The Memphis Music Foundation elected former Stax Records executive Al Bell as its new chairman this week. Bell takes over from longtime board chairman Phil Trenary.
“Economic empowerment and economic development,” Bell responds when asked what his focus will be. “When I say empowerment, I’m talking about individual. When I say development, I’m talking about institutions and businesses. Everything I do will be about that.”
Bell praises the city’s “diverse, authentic music base” and asserts, familiarly, that one challenge is to get locals to appreciate the city’s cultural assets as much as people around the country and around the world.
Bell’s long, historic music career is best know for his period as an executive and eventual co-owner of Stax, leading the label during the era marked by Isaac Hayes’ rise to superstardom and the historic WattStax concert.
