Month: December 2017

Categories
Music Record Reviews

Dee Dee Bridgewater Honors the Memphis in her Soul

As a jazz singer, Dee Dee Bridgewater, born Denise Eileen Garrett in Memphis, has always overlapped with pop genres, having earned kudos on Broadway, played Billie Holiday in European productions of Lady Day, and recorded a duet with Ray Charles. Thus, it should come as no great surprise that her latest, Memphis…Yes, I’m Ready, is a straight up soul record. At the same time, it’s full of the subtle command of her craft that has kept her working with such giants as Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, and Dizzy Gillespie since the early ’70s.

The soul angle, as she explains in the liner notes, springs from her father’s roots in Memphis, where he once taught music at Mannassas High School. Though she was born here, the family moved to Michigan in her toddler days. But Memphis still loomed large in her childhood, due to the long reach of Memphis station WDIA. She listened to it religiously and internalized the soul hits of the day.

How appropriate, then, that she pay homage to the city of her birth with a batch of classic covers. Recorded at Royal Studios, with some of Memphis’ greatest players in the band and Boo Mitchell co-producing, this album embodies a timeless soul sound. It even features the very same “electric bongo” sound of the original “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” played by Mitchell this time around, as well as Charles Hodges reprising his stunning organ work.

It could be argued that Bridgewater adheres a bit too closely to the original arrangements, but she brings her own personality and interpretive skills to each song, as any jazz singer of her caliber would. And at times the band stretches far beyond the sound of the original recordings. “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog,” which could be reduced to mere nostalgia in other hands, get fresh, swinging settings from the band. Bridgewater makes them her own.

The album is full of Memphis talent, including Kirk Whalum, and oozes the warmth and punch of Royal Studios. But it’s Bridgewater who really evokes Memphis here, reclaiming her Southern roots with panache.

Categories
News News Blog

Memphis Pets of the Week (Dec. 28-Jan. 3)

Each week, the Flyer will feature adoptable dogs and cats from Memphis Animal Services. All photos are credited to Memphis Pets Alive. More pictures can be found on the Memphis Pets Alive Facebook page.

[slideshow-1]

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Minding Trump

In August, President Trump asked for a certain newspaper clipping, thus throwing the White House into the Trump version of Defcon 2. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly assigned two aides to investigate how the clip made its way to the president without being “cleared.” These aides, anonymous but clearly brave, determined that Keith Schiller, a former New York City police officer and Trump’s longtime body man, had slipped the “contraband newsprint” to the commander in chief. Soon, Schiller was gone from the White House.

Kelly, a retired Marine general but an American sniper at heart, had picked off another. This account of the “contraband newsprint” came from the New York Times last week and was written by three of the paper’s top reporters. Their reporting brings to mind Napoleon on St. Helena — his newspapers coming three months late and his days so empty that he took four hours’ worth of baths.

Trump’s newspapers arrive promptly, but the rest of his reading is censored and, instead of taking four-hour baths, he devotes as much time to watching TV. We also learned from the Times that Trump consumes about 12 Diet Cokes per day.

John Kelly

A new book by former Trump campaign staffers added other culinary details. On the road, the future president typically ate for dinner two McDonald’s Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a chocolate shake. Because the McDonald’s delivery system is both quick and direct, this diet poses a greater threat to the nation than the North Korean nuclear program.

But it is not, apparently, what the president eats that concerns Kelly. It is what he sometimes reads. Understandably, Kelly is constantly on the alert for a presidential friend slipping Trump a highly unauthorized news article. This happened over Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago. Some of Trump’s guests “passed him news clips that would never get around Kelly’s filters,” the Times reported. These guests were probably Trump’s old pals from New York and Palm Beach, billionaires with a nose for the oncoming socialist apocalypse who fear the president does not know how crooked Hillary Clinton really is or that the press is still insisting that Trump lost the popular vote or maintaining that it was his voice on that Access Hollywood tape when, upon repeated hearing, it just could be Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Trump himself begins the day commendably early. (It’s the farmer in him.) The Times says he rises at 5:30 a.m. and turns on the TV. For some reason, he watches CNN — monitoring fake news, no doubt — and then self-medicates with “Fox & Friends.” Later, in an updated version of “hate week” from George Orwell’s 1984, he clicks on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. His friends suspect the program’s critical approach “fires him up for the day.”

Thus stoked, our commander in chief sallies forth to meet with probably the most illustrious collection of aides since Groucho hooked up with Chico and Harpo. The group includes Ivanka Trump, of the world of fashion; Jared Kushner, late of New York real estate; Hope Hicks, formerly of the Trump Organization; and, for some reason, H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser. What he knows about real estate or fashion is not at all clear. Then the president resumes a day of strenuous TV viewing.

The Times interviewed 60 advisers, associates, friends, and members of Congress for the article and reported that Trump spends four to eight hours a day watching cable news. Since the shows are mostly about him, he must recognize cable news as an extension of his old reality show, only he cannot fire Kim Jong Un. He can, however, insult him.

At the White House, Trump controls the remote control. This, it turns out, is the true “football” of this administration — comparable to the one that accompanies the president everywhere and contains nuclear codes. “No one touches the remote control except Mr. Trump and the technical support staff,” the Times reported.

I confess that by the end of the article, I found myself feeling sorry for the harried Kelly. He spends 14 hours of his day at his task, reining in a White House staff that once felt free to just drop in on the Oval Office, possibly interrupting Hannity or something equally important. As the Times also reported, Kelly not only monitors Trump’s phone calls but sometimes listens in. I finished the article no longer thinking of Napoleon in exile but of Jack Valenti, Lyndon Johnson’s aide, who said he slept better at night “because Lyndon Johnson is my president.” It’s a wonder Kelly sleeps at all.

Richard Cohen writes for the Washington Post Writers Group.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Listen Up: Spaceface

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Matthew Strong, Eric Martin, Jake Ingalls and Daniel Quinlan of Spaceface

Michael Donahue

Peter Armstrong and Miles Young of Spaceface.

What was the idea behind Spaceface when it formed six years ago?

“I think back then, we just wanted to make a psychedelic party happen,” said Jake Ingalls, frontman/vocalist and guitarist in the band that includes guitarist/vocalist Eric Martin, bass player Matthew Strong, keyboard player Daniel “Big Red” Quinlan, backup vocalist/keyboard player Peter Armstrong and drummer Miles Young.

“We were all probably on Adderall in college and stuff like that, so everything that we were writing was a little bit more fast paced and kind of manic,” Martin said. “We wanted to have this sort of freak-out sound. In your face. Super loud. Which is not something that we’ve gone away from, but I think that we’ve sort of made parts a little more emotional as opposed to rock and roll. There’s no element that’s missing with that, but less garage punk, more concert hall psychedelic.”

Spaceface will hold its New Year’s Eve Celebration at Young Avenue Deli. They’ve added two half-rotating disco balls, more lasers, a balloon drop, more confetti and a photo booth that will text the photos and GIF to the subject right away. “We’re trying to make it a fantastical New Year’s event,” Ingalls said.

The first 100 people to show up will get a free pair of chromadepth glasses. “They’re basically 3d glasses except they’re a little bit sharper. Instead of having a blue lense and red lense, t there are these little microfilaments that highlight the whole spectrum of what you can see. Rather then just reds and blues, there’s pinks and yellows and greens. It will make the overall night super trippy. They’re meant to highlight the 3d feature of the show that I’ve designed.”

Spaceface has come a long way since its first show at Lamplighter Lounge. “We paid Andy Mueller in beer to stand up on the pool table and hold a laser on us,” Ingalls said.

In six years, Spaceface has bought “just an embarrassing amount” of equipment, Ingalls said. “I’d say it started off drums, bass, guitar and keys. And then six different Christmas (lights) nets. Add the blue Christmas net and then added floor lights. And then we added the color-changing LED strands. First there were two or three, then there were eight and then there were four floor lights. And then there were eight floor lights.

“At the pinnacle of the Christmas light show last New Year’s Eve it was one laser, three different monoliths with four nets on each. They all had alternating colors. Eight strands of color-changing LEDs.”

They upgraded their light show this year. “Now it’s five sound reactive LED panels that all have videos and sound triggers. It’s all this crazy stuff. Each song is a different scene, so it’s a little more dynamic. Eric has the same guitar, but we all have different amps and cords and pedals and stuff. I think the one thing that hasn’t changed is the fot machine.”

They bought the fog machine for $300 for their second show.

“I think all of us, we grew up seeing people with a lot of pageantry – The (Flaming) Lips, Of Montreal or even ACDC,” Ingalls said. “They have all this crazy stuff that just elevates the experience. I think we just kind of knew that’s what we wanted to do. And on whatever scale that was possible.”

“It didn’t matter what we sounded like,” Martin said. “We just got to look cool.”

The band has stayed together so long because they’ve “just got a good crew of people,” Ingalls said. “I feel like everybody’s got their own little part they can do to help out. I always forget that we’re all old friends. And dorks.”

“Sadly, we have a lot of dear friends of ours in bands that have failed or re-named themselves and just basically started shit over at square one,” Martin said.

“You’ll go and see other bands and their drummer will have previously stolen some of their gear and be all smacked out on heroin or something,” Ingalls said. “You’re like, ‘Good God, man. Sort yourself out!’ I couldn’t imagine. I think we’ve all known each other long enough that we’re not going to let anybody be too sketchy.”

Spaceface released its first full-length album, “Sun Kids,” last April. “We’ve had a string of singles and features and EPs, but this was the first full-length,” Ingalls said. “Eleven songs.”

They just felt it was time to do a full-length album.. “We had enough songs. It was time.”

Ingalls and Jarod Evans at Blackwatch Studios in Norman, Oklahoma co-produced the album, which was recorded buy Calvin Lauber at Ardent and The Grove in Cordova.

The album includes a range of subject matter, Ingalls said. “Matt wrote some of the lyrics about a couple of friends of ours that have taken their own lives. Some of them are about totally realizing that what you’re doing at the time isn’t what you want to do at all and taking a different path. One of them is about just having an excellent day with your buds.”

The album is supposed to be a day at home with Spaceface. “The first track starts out with some background noise and birds chirping and stuff like that,” Quinlan said. “It doesn’t necessarily sound like waking up, but it sounds like walking out of your porch door, getting in the car, putting the windows down.”

The album ends with “Anything at All,” a song Ingalls wrote when he was 16. The song conjures up a starry night with crickets chirping.

“Eric and I spoke extensively beforehand about trying to get away from the super sci-fi sounds that were dominating the psych scene at the time and trying to make something earthy,” Ingalls said. “I spent the next year sort of collecting found sounds from just everyday life. There are birds from when we were hanging out at Overton Park. That ‘Anything at All’ track has water slapping from the docks by Eric’s boat.

“There just seemed to be this sort of heavy synth, heavy phasers and effects-y stuff. We had talked about trying to sound more natural. It didn’t seem like there was anybody in the psych scene making something that sounded like ‘Ventura Highway,’ which we really dig.”

Where did the name “Sun Kids” come from? “I would say we’re Sun Kids,” Ingalls said. “It’s just if you like to walk around barefoot or go hang out in the park.”

“I think we were going to call the record ‘Children of the Sun’ or something like that,” Quinlan said. “That’s a little more foreboding or ominous sounding. We’re dorks and goofy, so ‘Sun Kids’ was just easy.”

“Earth and Awe” was another idea. “It was too epic for the feel good nature of the record,” Ingalls said.

Young is the newest Spaceface member. “He’s less like, ‘Look at all these things that I can do,’” Strong said. “He’s way more like, ‘Man, I’m just having fun playing drums with these guys.’”

Spaceface broke its record last year, playing more than 60 shows. “I’ve gained 25 pounds and easily lost hundreds of hours of sleep,” Ingalls said.



Ingalls and Strong have been on the road 90 percent of the year working with The Flaming Lips. Ingalls performs and records and Strong is a technician and performed on one occasion. “We don’t get to jam around and be goofy as often as we used to,” Ingalls said.

“Writing stuff is kind of like recording here and there an idea Eric had, an idea Jake and I worked on and sending it in group emails so everyone can see it and listen to it,” Quinlan said.

As for future plans, Ingalls said, “Over the course of this past year, we had a lot of friends and artists do remixes of different songs from ‘Sun Kids.’ This next year, we’ll be releasing one remix each month paired with the instrumental master of the song and all of the individual track files so people can download them and make their own Spaceface remixes. There will be a page on our website for folks to submit their remixes. At the end of the year we’ll pick our favorites and press them on a record with the original remixes we released. We’ll probably throw in some extra soundscape tunes and maybe some stray singles along the way.”

And, he said, “We’ve got a guy in Columbus, Ohio, Robonus Records, who wants to get one of these singles and put it in a seven inch that has an actual meteorite ground up on the inside of it.”

More stage effects are on tap. “Right now we’re writing lights to our music,” Martin said. “Eventually, we can start writing music for the lights or vice versa.”

“I’ve already bought stuff that isn’t being used yet,” Ingalls said. “I have two half rotating disco balls that I want to do something with. There’s two Guitar Heros with two blue lasers. I want to get people in suits kind of duking it out and then alternately shooting each other. And the mirror balls – if you shoot at that, it’ll just be crazy.

“We always joke that if we wanted to make any money, then we’d start being a production company instead of a band.”

"Carnivore" from Michael Donahue on Vimeo.

Listen Up: Spaceface

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

City-County Accords on Public Education

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

The subject of education figured large at Monday’s meeting of the Shelby County legislative delegation at the Pink Palace.

One subject of accord between the attending legislators and representatives of the county’s various school districts was the need for the Tennessee Department of Education to comply with previously promised levels of funding under the state’s Basic Education Plan. Shortfalls in such funding have occurred routinely in recent years.

Michael Donahue

Sen. Brian Kelsey

That was only one of the ways in which the Memphis-based Shelby County system and the six districts maintained by the county’s suburban municipalities — divided by a serious schism during the years of merger and de-merger of the past decade — have come to make common cause in matters of public education.

Another indication of the new comity figured in a surprise declaration by state Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) that, for the first time in more than a decade of trying, he will desist in the coming 2018 legislative sessions from his annual efforts to pass legislation authorizing school vouchers for private schools.

Residents of the Republican-dominated suburbs of Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Arlington, Lakeland, and Millington — all of which have hardened their commitment to public education by voting for school taxes — have made their own disaffection from the voucher concept increasingly clear. The point was underscored last year by a unanimous vote opposing vouchers by city and county representatives alike on the Shelby County Commission.

Further, chair Heidi Shafer communicated to legislators the will of the commission that the state Achievement School District remand back to the Shelby County School District’s iZone program the 31 under-performing county schools currently administered by the ASD, on grounds that the special state-run district established early in the tenure of Governor Bill Haslam has failed to improve their scores.

Another significant point of city-county unity on an education-related matter was expressed Monday by a unanimous vote on the commission to oppose county involvement in Haslam’s proposed State Facilities Management concept, an out-sourcing program. As Commissioner David Reaves said, “I’m confused. The state is swimming with surplus money. Why do they need to out-source?”

Prior to the commission’s vote, various citizens had testified about the prospective loss of jobs at the University of Memphis and other public entities under the governor’s program.

• Bill Giannini, who was killed in a car crash on Interstate 40 last Thursday afternoon, en route to Nashville after touching base with friends in Memphis at holiday gatherings, had in recent years been living in Mt. Juliet, a near suburb of the state capital. His choice of residence, made after his 2011 appointment by Governor Haslam to serve as deputy commissioner of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, was a practical one.

But native Memphian Giannini, who left that job late last year to seek the chairmanship of the state Republican Party and had meanwhile founded the Resolve Consulting Firm, was meditating seriously on a return home. For some months, he had been expressing keen interest in a race in 2018 for the District 32 state Senate seat which state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville, now a federal judge-designate, will be vacating.

In fact, when he first floated the idea of running for the seat last summer, at the time of Norris’ appointment, Giannini had made the case that he was the only serious candidate for the seat who had been raised in the east Shelby County area encompassed by District 32, and expressed concern that Norris’ successor might be someone who “hasn’t lived a day in the district.” (That was aimed at two likely candidates: Shafer and state Representative Mark White, each of whom has actively considered a move into District 32.)

In his time, Giannini had made a serious imprint on local politics, both as chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party a decade ago and later as chairman of the county Election Commission during a period of protracted controversy over the 2010 countywide election, which saw the members of a defeated Democratic slate challenge the results of that election, a Republican sweep.

Ironically, prior to that election, Giannini, foreseeing a Democratic wave that has still not occurred locally despite a theoretical Democratic majority in the county, had been among those Republicans arguing stoutly for a return to nonpartisan elections in Shelby County. At a Republican club meeting in November 2009, Giannini had joined with his then newly elected successor as GOP party chairman, Lang Wiseman, in advocating a reversion to the status quo before local Republicans took the initiative and held the first local partisan primary in 1992.

“Shame on us for initiating those … now we are left with that albatross,” Giannini bemoaned at that 2009 meeting.

Giannini was known as a stout partisan, though he had numerous friendships across party lines, one of them being nominal Democrat Jim Strickland, the Memphis mayor for whom Giannini had done some consulting work for of late and who would profess himself “shocked and saddened” at the news of Giannini’s death.

Giannini, who was in a band during his high school days in Bartlett, was a talented guitarist, a fact which he demonstrated some years ago from a local stage in an extended guitar duet on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” with another unexpected virtuoso, former Arkansas Governor and erstwhile presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

The accident that took Giannini’s life last Thursday occurred when his car swerved across a median into the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 in Decatur County, colliding with the car of Cordova resident Dennis Tolivar Jr., who was injured. It was the second fateful accident on I-40 for Giannini, who had been involved in a multi-car pile-up in December 2012 that resulted in a fatality.

Giannini was absolved of any responsibility in that accident by the state highway patrol.

Categories
From My Seat Sports

Frank’s Faves 2017 — Part 2

Continuing my countdown of the 10 most memorable sporting events I attended in 2017.

* 2017 Liberty Bowl: Memphis vs. Iowa State (December 30) — I’ve written this countdown annually for 14 years now, but this is the first time an event yet to happen — Scrooge would love this — has made the top five. Unless the creek rises or planes stop flying south (I’ll be in Vermont for Christmas), I’ll be in the Liberty Bowl press box next Saturday for the biggest bowl game in University of Memphis history, a home-field send-off for the record-shattering duo of Riley Ferguson and Anthony Miller. The weather, crowd, and outcome may impact where exactly it finishes on this list (thus the asterisks), but it’s going to be unforgettable.

Larry Kuzniewski

Memphis erased the Navy curse

4*) Tigers 30, Navy 27 (October 14) — On a hot (nearly 90 degrees) fall Saturday at the Liberty Bowl, Memphis removed an outsized monkey from its back by containing — barely — the Midshipmen and their surgical triple-option offense. (When does a triple-option become a double option? When it completes precisely one pass, as did Navy quarterback Zach Abey in this game.) The lead changed hands five times after Navy kicked a field goal following a Tiger miscue on the opening kickoff. Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson threw three touchdown passes (two to Anthony Miller) and freshman kicker Riley Patterson delivered three field goals. Sophomore Austin Hall shifted to safety and picked off two of Abey’s seven passes to help secure the win and a ranking of 25 for the Tigers in the next AP poll.

3*) Redbirds 3, Sounds 2 (August 16) — Sometimes it’s not so much the game you attend, but who accompanies you. I raised my firstborn daughter, Sofia, at AutoZone Park. She attended her first game at the downtown jewel a few weeks before her first birthday. I have pictures of Sofia romping on the left field bluff in a Redbirds cap and a diaper. I have a treasured photo of her at age 3, timidly posing with her mom and Stubby Clapp near the end of his final season as a player (2002) with the Redbirds. Sofia’s grown up now. She spent two summers (2015 and 2016) as the franchise’s first regular bat girl. This was one of the last games we’d attend while living under the same roof. Stephen Piscotty and Patrick Wisdom homered to support seven shutout innings by Jack Flaherty and the Redbirds — managed by Clapp — reached 40 games over .500 (82-42). When Memphis won the Pacific Coast League championship the next month, Sofia was finding her way as a freshman at Wesleyan University. Where they call themselves the Cardinals.

2*) Tigers 48, UCLA 45 (September 16) — After their first two games were directly impacted by hurricanes (one of them cancelled, then moved back three weeks), the Memphis Tigers took the field at the Liberty Bowl under a sunny sky and temperatures hot enough to make even their opponents from SoCal breathe heavier than they’d like. Kickoff was at 11 a.m. (that’s 9 a.m. Pacific Time), a slot preferable to the schedule-makers at ABC, which televised the game nationally. UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen — an All-America candidate — played well, passing for 463 yards and four touchdowns. But Tiger quarterback Riley Ferguson played better, connecting on six touchdown passes in a game that featured six lead changes. And Anthony Miller. The Tigers’ senior wide receiver became a star beyond the Mid-South on this day with 185 yards and two touchdowns through the air. At season’s end the AP named Miller first-team All-America.

1*) Redbirds 2, Chihuahuas 0 (September 14) — Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League championship series was played under bright sunshine — imagine that! — on a Thursday afternoon at AutoZone Park. And the teams played like something was at stake. Memphis starter Kevin Herget — nowhere near a top-prospects list in the Cardinal system — struck out 15 El Paso hitters in eight innings, but the Redbirds couldn’t crack Chihuahua starter Bryan Rodriguez either. The game went to extra innings scoreless. With two outs in the 11th, following a single by Aledmys Diaz, Redbird outfielder Adolis Garcia — having split the 2017 season between Double-A Springfield and Memphis — launched a home run onto the leftfield bluff (shades of Albert Pujols and the 2000 PCL championship). The win improved the Redbirds to an astounding 13-0 in extra-inning games. Three days later in El Paso, they clinched the franchise’s third PCL title.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 83, Loyola (MD) 71

“We’re certainly glad to get this one over with.”

Memphis coach Tubby Smith relishes every victory, but not so much losses for his son, G.G. The conflicting emotions surged Saturday at FedExForum when, for the second time in his 27-year career, Smith led a team against one coached by G.G. The Tigers endured yet another poor start — they trailed by 12 points midway through the first half — and finished the game on a 19-6 tear after Loyola took a 65-64 lead with 4:53 left to play. The win improves the Tiger record to 9-3 and gives Memphis its first 9-0 start to a home schedule since the Final Four season of 2007-08.

Father embraces son.

“I thought [G.G.] did a fantastic job today,” said the elder Smith, “getting his kids to play hard, play the right way, play with intensity. We had a tough time guarding them. We hunkered down and guarded the three better than we have all year long. That was the difference in the ball game: our defensive intensity.”

With senior forward Jimario Rivers absent for a second straight game — he continues to suffer headaches a week after a concussion in the Louisville game — junior Raynere Thornton and freshman David Nickelberry filled minutes capably, Thornton putting up the team’s third double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds) of the season.

Reserve guard Malik Rhodes converted a three-point play to regain the lead for Memphis (67-65) with 4:46 left in the game. Nickelberry then found Thornton inside and followed with his own layup after a steal by Jeremiah Martin to seal the win. Nickelberry finished with a season-high 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists in 30 minutes. Martin tied his career high with 26 points (the third time he’s scored that amount this season), hitting three of six three-point attempts and nine of 12 free throws. Junior forward Kyvon Davenport contributed 14 points in 36 minutes of action.

“[Coach Smith] didn’t say it exactly, but we got the message, the way his eyes were,” said Martin. “He didn’t want to lose to his son.” As for the growing impact made by Nickelberry, Martin saw it coming. “I’m harder on David, because I know what he’s capable of. Freshman year, there’s not a lot that comes your way like it did in high school.”

“I knew I needed to  play a bigger role for this team,” added Nickelberry.

“We’ve worked really hard on [Nickelberry] being under control,” said Tubby Smith. “That’s what he does best: pass the ball. And learning to defend; he’s grown in that area. He can see over people. I’m proud of him.”

Big picture, Smith sees his team developing, particularly on the defensive end, with conference play looming (December 31st). “We took a step back in rebounding,” Smith acknowledged. “They outrebounded us [35-31]. We’ve gotten better defensively. The game’s changed; you can’t be [too] physical. We’ve recruited some big guys and think we can bang inside. But the best thing about this team is that it’s adapting. It’s very versatile. We have the ability to overcome adversity. That’s what I’m impressed with the most about this team.”

The Tigers shot 53 percent for the game and held the Greyhounds to 23 percent (5 for 22) from three-point range. Chuck Champion led Loyola (now 2-9) with 16 points, one of five Greyhounds in double figures on the scoreboard.

The Tigers return to FedExForum next Thursday for their final nonconference game of the season. Tipoff against LSU is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Categories
Music Music Features

Pushing Back

As the son of leaders in the local Christian community, Cameron Bethany had to struggle with a unique set of influences and expectations to find his musical identity.

“Being in the church is really, really tough growing up, and it was a big influence,” he says. “Gospel was at the forefront, and God was the standard. Yet musically, I saw something larger for myself. I saw something different. And I didn’t have backing from my dad, being a bishop of his own congregation.” The fact that Bethany’s mother was a locally respected gospel singer only compounded the expectations for him.

A few years ago, Bethany discovered the avenue to his independence: the Unapologetic collective. As artist/producer and founder James “IMAKEMADBEATS” Dukes told the Flyer earlier this year: “Unapologetic is my stand against being what you’re supposed to be, externally, and just being what you are, which is what you’re supposed to be.”

Such a brief dovetailed nicely with Bethany’s efforts to define himself, and in 2014, he began working with IMAKEMADBEATS on some of his first secular music. “This entire project was to ‘break out into Cameron’,” he notes, crediting IMAKEMADBEATS with being a crucial supporter of his self-realization. “I was already working on separating into a genre called Mod Fusion, where I create the standard of what music comes from myself, as opposed to me identifying with R&B, neo-soul, hip-hop, whatever. I could just create this umbrella and put all of my music underneath it, so wherever it falls it has a home, without having to be categorized.”

YOUMAKEMENERVOUS, the album released on Unapologetic last month, was the result of their collaboration, and listeners can hear the team striving to mix eclectic influences. While the soaring emotions and melodies might be considered neo-soul to a casual listener, deeper listening reveals darkly atmospheric beats and soundscapes more associated with contemporary hip-hop or trap. Yet unlike those styles, most of the songs have been consciously composed, rather than being built from samples.

“On ‘Black and White’ and ‘Brand New’, I actually co-produced those. I started those in GarageBand and showed up to the studio, like, ‘Hey, look what I did.’ And we just kinda took it from there,” says Bethany.

“There were some tracks where I would come in and he’d say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this? I just wanna see what you do to it.’ And I would go in the booth and just start with one line and then add something else. And then add something else. I love the idea of being able to create from a lot of different aspects as opposed to just having one specific way of doing everything. That’s one thing that I can be grateful for with working with Mad.”

The project pushed Bethany to stretch his thematic boundaries, partially aided by collaborators like PreauXX and Ali Abu-Khraybeh. He also received an assist from his much older brother, Steve Bethany, who also cast his lot with secular music decades ago, and has worked as a bassist and guitarist with the likes of Jill Scott and Angie Stone.

“Some of the songs aren’t necessarily my situation,” Bethany explains. “I put myself in people’s shoes when I hear their problems. I instantly attach to those feelings. If someone loses a loved one, I instantly feel that, or if somebody’s pissed, I’m mad, too. I portray a lot of feelings in the way that I sing; that’s the first thing I want people to do, feel me. I don’t care about you saying ‘Oh, he can sing.’ I don’t think people will necessarily remember you just because you can sing. People remember how you make them feel.”

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

The Hustle Dispatch: Week 7

A promising start to the road trip quickly turns sour


Road trips are fun, for a time. The first few hours bring with it a sunny optimism, full of well-intentioned banter, a good playlist, driving games, and maybe some podcasts or books on time. As the drive drags on though, tempers might begin to fray. Funny little asides might slowly transition to annoying tics before things flare up into full blown arguments. If that’s how it goes, the Hustle’s recent three-game road trip followed a similar pattern.

With Vincent Morgan, Jeremy Hunter, Austin Nichols, and Kobi Simmons all inactive, nine Hustle players took it upon themselves to make a statement early on, working towards a solid 123-115 victory. Omari Johnson missed eight of his 12 three point attempts and still ended up with 26 points. Marquis Teague also had himself a game with another 26 point showing off 10-18 shooting. Ivan Rabb continued to be a steadying presence, providing the Hustle’s only double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds while playing at Center. The 12 boards were a huge part of Memphis’ dominance on the night, with the Hustle out rebounding the Warriors 51-31 and putting up 28 second-chance points. They also led 24-13 in points off turnovers. It helped bridge the gap over the Warriors’ high scorers Cleanthony Early and Georges Niang.

After that performance, something went wrong. Perhaps Vince Hunter grabbed the iPod out of Marquis Teague’s hands and changed the playlist, but in the end, the Hustle’s next two games resulted in losses. To be fair, the South Bay Lakers are 12-5 and consistently churn out decent performances, so there’s no shame in this close loss. Many Hustle players gave standout performances: Omari Johnson scored 26 points yet again, while Ivan Rabb, Durand Scott, and Marquis Teague each also scored above 20 points at 23, 22, and 25, respectively. Rabb grabbed 16 rebounds to complete another double-double. Memphis took a 69-61 lead into the second half, but standout Lakers performer Travis Wear scored 14 points in the third, which ended with a 100-95 advantage to the Lakers.

It wasn’t a bad performance by the Hustle; against one of the G-League’s better teams, they kept pace, and occasionally surpassed, their California opposition. Unfortunately, it was just one of those nights where more players on the other team have career nights. The steady shooting, however, vanished in the next game against the Iowa Wolves.

It’s almost as if Iowa takes it personally that they’re no longer Memphis’ G-League affiliate. This occasion saw the Hustle fall to a 113-111 defeat, with many players regressing in terms of shooting percentage. Omari Johnson only got 11 points this time on 4-14 shooting; Durand Scott went just 3-10, but managed to make all 10 free throws to end with 16 points. Trahson Burrell picked up the slack with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Marquis Teague continued to provide a steadying presence with 20 points. The worst part of the game was that the Hustle led, but Iowa scored the final five points to eke out the two-point win.

On a more positive note, the game in Des Moines saw the return of Austin Nichols, who chipped in with 8 points on 4-7 shooting. His presence should help pick up some rotational slack for the next few games. The Hustle go back home tomorrow for a game against the Austin Spurs before another roadtrip against the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Salt Lake City Stars, Reno Bighorns.



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The Shape Of Water

Fish. Everybody likes them, but some people really like them.

I’m going to try to keep the jokes to a minimum in this review, because Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is a good movie. You might even call it the Citizen Kane of fish fetishist films.

OK, I’ll stop. I promise. The Shape Of Water begins beautifully, with an art deco apartment completely submerged in water, with the furniture floating everywhere, and our heroine Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) suspended in ecstasy. The apartment drains suddenly as Elisa wakes from her dreamworld to discover that she is still in 1962 Baltimore, and her existence is just as dreary as she left it. Elisa, rendered mute from a childhood injury that left her throat scarred, works in housekeeping at a secret government lab. She’s not unhappy, per se—she’s got her bestie Zelda (Octavia Spencer) to watch her back at work, and her neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins), a commercial artist freelancing after he lost his job for being gay—but she’s not exactly fulfilled, either. The highlight of most days for her is masturbating in the tub. Yeah, she’s got a thing for water.

(The apartment, by the way, is above a movie theater called The Orpheum whose signage and interior looks almost exactly like Memphis’ venerable Downtown treasure.)

A lot of weird stuff goes through the lab, and the housekeeping staff is used to keeping their mouths shut and mopping up the occasional pool of unexplained blood. But nothing prepares Elisa for the moment she sees the lab’s latest asset, a humanoid amphibian that, for complex copyright reasons, I can’t say looks like a super cool version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. In charge of the Asset is Col. Strickland (Michael Shannon), a sexually harassing creep whose idea of scientific research is torturing Amphibian Guy with an electric cattle prod he calls his “Alabama Howdy-Do”.

Elisa takes pity on the poor amphibian and starts sneaking into the lab to feed him eggs and play him Benny Goodman tunes on her portable turntable. As his condition deteriorates, and she overhears plans to vivisect the Asset, she hatches a hairbrained plan to bust him out of the lab and return him to the ocean. Naturally, things spiral out of control, and she and her new fishy beaux are plunged into a whirlpool of Soviet spies, shady scientists, and aquatic intrigue.

The Shape Of Water grew out of del Toro’s failed pitch to direct a reboot of The Creature From The Black Lagoon for Universal’s monster universe. Those execs are probably kicking themselves for passing over del Toro in favor of Tom Cruise’s excruciating remake of The Mummy. The Shape Of Water is a return to form for del Toro after his gothic horror romance Crimson Peak—which, admittedly, some people liked, but I thought was tedious and silly. The difference here is Hawkins, whose near wordless performance mixes perfectly with del Toro’s always inventive visual sense. She actually manages to have good chemistry with the six-foot amphibian, played in a horribly restrictive, CGI-augmented suit by Doug Jones (but not that Doug Jones). The premise is goofy as hell, but late in the film, when Elisa slips into a dream where she and her Special Amphibian Friend dance in a big musical number, I realized that del Toro had drawn me into this world. The Shape Of Water will charm the pants off of you, and you won’t even mind the fishy smell afterwards.

The Shape Of Water