The didgeridoo produces a low, continuous, single note that mimics the “om” mantra. The deep sound induces meditation more quickly than traditional mantras.

“You don’t have to be a graduate of Julliard to play this thing,” says Jones. “It’s only one note. You put it to your mouth and you blow into it.”

But Midtown Yoga owner Sarla Nickels says playing the didgeridoo is not quite that simple. “The last time I tried to play one, I blew into it and absolutely nothing happened.”

Like yoga, playing the didgeridoo requires a certain type of patterned breathwork. The sound of the didgeridoo should be a hum uninterrupted by the player breathing in air. By learning circular breathing — breathing out through the mouth and in through the nose — a didgeridoo musician can keep the drone steadily moving out of the instrument.

The circular breathing technique sounds complicated because Western minds focus too much on how the chest, diaphragm, and neck are moving, Jones explains.

“My teacher told me to stop thinking and just blow. When you disconnect from your mind, it really begins to play,” says Jones. “When you’re trying to think it through and force it, there’s going to be a resistance from the instrument.”

Jones says circular breathing may help lower blood pressure and enhance the body’s ability to cleanse the blood. (Although he will have didgeridoos for sale at the workshop, students will be taught to use the technique with a balloon.) He says it’s also an excellent way to prepare for meditation.

“As you relax the breathing, the mind begins to relax,” he says. “It suddenly gives you the intense ability to concentrate and eliminate all that monkey chatter in the mind.”

Jones first discovered the didgeridoo about 15 years ago on a visit home to Australia. He and his wife were living in New Mexico at the time, and they had planned a six-week trip. However, the six weeks turned into six years once Jones discovered the instrument. He sought out an aboriginal teacher, who told him to take the didge home and “blow spirit into it.”

No stranger to music, Jones claims to be one of the forefathers of Australian blues. At age 16, he had a hit blues record at a time when the genre was virtually unheard of in the country. He later traveled to England and formed the band Quintessence, which fused rock, jazz, and Eastern modalities. They opened for Pink Floyd, the Who, and Ozzy Osborne in England but never played a show in the U.S.

Besides teaching the didgeridoo, Jones is currently playing raga-rock, a blend of Indian and American musical styles, with his band Shiva Shakti. The band includes several ex-members of Quintessence and records songs meant to transport listeners “from the depths of inner spirit to the outer reaches of blissful consciousness.”

“Discovering the Sacredness of Breath and Sound” will be taught at Midtown Yoga (524 S. Cooper, 270-5373) on Thursday, April 29th, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. On May 2nd, Jones will teach the workshop at the Unity Church of Memphis (2570 Kirby Rd., 754-4241) from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Categories
Art Art Feature

Masters of the Universe

Virtually every piece of promotional material describes “Masters of Florence: Glory and Genius at the Court of the Medici” as the “most important exhibition” in the history of Memphis’ Wonders series. If understatement is a virtue, someone should paint a halo around The Pyramid.

When the Dark Ages got a little too dark, the Tuscan city of Florence switched on the lights. This is the city of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo; the city of Titian, Donatello, Rubens, and Botticelli. It’s the city where every artist was a scientist and every scientist was an architect. It is the city where the Renaissance was born. No photograph can do it justice. No film can capture its spirit. And no exhibit can take it on the road. In producing “Masters of Florence,” the Wonders series has bitten off more than anyone could ever chew. But if they have failed — as any attempt to take Florence outside of Florence surely must — they have more than lived up to their name.

“Masters of Florence” is a massive exhibit including painting, sculpture, textiles, tools, clothing, furniture, and innumerable artifacts. But if there is a single piece that defines the spirit of Florence, it’s Donatello’s Madonna with Child. The polychrome ceramic shows the Blessed Virgin struggling with her fussy (yes, fussy!) child. To calm him, she offers an apple, the very icon of original sin. The traditional interpretation is that Mary wants to protect her son from his predestined fate by keeping him safe inside the family, but the defiant child knows that safety isn’t an option. Fifteenth-century Florence, caught between the rock of the Catholic Church and the hard place of scientific discovery, embraced the piece immediately.

If there is a single piece that defines the opulence of Florence, it is a cabinet — a safe of sorts — decorated top to bottom with pietre dure landscapes carved in semiprecious stones. As furniture goes, it is positively palatial.

Giambologna’s heaven-bound Mercury, which marks the beginning of mannerism, is on display, as is Titian’s Venus and Cupid. Titian’s reclining nude inspired artists for centuries, becoming one of the most widely appropriated images of all time. Filippo Brunelleschi’s original wooden models for the dome of Florence’s cathedral, the dominant figure of the Florentine skyline, is also on display. Botticelli’s celebrated Madonna della Loggia was restored just for this exhibit, and 500 years after the fact, Leonardo’s Girl with Tousled Hair is still captivating, even in its relative tininess. But in spite of this crush of incredible art, it’s the artifacts that really dominate the exhibit: Michelangelo’s slippers and his compass set; a piece of bloody fabric ripped from the shirt of an unfortunate Medici; the tools and brick molds used to build the dome. Because the Florentine artists are so well known, and the story of Florence so often told, these more intimate items — never on display in art history books — provide both personality and perspective to the era.

“Masters of Florence” also includes a marble relief of Alexander the Great by Andrea del Verrocchio, which has not been displayed in public for 400 years. Verrocchio was Leonardo’s teacher who, upon seeing the work of his pupil, abandoned the arts altogether, claiming he could do no better. The relief depicts Alexander as a fair-faced warrior-prince wearing a winged helmet that would look right at home in the art nouveau posters of Alphonse Mucha.

If there is a single display that captures the heart of Florence, it is a small, easily overlooked case containing gold and silver florins. The florin, though minted in Tuscany, became the preferred currency of Europe, and during the Renaissance, the Medici family became bankers to the world, amassing the kind of wealth any king might envy. Rather than hoarding their wealth, the Medicis, immortalized in portrait upon portrait in every medium imaginable, spent their riches freely, transforming the city of Florence into a palace for its citizens. When they became too wealthy and powerful to be considered mere noblemen, the Medicis became popes and grand dukes. “Masters of Florence” tells the Medici story in great detail. Their story is the story of Florence, after all.

Memphis is this exhaustive exhibit’s only North American stop. While it may fall short of capturing the experience of Florence (not a fountain to be seen), it goes a long way toward showing how this sparkling city became the jewel of Italy and the creative epicenter of the entire western world.

Through October 3rd

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Food News

The Southern Food Festival won’t be on the menu at this year’s Memphis in May. The event began in 2000 to accompany the month’s finale event, the Sunset Symphony, a Memphis tradition since the first performance in 1977.

The two-day festival, which featured local restaurants, cooking contests, Southern chefs, arts and crafts, music, and kids’ entertainment, failed to attract the crowds desired.

“We established the festival to build a two- to three-day event during the last weekend of the month,” says Diane Hampton, executive vice president of Memphis in May. “It had been our hope that we would have another strong event that would grow to the size of the music festival or barbecue fest. This was not headed in that direction.”

The event has been fraught with difficulties since its inception. It was rained out the first year. The second year, the “no food or drink” policy upset picnickers. This along with poor attendance levels and market research led Memphis in May officials to cancel the event.

In November, the Memphis in May Marketing and Research Council conducted a telephone survey “to find out what people thought of our events and what people wanted to see out of Memphis in May,” says Hampton.

The Sunset Symphony will continue because research found that it is a treasured tradition in Memphis. Additionally, in response to the survey, Hampton says they will have a gospel performance to precede the symphony on May 29th. During the summer, the board of directors will consider expanding the event further.

“It costs as much in infrastructure and labor to set up Tom Lee Park for a one-day event as a two-day event,” says Hampton.

Cattlemen’s barbecue sauce, used over the years by many Memphis in May Barbecue Cooking Contest winners to professionals, is now for sale at Wal-Mart Super Centers.

“Although Cattlemen’s has been used for more than 30 years by chefs and professionals, it’s not a brand that consumers know,” says Stacey Bender, a representative for Cattlemen’s. “Now they will recognize it.”

To promote the Cattlemen’s sauces, the parent company, Reckitt Benckiser, is coming to the barbecue fest. On Friday, May 14th, Cattlemen’s will host the Frank RedHot Battle to the Bone Buffalo Wing Eating Competition. Like the contest’s title, the event will be a mouthful. The contest will be held at the Cattlemen’s booth in front of the main stage, where guests will also be able to talk with barbecue experts and pick up recipes.

In addition, the company will sponsor a barbecue sauce contest. The contest winner will receive hotel, food, and entertainment expenses to next year’s festival. Ten runner-ups will receive $100 American Express gift certificates.

To enter, send the recipe, which must include one of three Cattlemen’s flavors — Award Winning Classic, Hickory Smoke, or Golden Honey — by November 15th, to: Best of the Barbecue Contest, c/o BHGPR, 546 Valley Road, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.

There’s a new delicatessen in town. Sweet Peppers Deli, located at 1250 N. Germantown Parkway, is billed as a “New York-style deli with Southern charm.”

Myril Bean and her sons John and Bernard joined forces with Robin Fant to create the first Sweet Peppers in Columbus, Mississippi, and then two more in Tupelo and Starkville.

“Sweet Peppers was developed by a family and good close friends, which makes it a family environment,” says Bernard Bean.

Exposed brick walls and an open design, with garage doors opening onto a patio, give the restaurant an airy, casual atmosphere. About 300 people attended a grand opening dinner to benefit Youth Villages of Memphis on April 19th.

The menu offers a wide representation of the four S’s — soups, salads, sandwiches, and spuds. The sandwiches can satisfy any craving, from vegetarian to the signature Bulldog, which begins with roast beef, kielbasa, pepper jack cheese, and barbecue sauce. There’s also a kids’ menu and an array of desserts.

“With the fast-casual concept, many restaurants tend to focus more on the fast,” says Bean. “Service is what separates us from other delis and other fast-casual restaurants.”

John Godwin, a Tupelo resident with no prior restaurant experience, liked the restaurant so much he purchased the franchise rights to Shelby and DeSoto counties. The Cordova location is the first of 10 sites planned by Godwin.

Godwin’s partner and friend, Adam Paxton, was also Bernard Bean’s neighbor.

“We would sit around and talk about it and they seemed interested,” says Bean. “A lot of people said they were interested. They actually did it.”

The restaurant is open daily from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., except Friday and Saturday when it remains open until 11 p.m. Catering is also available.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

In her cups

If there is anything better than the smell of coffee brewing, it’s the smell of coffee beans roasting. It begins as a slightly acidic tickling in the nostrils. Then, over the course of a half-hour or so, it swells to a chocolaty crescendo so complex it makes the nuttiest, earthiest, plumiest, jammiest wine you’ve ever sniffed seem plain as tap water.

It smells like a lifetime of wonderful mornings and leisurely afternoons. It smells like Café Francisco on a Tuesday night when 125 pounds of coffee beans are roasted in a gas-powered contraption that looks like a cross between a pot-bellied stove and a Rube Goldberg device. Large windows look in on the roasting room at the cafe so coffee junkies can watch while the beans are roasted, and, although the door to the roasting room remains closed, the intoxicating smell permeates. Visiting Café Francisco on roasting night is like taking your nose to a day spa.

“When I went out to California, I was really stupid about a lot of things,” says Café Francisco owner Julie Ray, a native Memphian who learned to sling the mud while living in San Francisco. “I thought Folgers coffee was it, you know?” she says, sifting through a white plastic tub of sage-green coffee beans that look like fat split peas. “I thought Folgers was the best you could get.”

Ray was scrambling for temp work in San Francisco when she stumbled into the original Café Francisco. As it turned out, the owner needed someone to manage his books.

“I think the place was taking in something like $150 a day,” Ray says. “And that’s not good. There was so much money going into the business, but there was no business.”

“One day I told [the owner] that I’d always dreamed of owning a little café, and he gave it to me,” Ray says, still sounding surprised. It wasn’t exactly a gift, but the conditions of the sale were sweet. But owning a failing coffee shop in a city of renowned coffee snobs was another matter.

“I didn’t know what a latte was,” Ray confesses. “I didn’t know anything. Literally, the neighborhood taught us what we were doing when we took over. It was truly a community effort.” Eventually, she learned the ins and outs of the latte thing, as well as a thing or two about roasting beans. In 2001, she brought her expertise back home and opened a second Café Francisco.

“The thing I like best about roasting our beans here,” says Christen Sterling, Café Francisco’s master roaster and chipper barrista, “is when people ask me about the coffee, I can really tell them about it.” Sterling, like Ray, didn’t know beans until she started pouring coffee for a living. Now she works the roaster like a pro.

“There are different kinds of roasters,” she says. “It’s sort of like ovens: Some people like electric, some people like gas.” Sterling clearly prefers gas. She compares the difference to oven-roasted meats and barbecue. “With the electric roasters, you just pour in your beans and push a button,” Sterling says. Not so with gas. The roaster is pre-heated to between 450 and 500 degrees, and samples are taken out regularly to check the color and aroma.

“And you have to listen for the popping,” Sterling says, referring to the snap, crackle, and pop of coffee beans shedding their outer husks. “On lighter roasts, they may pop once,” she says. “For the darker roasts [like Italian and French], they pop twice.”

Café Francisco isn’t the only place you can sample Ray and Sterling’s work. The café supplies coffee to a dozen local restaurants, including Jarrett’s, Ronnie Grisanti, Elfo’s, Midtown Books, and Epicure.

“Now I’m a total coffee snob,” Ray says. “And it’s amazing to me that in America you can still get a cup of coffee for about a dollar.” She runs through the difficulties of growing coffee: the sprouting, the raking, the picking of every bean. “You would think coffee would just be outrageous, a luxury. You would think it would be like oil.”

Café Francisco is located at 400 N. Main, 578-8002.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Postscript

The Trolley Folly

To the Editor:

I enjoyed your frank and candid comments abut MATA’s Madison Avenue trolley line (“A Tale of Two Trails,” April 8th issue). Though I support the antique trolleys along Main Street Mall, where they provide ambience to the historic downtown, the expansion of a trolley system to other areas of our city is ridiculous.

One of the biggest justifications for the Madison line was that it would connect two major employment centers of our city. However, there is little to no interaction between downtown and the medical district. Each functions independently. Workers commute to either center. We need to be working on a mass transit system that brings large numbers of people to these centers efficiently from the far-flung neighborhoods and suburbs. Suggesting that Southern College of Optometry students will ride the trolley downtown for lunch is ludicrous. As a graduate of that institution, I know that the workload will not allow it. I’m sure I speak for the overworked UT medical students as well.

Memphis has always been a railroad hub. Though many rail lines remain active, there are some abandoned routes. MATA has foolishly ignored these potential routes. In your article, the former L&N and CSX routes were mentioned as a greenway trail. Light rail was never mentioned as a use for these former rail lines. Other cities have capitalized on activating abandoned rail lines for commuters. Nearby St. Louis is a fine example, where 40 miles of off-street, high-speed light rail exist.

Walter Cygan

Germantown

Still Swinging

To the Editor:

My friends and I would like for you to know how much we enjoyed Chris Davis’ cover story on “The Swinging Sixties” (April 15th issue). We were single and living in Memphis at that time, and your article really brought back a lot of great memories.

Two of the couples met at Ernie Barrasso’s Thunderbird and Club Caesar and have recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversaries.

We frequently get together and reminisce about all of the good times. We all agree that we have never had as much fun as in that era.

We would love for you to write an article on what Ernie Barrasso is doing now and if he has any future plans for opening another club in Memphis.

Thanking you so very much for a super article. We loved it.

F. Ilsley

Memphis

Put a Casino Where?

To the Editor:

“Put a casino at the Mall of Memphis. They have lots more space out there, and it’s empty.” What is Paula Casey thinking? (Viewpoint, April 15th issue).That is thesecond-dumbest idea I’ve heard about what to do with the Mall of Memphis. The first was some birdbrain who suggestedthat the Mall of Memphisshould be turned into a jail!!!

I don’t know why everybody wants to turn my community into a Vegas strip.Oh yeah, a casinois just what we need.Let’s see … Platinum Plus haslong poles for our kids to swing on; Christal’s has the prefect outfit for Sunday brunch;you can stop and get a couple of bottles of Wild Turkey at the new liquor storeonPerkins onthe way to the bar mitzvah.

My husband and I just got married andare trying to start a family.Our neighborhood is not empty!There are people here. Why doesn’t somebodydo something “exciting andcreative” in theCottonwood/Perkins/American Way area? Casey can take her casino somewhere else.

Sonja Walton

Memphis

Hear This

To the Editor:

Thank you for “Building Anew,” a truly great editorial (April 22nd issue), in which you observed, “The politicians want their voices heard.”

They may want their voices heard, but we have the right not to listen to them! In Freedom of the Press: A Framework of Principle, the late William Ernest Hocking wrote:

“The speaker has no right to compel a hearing; there could be no right of free speech if there were not a corresponding right not to listen. It would hardly do to make free speech free and listening compulsory, though that might be the speaker’s dream.”

Arthur H. Prince

Memphis

The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Bluff Talk

If you blinked, you would have missed it.

In a move that didn’t take as long as getting all the interested parties inside the City Council chambers, the Public Works and Transportation Committee decided Tuesday to hold a public hearing May 18th on the Memphis Promenade Land Use Plan.

With staff from the Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC), the group that commissioned the plan, and members of Friends for Our Riverfront (FfOR), a grassroots organization that sprung up in protest of the plan, filling the room, committee chairperson Janet Hooks made it clear that no one would be able to speak on the issue in the meeting.

FfOR president Virginia McLean said the group was told they would not be able to speak but they came prepared to anyway, just in case. The group made something of a nonverbal statement, however, with lime-green ribbons on their shirts to show exactly what side they were on.

“I thought the 18th would be a public forum on just this issue, and it sounds like it will be just one issue on the agenda,” McLean said after the meeting. “That bothered me a bit.”

Other members worry that a hearing during a regularly scheduled council meeting will mean they won’t get enough time to say everything they think needs to be said.

“That could mean anyone who has a comment could be limited to 60 seconds. Our group of 200-plus could be limited to 60 seconds or, more than likely, five minutes to plead our case,” said FfOR vice president John Gary.

The RDC’s plan includes a two-tiered public promenade along with private development of “active” uses, such as restaurants and shops. Funds from commercial and residential development will go to pay for the entire $292 million plan. FfOR’s plan — estimated by them to cost $7 million — would tear down many of the existing structures along the promenade and remake it as a public park.

“I think we need to have equal access to the City Council and we haven’t had that,” said McLean. “They haven’t had the opportunity to hear us. There’s a real need to look at this thing, to really study what’s going on instead of just looking at pretty pictures and PR.”

E-mail: cashiola@memphisflyer.com