Month: March 2023

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Lt. Gov. McNally Survives Vote of No Confidence Amid Instagram Scandal

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, photographed in February 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Barely two weeks after revelations that he posted comments next to risque photos on young gay men’s Instagram sites, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally won a vote of confidence from his peers.

The Senate Republican Caucus, in a vote that took hours to cast Monday, supported the veteran lawmaker instead of handing him a vote of no confidence in his darkest hour. 

The caucus voted 19-7 in support of McNally in a tally announced after Monday’s Senate session.

“I have always been honored, humbled and grateful for the support of my caucus. I remain so today. We have a lot of important work left to do as we complete the legislative session, including the budget. I look forward to getting to it,” McNally said in a Monday night statement.

No meeting was held as votes were cast individually in Senate Speaker Pro Tem Ferrell Haile’s office.

“He’s served 40-plus years for the state, done an excellent job, no questions. He made a mistake. Let’s offer some grace and mercy and forgiveness and move on. We’ve got business to take care of,” Haile, R-Gallatin, said Monday before the Senate session.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire relayed a similar sentiment after voting to back McNally, saying he had “absolute faith” in the lieutenant governor.

“He told the truth. He owned up to it. He didn’t make fun of the guy. He didn’t criticize his lifestyle. What more do you want?” Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, said before the session.

Sens. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro, and Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, also said they cast a vote of confidence in McNally.

“We can’t let a little vocal minority run us off,” Niceley said. 

Reeves would say only that he voted for McNally. 

But Sens. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, would not say how they voted or planned to vote.

McNally, the Republican-appointed speaker of the Senate from Oak Ridge, stemmed most criticism by saying he made posts of “encouragement” on the young men’s photos, contending he “enjoys interacting with constituents and Tennesseans of all religions, backgrounds and orientations.”

Groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, however, call Tennessee one of the worst states in the nation for LGBTQ rights because of a series of laws passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. McNally voted this year in favor of legislation restricting drag shows and prohibiting transgender therapy for minors. But he pointed out his views toward the LGBTQ community have been evolving.

Republican leaders have been loath to take a jab at McNally, a member of the General Assembly since 1979. Only state Rep. Todd Warner, R-Lewisburg, has called on McNally to resign, putting out a statement last week seeking a TBI investigation into the matter. Warner’s home and office were raided by the FBI two years ago, but he was never charged with a crime.

Political insiders say senators have been jockeying for position in case McNally stepped aside. For instance, the Tennessee Firearms Association over the weekend endorsed Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, for the lieutenant governor’s post. 

The Tennessee Star, a conservative news site, and Tennessee Stands, an advocacy group headed by Gary Humble, have called for McNally’s resignation because of the Instagram posts and health problems. McNally had a pacemaker inserted in February.

Asked Monday if he’s bucking for the lieutenant governor’s job or other leadership posts, Bailey said before the session, “All those positions are filled at this point in time.”

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Meet James Sexton, Composer, and the Otis Mission

The Otis Mission: L-R, Alvie Givhan, Tony Dickerson, Christian Kirk, Joe Restivo, Carl Caspersen, James (Otis) Sexton, DeAnté Payne, & James (Jennings) Sexton (Photo courtesy James Sexton)

When Crosstown Arts musical director Jenny Davis introduced The Green Room’s featured artist last Friday, she noted something unique about him: “For those of you who don’t know, James Sexton is the unofficial M.V.P. of jazz month, he’s drummed with so many of the bands performing this March.” And while it’s true that Sexton is one of the city’s most versatile drummers, often playing with the Ted Ludwig trio and their disparate collaborators, last Friday wasn’t about his track record. Rather, it was about tracks, his tracks, never yet heard on a record but surely deserving it.

To a sold out room, Sexton and band took to the stage as he gave a shout out to his time studying with Dr. Jack Cooper and the late Tim Goodwin at the University of Memphis Scheidt School of Music, noting that while he never finished his degree there, it had profoundly affected his grasp of music and arranging. Creating his dream band, the Otis Mission, for Friday’s debut was a culmination of those and many more years of composing and arranging. “Otis is my middle name,” Sexton explains, “named after my late godfather Otis Washington.”

While one could broadly describe the compositions as jazz fusion, that would belie the stylistic versatility of the band, as they deftly navigated charts bursting with stop-time phrases and unison lines in the classic jazz fusion approach, yet ranging from funk to salsa to reggae to gospel. That band included Sexton on drums, Alvie Givhan on keyboards, Tony Dickerson on “auxiliary keys,” Joe Restivo on guitar, Carl Caspersen on bass, DeAnté Payne on mallet instruments (via a large set of pads triggering samples), and Christian Kirk and brother James “Jennings” Sexton as guest singers, and they rose to the challenge of the material’s complexity with aplomb.

And yet, to hear James Sexton tell it, that was just the beginning. “This is a condensed version of The Otis Mission,” he wrote to the Memphis Flyer. “I originally wrote the music for a 15-piece ensemble, consisting of three singers, three horns, a string quartet, keys, bass, lead guitar, percussion, and drums. So the next show will be the whole kit and caboodle.”

As a drummer, Sexton is a world-class talent, having performed or recorded with the likes of En Vogue, Amy Grant, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Branford Marsalis, Kirk Whalum, BeBe Winans, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, and Stevie Wonder. But last Friday, he was playing for one person in particular: “I just really wanted my dad to hear it,” he notes. “He’s been on me the last three years or so. We’d tried to pull off the show before Covid hit, but it didn’t work out. So, I’m very relieved to have finally gotten the ball rolling, with my pops in attendance.”

The group brought Sexton’s work to life with precision and soul, offering some stunning solos along the way, including Sexton’s own solo turn on the kit as he kept a perfect clave beat with a foot pedal hitting a wood block. Below, Sexton offers his commentary on the intricate, funky pieces he premiered last Friday:

James Sexton (Photo courtesy Crosstown Arts)

• No Limit ‘Cept Yo Limits is “funk inspired, a Prince kinda vibe.”
• A.M. Spired, a compositional highlight, was “inspired by modal jazz of the ’50s and ’60s.”
• Duly Noted. Lesson Learned was based on a “bad experience that’ll never happen again. A mixer of rock and reggae that featured prominent Memphis guitarist Joe Restivo and myself.”
• Get up Sunshine was “inspired by classic vocal jazz ballads, and featured Christian Kirk, the daughter of legendary Memphis jazz pianist Sidney Kirk. It also featured Alvie Givhan on piano and DeAnte Payne on vibes. The message is simply ‘Don’t dim your light. The world needs it.'”
• Eden’s Aura was “inspired by my then five-year-old daughter’s mood swings, and my time playing in a salsa band. Her name is Sarah Eden Sexton. It featured DeAnte Payne, Alvie Givhan, and myself.”
• Got That Good Feelin’ (How bout’ Chu?) was “inspired by my time as a drummer in the The New Orleans Jazz Ramblers. A great tune for a second line dance.”
• The Liberator, sung by Sexton’s brother James “Jennings” Sexton, revealed the importance of the church to Sexton. “This shows my gospel roots. In the Christian faith, Jesus is the door to liberation, in every aspect of life.”
• The Hatchling, a title Sexton said referred to himself, is “an up-tempo jazz fusion tune, inspired by artists like James Brown, Tower of Power, or the Dave Weckl Band. There’s a fusion version of a James Brown tune called ‘The Chicken,’ and this would be my version of an updated spin off.”

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Senate GOP to Hold Vote of No Confidence in Lt. Gov. McNally

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, faces a vote of no confidence from the Senate Republican Caucus. (Photo: John Partipilo)

The Senate Republican Caucus will hold a vote of no confidence on Lt. Gov. Randy McNally Monday, nearly two weeks after revelations that he frequently commented on racy photos on young gay men’s Instagram sites. 

McNally, the Republican-appointed speaker of the Senate from Oak Ridge, has weathered the criticism of these comments by stating he makes them out of “encouragement” and that he “enjoys interacting with constituents and Tennesseans of all religions, backgrounds and orientations.”

His comments come as organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign call Tennessee one of the worst states for the LGBTQ community because of a series of laws passed by Republicans. 

Republican leaders in the House and Senate have been reluctant to criticize McNally, who has served in the Tennessee General Assembly since 1979. 

Several sources told the Tennessee Lookout that they expect McNally to survive the vote.

Some believe McNally, who has been canvassing the 27 caucus members, should be able to find out exactly how they feel about his future by taking a vote. They see the Senate Republican Caucus as split three ways between those who believe McNally should remain in his post, those who believe he should step down this session and others who believe he should say farewell at the end of the 2023 session this spring.

The race to replace McNally heated up over the weekend when the Tennessee Firearms Association endorsed Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, as the next lieutenant governor. 

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, and Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, are considered the most likely replacement for McNally, but neither appears to be publicly advocating for the job at this time.  

Those on the fringes of the Republican Party have been the loudest critics of McNally. The Tennessee Star, Tennessee Stands and Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, all called for him to step down, citing the Instagram comments and other health issues.

McNally had heart surgery in February to put in a pacemaker.

The Lookout reached out to McNally’s office for comment and had yet to receive a response at the time of publication.  

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports Uncategorized

Grizzlies Down Warriors, 133-119

Jaren Jackson, Jr. drives to the basket on Saturday, March 18, 2023 against the Golden State Warriors (Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

On the second night of a back-to-back, the Memphis Grizzlies were back at home against their most hated rival, the Golden State Warriors. 

The Grizzlies controlled the game in the first half, but Golden State came roaring back and put up 41 points in the third quarter to cut the lead to single digits. However, Memphis held the Warriors to 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting (1-8 3P) in the fourth period, and scored 29 points of their own to beat the Warriors 133-119. 

The Grizzlies have won five of their last six games, and have a best-in-the-NBA home winning percentage (.853) after improving to 29-5 at FedExForum this season. Memphis also tied its season high with its eighth consecutive home victory.

With their eleventh consecutive road loss, Golden State dropped back to 7-29 on the road this season. The Warriors have not won a road game since January 27th. 

The Block Panther Game 

Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies, tying his season high with 31 points by going 12-of-22 from the field, with seven boards, four blocks, and three assists. 

Jackson Jr. has scored 25+ points in three consecutive games, the longest such streak of his career.

“My teammates are requiring a lot out of me offensively” Jackson, Jr. said on balancing offensive assertiveness and efficiency. “They want me to view the mismatches and find different opportunities for me to score, especially when I have someone smaller than me, but even when I have somebody slower. I have to do both.”

Jackson, Jr. went on to say, “So, when I’m getting that many attempts, especially in the right spots, it’s really just about the spots I’m getting. If I can get in a better spot, higher chances of going in rather than trying to force it when doubles come, trying to find guys to review the double team rather than just go head-to-head without looking. You know, it all helps.”

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said,  “I thought Jaren [Jackson Jr.] played a great game tonight. I thought he was aggressive, he was scoring in the lane, knocked down a few threes as well, but he had it going tonight for sure.” 

Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins spoke about Jackson Jr’s improved offensive game. “It’s been a huge growth area for him, for us as a team, for me,” Jenkins said. “It’s all the above. It’s the work he’s been putting in when it comes to post-ISO situations, the reads he’s making off of drives, whether that’s on a go-and-catch, coming off a pick-and-roll situation.” 

“I think what it really comes down to is finding the times to assert himself when it’s in the flow of offense and when we make a call for you, Jenkins added. “He’s finding a lot of success. He’s making angles, he’s making efficient moves to get to the rim. Tonight, a great example of kick-outs and dump-offs for three assists.”

Jenkins concluded, “Huge growth area for him. Just being efficient, as you said, but it’s just within the flow of the offense and when we make play calls for him. Just allowing him to be the decision maker. We know what he does defensively, but when he can give you that production inside out, from the free throw line, some playmaking on top of that, that’s huge for us.”

Jackson Jr. knows he’s a walking mismatch every game. “I feel like that every night, but you have to control it,” said the 23-year-old. “You have to do it in the right form, and if you if you just think like that and you just start jacking it, it just doesn’t look as good. I feel like that, but I’m really just reading how the games go.”

The All-Defensive forward has what it takes to be elite both offensively and defensively, but he has to have balance. “You just got to have the legs to be able to do both,” the All-Star big man said after the game. “So a lot of endurance is needed for that kind of activity. I’m not just doing one thing. So, it’s just about getting enough rest and having your legs. That helps because I know I have enough strength to get it done.”

The Dillon Brooks Effect 

Stephen Curry was limited to 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting, snapping a 17-game streak of scoring 20+ points. Curry was too not thrilled about being asked about his matchup against Brooks. Curry said, “We played the whole Memphis Grizzlies, not just him. That’s my thoughts.”

After the game, Brooks spoke about his plan for guarding Curry. He said, “Just being obsessed about him. Just watching film. Just understanding his whole game, the whole game plan. I love playing against him. He’s a competitor. I don’t think he likes the way I operate, but it’s working, so he’s going to have to figure out how to score on me. But, like I told everybody else, with a guy like him, he’s been doing it for so many years, seen so many defenses, so many coverages that you got to finally do something different. His desire to be the greatest shooter in the NBA, on this Earth, is the same desire that I want to guard him every single night.”

Jenkins had one word to describe Brooks after the game. “Spirited,”said Jenkins. “He’s got great spirit. He’s got great energy. I always say he’s an ultimate competitor. He embodies so many things you want out of a basketball player every single night, just how he lays it on the line. He leads by example, leads on the floor, leads off the floor with his voice. I could probably elaborate more, but you said, ‘How would I describe it?’ I can give you the one word: it’s very spirited.”

Jenkins also said he believes Brooks should be on the NBA All-Defensive team this season. He said, “The numbers don’t lie. The film doesn’t lie, so I think it’s a no-brainer that he should be an All-Defensive player.”

“This is elite level intensity, and he’s a master at it honestly,” Jackson, Jr. said of Brooks’ intensity. “Being able to have that level of intensity and still being able to lock in and have a calm approach to still get stuff done. You can’t just be erratic all the time, so there is a method to his madness for sure.”

Brooks added 18 points, shooting 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from 3-point range.

The Grizzlies need this version of Brooks going forward. 

Up Next

The second game of a four-game homestand continues when the Dallas Mavericks come to town on Monday night with possibly both Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic available. 

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Defeat Spurs in Historic Comeback

Brothers Tyus Jones and Tre Jones on the court in San Antonio. (Credit: NBAE/Getty Images)

Friday night in San Antonio, the Memphis Grizzlies pulled off a comeback for the ages when they overcame a 29-point deficit, using a clutch three by Dillon Brooks to send the game to overtime. When the final buzzer sounded, the Grizzlies had gone from almost 30 points down to a 126-120 victory over the Spurs. Which goes to show that even when this team is down, you should never count them out.

Let’s get into it.

It was a ragtag squad of sorts that took the court in San Antonio, necessitated by the ongoing absences of Ja Morant, Steven Adams, and Brandon Clarke. One upside was seeing two-way player and fan favorite Kenneth Lofton Jr play meaningful minutes. And Luke Kennard did exactly the thing the front office acquired him for – light it up from the perimeter.

There is never a bad time to win a game on the road, but this win feels a little sweeter, coming as it did on the night that the Spurs were honoring Jaren Jackson Sr, who was part of the championship-winning 1998-1999 squad, along with Tim Duncan, Steve Kerr, and David Robinson.

Father-Son jersey swap – all love

This was a game that mattered right up until the very last seconds. Indeed, the game clock had less than a minute remaining when Memphis got a stop and sent the ball down the court, and Luke Kennard passed the ball to Dillon Brooks just in time for Brooks to sink one of the most clutch three-pointers of the season. Brooks also hit another timely three-point shot during the extra period and cemented the Grizzlies’ victory.

To be fair, this wasn’t a game that should have mattered up until the final moments, but a win is a win. It allows the Grizzlies to return home after winning two of three games in their road trip. Winning on the road has been an ongoing struggle for this team, but fortunately they are returning to FedExForum for seven of the next eight games.

Turnovers and missed free throws continued to plague the Grizzlies, even if they were ultimately able to overcome them on Friday.

A quick Ja Morant update: Earlier this week, the league announced that Morant would be issued an eight-game suspension for his conduct in Denver but that number would include the six games the Grizzlies’ organization had already benched him for. This means that Morant would potentially be returning to the team on Monday, March 20th, where he will ramp back up for a return to the court shortly thereafter.

By The Numbers:

All the Grizzlies starters ended the night in double figures, along with two guys on the second unit.

Jaren Jackson Jr led all scorers with 28 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 4 blocks.

Desmond Bane finished the night with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block.

Tyus Jones closed out with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 steals, earning his first career triple double.

Dillon Brooks had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 1 block. Including two incredibly clutch three-point makes that secured the win.

Xavier Tillman Sr put up 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

From the bench-

Kenneth Lofton Jr had a career-high 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.

Luke Kennard put up 13 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals, while shooting 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. Related: I would like to formally petition that Kennard’s new nickname be Luke Nukem.  

Who Got Next?

The Grizzlies are returning to their home court for their second game in two nights. They will face off against their league rivals the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, March 18th. Tip-off is at 7 PM CDT.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tears. Again.

Penny Hardaway (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

The coach’s son lay on the hardwood in the fetal position, protecting the basketball as if it were a newborn baby. His team leading by a single point with fewer than ten seconds to play, opposing players swarmed the Tiger senior as multiple teammates called and signaled for a timeout. Instead of granting the timeout, though, officials ruled one of those opponents also claimed possession, granting the underdog one final chance to erase the Memphis lead.

The lead was erased. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway threw his water bottle 30 feet in defeated disgust. He threw that water bottle for every last Memphian who witnessed Friday night’s horror show from Columbus, Ohio. The dreams of a long-awaited NCAA tournament run by the beloved home team were once again dashed, this time with egregious errors — some by game officials — that stacked upon one another like Tarot cards, every one of them portending black death for Memphis basketball.

With a few plays executed differently, the Tigers could have made the lousy “jump ball” call a moot point. Kendric Davis made an ill-advised pass near midcourt with 20 seconds left. The ball was intercepted, leading to that final sequence with Jayden Hardaway on the floor, cradling the rock. Florida Atlantic’s game-winning basket was scored via layup, no Tiger offering merely adequate resistance. It was acutely painful to watch. We all needed a water bottle to hurl.

And if the pain of the game result was excruciating, the big-picture ripple effect is purely paralyzing. With Fairleigh Dickinson — the East region’s 16th seed — having upset Purdue earlier, the Tigers would have had what amounts to a walkover Sunday. And with a win Sunday, Hardaway’s Tigers would return to the Sweet 16, that second-weekend land of delights in March Madness, the weekend where proud programs promote themselves for an entire nation of witnesses (and star recruits). Instead, merely five days after beating Houston (the country’s top-ranked team), Memphis lost to a team that will replace the Cougars as members of the American Athletic Conference next season. This was the basketball gods drilling an entire fan base in the soft parts.

We’ll get ’em next year. Sadly, there is no “we” for next year, not in college basketball. Davis has played his final game as a Tiger (and courageously, on a painfully turned right ankle). So has Alex Lomax and DeAndre Williams. Next year’s team will be a roster built from scratch by Hardaway, linked to the 2022-23 season by jerseys, sure, but not by the names on the back of those jerseys. “Next year” is ever the disappointing bridesmaid, this year being the one a fan cherishes, the one we cling to in the fetal position until it has no more oxygen to breathe.

Tiger fans with memories as old as 15 years will remember a point being shaved from the Memphis total in the 2008 national championship, Derrick Rose’s toes having been exposed (by video) to have touched the three-point stripe on a basket that originally gave Memphis three points. Kansas, of course, tied the game at the buzzer and won in overtime. Cut to Friday night in Columbus, and FAU was granted a point when video review exposed officials for missing an Owl three-pointer. The Owls, of course, won by a single point. How do these events happen at the expense of the same program?  

We are reminded at times that it’s okay to not be okay, and this is becoming conventional wisdom, a healthy mental-management mantra. Life will not feel okay among the Memphis Tigers’ fan base for a while, not with a 14th consecutive offseason at least one week longer than we’d prefer. There will be many happy memories, eventually, from the season just past. Davis and the AAC tournament championship are stamped in bold ink on this program’s decorated timeline. But for now . . . pain. Grab a nearby water bottle. Throw it as far as you can. If you happen to clock an owl, so be it.

Categories
Art Art Feature We Recommend We Recommend

Artist Trading Cards Memphis Hosts Its Inaugural Event This Weekend

(Photo: Artist Trading Cards Memphis)

Some collect baseball cards; others collect Pokemon cards. For Alex Paulus, a kid in the ’90s, it was Marvel trading cards. “That was my favorite thing when I was a kid,” he says. “They were like these fully rendered oil paintings of Marvel characters.” Little did he know that his childhood hobby would inspire him to start a new kind of trading card in Memphis, almost three decades later.

In 2020, when lockdown rolled around and boredom took over, the artist explains, he had an itch to return to those Marvel cards that had once excited him, so he purchased a box of them. “I found out that in one of the packs in the box, you could get an original hand-drawn piece of art on a trading card,” he says. “And I got one of those cards. I was like, ‘Oh man, this is really cool.’ … So that kind of gave me the idea of what if I could buy a pack and it was just filled with all of these handmade cards and how cool that would be.”

Paulus, as it turns out, wasn’t the first to think of creating trading cards with original art. That honor belongs to a Swiss artist, M. Vänçi Stirnemann, who in 1996 initiated an ongoing and now worldwide performance whereby artists of all backgrounds create, collect, sell, and trade self-made unique works, 2.5-by-3.5 inches in size. 

Inspired by this, Paulus became determined to bring the phenomenon to Memphis. In 2021, thanks to a grant from UrbanArt Commission, he created 50 packs of his own artist trading cards, with three little paintings in each, and he sold all of them at his 2021 show at Off the Walls Arts. Some of these packs even had golden tickets — Willy Wonka style — that granted the recipient a full-sized painting hanging at the show. The goal, Paulus explained in his grant application, was to “inspire others to make their own artist trading cards and become part of the performance, too.”

Three of Paulus’ cards that will be for sale this Sunday at Wiseacre. (Photo: Alex Paulus)

Inspire it did, as this weekend seven other artists will join Paulus in the first-ever Artist Trading Cards Memphis event. They include Michelle Fair, Keiko Gonzalez, Mary Jo Karimnia, Tad Lauritzen Wright, Sara Moseley, Nick Pena, and Matias Paradela. “These are legit gallery-showing artists who are making these,” Paulus says. “It’s not just getting our friends who like to doodle on stuff.”

For the day, these artists will sell their 2.5-by-3.5 inch works at affordable prices, some as low as $10. Some will sell them individually, and others will sell them in packs. Some cards you’ll be able to see before purchasing, and others will be a surprise. Some packs will even have golden tickets for full-sized artwork if you’re lucky. Of course, you’ll be able to trade cards with other collectors at the event, and you can even bring in your own 2.5-by-3.5 inch works to trade if you so please.

By Mary Jo Karimnia
By Michelle Fair
By Nick Pena
The artist trading cards range in their subjects and styles. (Photos: Mary Jo Karimnia, Michelle Fair, Nick Pena)

“There’ll be tiny abstract paintings, really detailed pencil portraits, Ninja Turtle porn, altered baseball cards,” Mary Jo Karimnia, one of the participating artists, explains when asked what type of images collectors should expect. Clearly, there’s a range in subject and even medium. For her cards, Karimnia explores motifs of eyes and rainbows, and some incorporate symbols inspired by old Icelandic magical staves, with spells “to get protection from witches,” “to destroy all weapons,” “to nurture humbleness,” and so on. 

Karimnia, who “caught the [tiny-art] bug” after Paulus’ Off the Walls Arts show, says that the small form allows for more experimentation. “It’s a different challenge [than my usual work],” she says, “Plus if I don’t like one, I can throw it in the bin.” 

Paulus adds that working on a small canvas has influenced his “normal” work (in addition to giving him carpal tunnel in his wrist). “I’m incorporating some of the style that I’ve been doing [on the cards] back into my larger scale canvas paintings,” he says. “I thought this was just gonna be like a fun little side project, but it’s just altering what I’m doing.”

Overall, the artists hope that the trading cards will connect the arts community with the Memphis community at large. Anyone can attend, and everyone who does will walk away with original art. “It’s making art accessible,” Karimnia says, “and the cards are great to display, frame, or trade.” 

The group hopes to host more trading events in the future and add more artists to its roster. Keep up with the group on Instagram (@artisttradingcardsmemphis).

Artist Trading Cards Memphis (ATCM) Inaugural Event, Wiseacre Brewing Company, 2783 Broad Ave., Sunday, March 19, 2-5 p.m.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Now Playing in Memphis: Shazam to Sansón

Grace Caroline Currey, Zachary Levi, and Meagan Good in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. 2023. © Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Whether you wear the cape or you’re sick of watching people in super suits, there’s something for you in theaters this weekend.

When young Billy Batson (Asher Angel) says the magic words, he becomes Shazam (Zachary Levi), one of the OG superheroes who, many lawsuits ago, used to be called Captain Marvel. Now, he’s the star of the DC property that is the most fun, and we’ve got Memphis screenwriter Henry Gayden to thank for that. In Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Batson and his super-team take on the Daughters of Atlas, a sinister girl-god gang with Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. 

Wes Craven’s meta-horror Scream just won’t die — the sixth installment made more money on opening weekend than any of the previous five, which means we’ll be screaming for the indefinite future. They can thank spooky teen sensation Jenna Ortega for that one. 

Willem Dafoe is an art thief who gets in way over his head when he accidentally locks himself Inside a high-security New York penthouse. As he tries to get out with the art intact, things go from weird to bad to extremely weird.

Jonathan Majors hits hard as Adonis Creed’s rival in Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut, Creed III. The actor/director steps into Stallone’s boots to create a minor classic of the sports movie genre. Watch for the anime-inspired climax! 

On Wednesday, March 22nd, Indie Memphis presents Sansón and Me. When filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes was working as a courtroom interpreter in California, he witnessed a trial where a young man named Sansón was sentenced to life in prison. Over the next decade, he corresponded with Sansón in prison and created a hybrid documentary film based on his life. The screening at 7 p.m. at Malco’s Studio on the Square is presented in partnership with Just City Memphis.

Categories
Music Record Reviews

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra: The Future is Now

With “jazz month” drawing considerable attention and attendance at Crosstown Arts for the past two weeks, encompassing everything from hard bop to the city’s burgeoning avant garde scene, it’s worth taking a step back to consider an artist who mastered all those styles and more: Sun Ra.

The fact that both he and his longtime saxophonist John Gilmore were from the South (Birmingham, Alabama and Summit, Mississippi, respectively) makes them all the more relevant to the current moment, above and beyond the fact that Ra’s legacy informs all artists who walk the line between “inside” and “outside.” Those words, of course, are jazz lingo for playing inside the lines of conventional chord changes versus stepping outside into a world of free improvisation.

That line matters when it comes to Sun Ra — born Herman Poole “Sonny” Blount — as the mere mention of his name these days is often used to signify any music that’s outlandishly free or experimental. What’s often forgotten is that, behind the sci-fi-influenced language and costumes of Ra’s futurism, there was a disciplined composer and arranger who revered Fletcher Henderson scores dating back to the 1920s. That’s not to say that the Sun Ra Arkestra didn’t have its moments of more chaotic improvisation, but they were only partial refractions of the ensemble’s wider palette of sounds.

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, first released on Savoy Records in 1962, then re-released last fall on 180-gram vinyl, CD, and hi-res digital by Craft Recordings in honor of its 60th Anniversary, is a good case in point. It was an historical milestone, being the first recording made with his band, The Arkestra, after moving to New York from Chicago. Produced by Tom Wilson (who would go on to produce Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground, and the Mothers of Invention, among others), The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra has long been considered one of the avant-garde artist’s most accessible albums.

According to John Szwed’s Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra, the album was not even reviewed at the time and immediately sank into obscurity. So much for being accessible! And yet, compared to what came later from the Arkestra, this album is indeed approachable, and a good entry point into Sun Ra’s oeuvre for listeners hoping to expand their horizons.

It’s “a record which could have easily represented their repertoire during an evening at a club” at that time, as Szwed writes, with a listenable balance between free improvisation and composed pieces for an octet. The latter pieces are not so different from other cutting edge, large-ensemble jazz albums of the time, such as Gil Evans’ Out of the Cool (1960), Charles Mingus’ Oh Yeah (1961), or Oliver Nelson’s The Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961).

That’s apparent right from the start, as “Bassism,” beginning with a sparse bass line, soon incorporates tight horn bursts and grooving piano before making room for a more freestyle flute from Arkestra stalwart Marshall Allen. The tracks continue in that vein, mixing tightly arranged horn lines, piano vamps, and freer soloing in relatively concise compositions. With “Where Is Tomorrow,” the arranged horns soon drop out to make way for intriguing freestyle interplay between two flutes and bass clarinet (the latter played by Gilmore).

That “outness” takes over on the next track, “The Beginning,” which begins and ends with a melange of unorthodox percussion. The album liner notes tout this element, noting that the record features bells from India, Chinese wind chimes, wood blocks, maracas, claves, scratchers, gongs, cowbells, Turkish cymbals, and castanets. These flourishes lend a distinctive sonic stamp to the entire album.

At times, the mood mellows, as with “Tapestry from an Asteroid,” a ballad that became one of Ra’s most-performed works. Interestingly, out of the 10 original selections on the album, “Tapestry from an Asteroid” would stand as the only work that the artist would ever revisit — on stage or otherwise — again. “China Gates” is also in this mood (and is the sole track not written by Ra), with vocalist Ricky Murray sounding almost like Billy Eckstine amid the bells and gongs.

Following the release of Futuristic Sounds, which marked Ra’s sole album under Savoy, the artist and the Arkestra enjoyed a fruitful period in New York and Philadelphia. In 1969, Ra graced the cover of Rolling Stone. In the early ’70s, he became an artist-in-residence at the University of California, Berkeley. Later in the decade, back in New York, his shows would attract a new generation of fans, including the Velvet Underground’s John Cale and Nico. As he grew older, Ra’s influence only continued to grow, with bands like Sonic Youth inviting the artist to open for them. During his lifetime, Ra also built one of the most extensive discographies in history, which includes more than 100 albums (live and studio) and over 1,000 songs. And now, nearly 30 years after his death, the legacy of Sun Ra lives on through the ever-evolving Arkestra, which continues to record and perform today under the leadership of the forever-young Marshall Allen.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

BrickUniverse Lego Fan Convention Comes to Memphis

Photo: Courtesy BrickUniverse

Rome wasn’t built in a day, so goes the saying, and Rocco Buttliere has found that to be true, having spent more than a year reconstructing the ancient city to which all roads lead. His Rome, though, is considerably smaller and is made entirely of over 100,000 Lego bricks.      

“It’s basically what the city looked like back in the fourth century,” Buttliere explains. Once a student of architecture, the professional Lego artist is fascinated with how building design and process has evolved over the centuries. Other works of his include skyscrapers and famous landmarks from Mount Rushmore to the Eiffel Tower to the Taj Mahal to the Empire State Building, but Rome is probably his most ambitious project yet. 

“I started last January 2022 designing it,” he says. “Thousands of hours go into the research and design of it, and then building it actually takes quite a long time as well.” 

Buttliere’s Rome in its entirety (Photo: Courtesy Rocco Buttliere)

Buttliere’s city of Rome, which at last is complete as of this week, will make its public debut in Memphis next weekend at the BrickUniverse Lego Fan Convention, where professional Lego artists like Buttliere will exhibit their work. “I’ll have modern skyscrapers on one table, and then the next table will have something from like 1,600 years ago,” he says. “And I think it really helps with the educational value to show like where we started, but having it at the same scale shows the similarities of what we’re still doing to this day.”

Through his reach, Buttliere has undoubtedly learned a lot about the ancient city, and he hopes to pass on his learnings at the expo. “Hopefully, people are learning from the subject matter that they see in my gallery,” he says, and he hopes that the guests are just excited to learn as he is. “We all — all the artists — take away as much as the public gives us, and I think that’s important in being able to find meaning in the work and also inform the direction that you want to take in the future.”

Closeup of Buttlier’s Rome (Photo: Courtesy Rocco Buttliere)

Other featured Lego artists include Jonathan Lopes, who will show off his Lego recreation of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to be donated to the museum; Paul Hetherington, who will debut his Lego tribute to Elvis’ ’68 Comeback Special; Lia Chan, whose work delves into space exploration with dioramas, astronauts, and spaceships; and Ethen T, who specializes in Lego mosaics. 

“It’s a really wide variety of creativity and subject matter all under one roof,” Buttliere says.  “A lot of artistic quality and artistic license comes into play as well. … The sky’s the limit in terms of Lego.”

Paul Hetherington gives a sneak peak to his Lego reincarnation of Elvis.

In addition to the professional artists exhibiting their work, local Lego artists will display their creations, and fans will also have a chance to put their own creativity to work at the several Building Zones at the event. There will even be a special Star Wars Zone to build spaceships and other Star Wars-themed paraphernalia. Plus, guests can purchase retired Lego sets, mini figurines, and other goodies. 

AButtliere hopes that the event will encourage people of all ages to keep channeling their creativity; after all, Legos aren’t just meant for the kids out there. “The important thing is just to keep building,” he says, “and challenge yourself to do new things, but also make sure that you’re passionate about what you’re doing.”

The BrickUniverse Lego Fan Convention will be at the Agricenter International on Saturday, March 25th, and Sunday, March 26th, with two sessions occurring on each day from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m. Tickets for each session cost $14.99 and can be purchased here. Children 3 and under get in free when accompanied by a paid adult. 

Visit brickuniverseusa.com for more information. 

Learn more about Buttliere’s Ancient Rome on YouTube.