Taj Mahal appears in holographic form. (Photo: Courtesy Blues Foundation)
The Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame Museum has unveiled a brand-new interactive hologram of blues musician Taj Mahal, making it the first museum in Tennessee and second in the United States to have a full-body hologram, says Blues Foundation CEO and president Kimberly Horton.
Horton says when she found out about Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame’s hologram of philanthropist Ernie Boch Jr., whose personal collection of guitars were on display at the museum at the time, she knew she “had to have one for Memphis.”
The Blues Foundation’s first hologram features Blues Hall of Famer Taj Mahal. “It’s him. Like he’s actually sitting in there, actually sitting in the [holographic] box,” Horton says. “You could actually have a full conversation.”
That means that guests can ask whatever question comes to mind, and the hologram, which has been trained with AI, will generate a response as Mahal himself would answer. “We had Taj Mahal sit still for 12 hours one day and just asked him all these questions, about 250 questions, and filmed him while he was doing that,” Horton explains. “So this is his voice. And these are his mannerisms. These are his hand movements.”
From the beginning, Horton says she knew Mahal would be a part of the debut of the permanent exhibition, which will spotlight other artists in the future. “He’s just great,” she says. “When it comes to music, he’s multi-Grammy-winning. He has touched every genre of the industry. He’s got his hand in everything. Taj will be 82 this month, so it was imperative that he was the first person that was in the hologram.”
After all, Horton says, “If you want to preserve something or preserve history, then what better way to do it?”
The Blues Hall of Fame Museum is located at 421 South Main Street. Admission is $10/adults, $8/students, and free for kids 12 and under. There is an additional charge of $10 to interact with the hologram. Museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram performing at the Blues Music Awards on May 9th (Photo: Christopher Caldwell)
Last week’s 45th Blues Music Awards (BMAs) featured many familiar faces in the spotlight, but none so familiar as Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, from just down the road apiece in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
He came away with a win in the “Album of the Year” category for his Live In London record, which was also named the best Contemporary Blues Album. The BMAs also recognized Ingram as this year’s best Instrumentalist – Guitar and the best Contemporary Blues Male Artist.
Ingram, featured prominently in the Memphis Flyer‘s 2022 survey of the regional blues scene, has become somewhat of a ringer at the BMAs, having first won in all four of the above categories in 2020, then garnering awards in every subsequent year since.
His talent and success are partly a testament to the power of educational programs like those he attended at Clarksdale’s Delta Blues Museum as a young man. As he told the Flyer in 2022, “My instructors were actual bluesmen, Bill ‘Howl-n-Mad’ Perry and Richard ‘Daddy Rich’ Crisman. They were my teachers and my mentors of the blues, from the time when I played bass through when I got into guitar. And when they found out I had a little voice, they even pushed me to sing. There were even times when we would do readings. It was a full-on educational class, for sure. And it still goes on today.”
Another local favorite who won big was living legend Bobby Rush, who was not only named the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year but also snagged the best Soul Blues Album award for his All My Love for You. And transplanted Memphian John Németh, fresh off a riveting performance with the Bo-Keys at this year’s RiverBeat Music Festival, also excelled in the soul blues category, winning the Soul Blues Male Artist award.
Other top titles went to Keb’ Mo’ (Acoustic Blues Artist), Danielle Nicole (Contemporary Blues Female Artist), and the Nick Moss Band (Band of the Year). “What Kind Of Fool,” written by Ruthie Foster, Hadden Sayers & Scottie Miller, was named Song of the Year, and The Right Man by D.K. Harrell was named the Best Emerging Artist Album. Like Ingram and Rush, Foster, Mike Zito, and John Primer also garnered multiple awards.
The Fugees at the inaugural RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
After it was discovered that the RiverBeat Music Festival‘s social media accounts posted a clumsily-Photoshopped image that inflated the apparent crowd size (which the festival organizers copped to, blaming the photographer and removing the image), many in the online-iverse ramped up their complaints about the festival, dissing the lineup, the attendance, and even the lack of chain link fencing along the river shore (believe it or not).
Yet, as a musician, a music fan, and journalist embedded in the actual RiverBeat experience, I witnessed throngs of happy listeners and had more than a few magical encounters myself. In the end, that’s what will stay with us. Here, then, are a few personal, highly subjective moments that make a celebration of music on this scale worth the while, complemented by the Memphis Flyer‘s own mixtape.
Charlie Musselwhite The magic began before I even entered the festival gates. Walking along the perimeter toward the entrance, I heard the sound of pure liquid gold ringing out over the river. It was the blues harp of Charlie Musselwhite, known as “Memphis Charlie” in his youth, his family having moved here from Mississippi when he was a toddler, though he was based in Chicago as his career accelerated in the ’60s. To this day, he’s criminally under-booked in Memphis venues, making this moment a rare one indeed. This octogenarian and the melodic flow of his harp are national treasures.
Charlie Musselwhite at RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
Lucky 7 Brass Band Seeing this group in the charged setting of the festival brought home what a tremendous font of creativity and groove the Lucky 7 can be. As I walked into Tom Lee Park, I heard the familiar strains of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but far groovier and brassier than the original. It was quickly followed by Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” Victor Sawyer’s singing full of the original’s fury, but layered over the forward momentum of a second line groove. An utter revelation.
DJ’s at Whateverland The Memphis gem Qemist took DJing to new artistic heights, weaving together disparate tracks into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. “It’s about to get real Black real fast!” he announced at one point. The crowd gathered in the shade of the fanciful tent shimmied and swayed along with him…even the staff walking past. “I see you, Security! Get your strut on!” he exclaimed. On Saturday, WYXR’s Jared Boyd, aka Jay B, aka Bizzle Bluebland kept up a similar vibe with some fine disco-tinged vibes, puffing on a jumbo cigar as he manned the wheels of steel.
Durand Jones & the Indications I’d never heard this old school soul and R&B vocalist live, but certainly will again after the scorching set he delivered last Friday afternoon. The very on-point band formed over a decade ago at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, but a distinctly more Southern flavor of soul springs from Jones’ roots in Hillaryville, Louisiana. “I feel like I’m an ambassador of the rural South,” he quipped at one point. “I’m just a boy from a town of about 500 people, and our land is being taken away from us. It’s about time we saw what is going down.” Midway through their cover of Irma Thomas’ “Ruler of My Heart,” Jones spoke wistfully about a young man who came to Memphis “with just a guitar” and made Thomas’ song his own, bringing the house down with Otis Redding’s version, “Pain in My Heart.”
Talibah Safiya We just profiled this neo-soul/hip hop auteur, and, armed with fresh new tracks from her new album and a tight live band featuring MadameFraankie on guitar, she held the Stringbend Stage last Friday with aplomb. Even in the group’s tight execution of beats there was a playful looseness, exemplified when, seeing a few sprinkles in the air, they launched into an impromptu take on “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” That soon gave way to more of Safiya’s originals. “Look to your right,” the singer called out to the audience, pointing to the Mississippi River. “Let’s honor that body of water,” she said, and then launched into perhaps her most popular track, “Healing Creek.”
Carla Thomas at the RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
Take Me to the River Having written about the group assembled by Boo Mitchell in last week’s cover story, I knew this would be a special moment, but it exceeded all expectations. Lina Beach, the young guitarist for Hi Rhythm, rocked her originals with verve, Jerome Chism delivered soul standards like “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You” with passion, and Eric Gales delivered some scorching guitar work that was both virtuosic and soulful on “I’ll Play the Blues for You.”
While Mitchell is naturally grounded in Royal Studios and Hi Records, that latter song’s provenance in the Stax catalog confirmed that Hi Rhythm was the perfect vehicle for all stripes of Memphis soul. That was especially clear when Carla Thomas took the stage, cradling a crutch in her right hand but looking spry as she exhorted the crowd to do some classic straight-eighth note “soul clapping” while the band vamped on the intro to “B-A-B-Y.” She followed that up with the song her father Rufus put on the charts, “Walking the Dog,” whereupon Chism appeared with a small pup wearing ear protectors. That in turn was followed by the inimitable William Bell delivering stone classics like “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” making the Take Me to the River set a festival highlight.
No Blues Tent, Plenty of Blues As if to make up for the lack of a blues tent, always a fixture at Beale Street Music Festivals, the blues seemed to crop up everywhere at RiverBeat. Kenny Brown brought the Hill Country Sound on day one, laconic and completely at ease as he unleashed guitar licks with his trio. On Sunday, the Wilkins Sisters brought their unique gospel-blues straight out of Como, Mississippi, just as their late father, Rev. John Wilkins, and their grandfather, Rev. Robert Wilkins, did before them. As lead singer Tangela Longstreet said, “We lost our daddy in 2020. But I can still hear him telling me, ‘Don’t stop singing, baby!'”
And there was more of that sanctified blend from Robert Randolph & the Family Band, as the master of sacred steel guitar delivered a sermon from the church of good times. In his hands, the pedal steel guitar became an engine of squeaks, squalls, and heavily distorted riffs. Indeed, their finale of “It Don’t Matter” was the weekend’s personal highlight of unfettered abandon, and, judging from the way Boo Mitchell and Lina Beach were dancing, they felt the same. Such high energy blues were also apparent in Southern Avenue‘s fiery set, wherein the humble acoustic guitar played by Ori Naftaly on most of the tunes presented country blues riffs amped into overdrive, adding a new grit to their sound.
Yet there were blues in more unexpected niches. Lawrence Matthews‘ latest work draws heavily on sampled blues in the Fat Possum Records catalog, and his anti-hype attitude, sitting calmly on a stool as he delivered his rhymes was only underscored by the bare-bones country blues guitar underpinning much of his work. Al Kapone has also taken to blending his hip hop vision with the blues, and that was on full display in his Saturday set, especially on the dread-laden “Til Ya Dead and Gone (Keep Movin’).”
Al Kapone and Mayor Paul Young at RiverBeat Music Festival. (Photo: Chris McCoy)
And finally, bringing it back full circle to classic soul revivalism , there was plenty of blues in a groovy set by Rodd Bland and the Members Only Band, the horn section’s evocation of his father Bobby “Blue” Bland’s classic take on the minor-key “St. James Infirmary” giving this listener chills. Some of those same great horn players appeared with the Bo-Keys as they backed up singers Emma Wilson and John Németh in a stomping soul set. Are players like Jim Spake, Marc Franklin, Kirk Smothers, Tom Clary, and Tom Link becoming the new de facto Memphis horns? Their presence on the RiverBeat stages, and so many records cut here, suggests as much.
Memphis is a Star Perhaps the most striking pattern of the weekend was the way that the biggest stars of the event expressed their gratitude for playing our city. Of course, that was to be expected of Memphis-based mega stars like 8Ball & MJG, who made their set ultra-topical when they announced, “We’re going to dedicate this to the mayor!” then launched into their hit, “Mr. Big” in honor of Mayor Paul Young. Fellow hip hop star Killer Mike also got very specific in his love of the Bluff City, paying homage to both Gangsta Boo and Jerry Lawler in one breath.
There were plenty more tips of the hat to our city. Black Pumas singer Eric Burton called out the city many times, but his greatest tribute was perhaps through his vocal style, which one friend described as “Al Green without the horns.” Their psychedelic soul fit the riverfront crowd like a glove.
The Fugees‘ electrifying set also embraced our city in very musical ways. The crowd went mad as Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean (sans Pras) performed “Zealots,” with its distinctive sample of The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You,” but no one could have expected them to shift that beat into a shuffle for a lengthy bridge, wherein their crack ensemble sounded like nothing so much as a consummate Beale Street blues band. Aside from the mere fact of their appearance at the festival, quite a coup for RiverBeat’s organizers, they showed their love of Memphis in myriad small ways, as when Hill sang “killing me softly in Memphis,” or turned the line “embarrassed by the crowd” into “embarrassed by Memphis’ crowd.” Naturally, the crowd ate it up.
Jelly Roll at the RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
And yet, fittingly, the most involved embrace of the Bluff City came from Tennessee native Jelly Roll, who closed out the weekend just before Sunday’s second downpour descended. As the set was still warming up, the Antioch, Tennessee native shouted, “It feels so good to be back in my home state!” Later, he quipped “Since we’re in one of the birthplaces of rock and roll, I figured we’d play a little rock and roll,” before launching into “Dead ManWalking.”
But then he got more personal. “When I was growing up, my family would drive down to for Memphis in May, to be right here in front of this river,” he said. “I feel like this is God’s exact fingerprint on the bible belt, right here.” He noted his disbelief at now being on the festival stage where his musical heroes once played, then added, “I cant express how honored I am that you people are out there standing in the fucking rain for this!”
Then he began to reminisce: “When I was 13, we were all listening to rap. I’d go up to my brother’s room, looking for whatever smelled like skunk. And someone gave me a mixtape from Memphis, Tennessee labelled Three 6 Mafia.” As the night wore on, he displayed his formidable rapping chops, even calling out his old friend in attendance, Memphis rapper Lil Wyte. It peaked when he described his influences as “somewhere between Hank [Williams] and Three 6 [Mafia],” then launched into his mega-hit, “Dirty South.” The multiracial crowd went wild in the drizzle, celebrating the hybrid confluence of the many musical styles that typify Tennessee, Memphis, and the RiverBeat Festival itself.
Goo Goo Dolls (Photo: Courtesy Live at the Garden)
Memphis Botanic Garden has announced the lineup for this summer’s annual Live at the Garden concert series at the Radians Amphitheater.
Country superstar Dierks Bentley kicks off the series on June 6th, followed by ’90s rock band Goo Goo Dolls on July 12th, classic rock legend John Fogerty on August 9th, Grammy-nominated country music singer-songwriter Sam Hunt on August 23th, and a co-headline concert with rock icons Styx & Foreigner on September 20th.
“The Memphis Botanic Garden provides Mid-South music fans with an engaging entertainment experience unlike any other,” said David May, Memphis market executive for Regions Bank, the title sponsor for the concert series.
This will be Memphis Botanic Garden’s 24th summer of Live at the Garden, said Sherry May, co-director of Live at the Garden, in a press release. “We have a lot of great music planned this season, including a few newcomers to the Live at the Garden series, as well as some of our all-time fan favorites.”
All season passes and individual show tickets will go on sale Monday, April 29th, 10 a.m. Individual show TruGreen lawn tickets start at $65 and can be purchased here.
Season Lawn Passes for Live at the Garden are $345. Also offered is a Season Pit Pass, which is a general admission lawn ticket with access to the standing-room-only Pit located directly in front of the stage. Season Pit Passes are $500 per person. Season passes can be purchased here.
For the concert series, patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and coolers. Food trucks and bars are also located onsite, as well as pre-order catering. Free shuttles will run from Hilton Hotel Corporate Headquarters to the venue from 5 p.m. to midnight for each concert.
Grammy-winner Cedric Burnside is among this year's featured local artists. (Credit: Jim Arbogast)
The lineup for the 2024 Orion Free Concert Series at the Overton Park Shell was announced today, and it’s in perfect keeping with the series’ steady evolution towards ever-greater diversity. Running May 17th through October 12th, the Series will showcase 34 free entertainment experiences, including more funk, soul, hip hop, and house music than ever before, not to mention country, Americana, blues, indie rock, and whatever MonoNeon is.
“This year, we are crossing all genres and creative programming to give access to The Shell’s mission boldly and without barriers, with special emphasis on Memphis artists,” Overton Park Shell Executive Director Natalie Wilson said in a statement. “We are truly honored to be a safe, joyous place for all walks of life in Memphis and Shelby County as we celebrate the incredible talent of our Memphis arts and music scene.”
Familiar local partnerships with the likes of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Country Blues Festival, the Stax Music Academy, the PowerPop Festival, Shakespeare at the Shell with Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Opera Memphis, and DreamFest Weekend will all make a return, along with this year’s notable additions, the Memphis Black Arts Alliance Gospel Night, featuring the Tennessee Mass Choir, and BODYWERK, the Shell’s first electronic dance event.
Some performances will resonate with Memphis’ rich music history, as when the iconic Bar-Kays, who have appeared at the Shell numerous times since their band’s beginnings, celebrate their 60th anniversary this September. And they’re just one example of the many local and regional groups that will take the stage this year. Lukah with Hope Clayburn & The Fire Salamander, Cedric Burnside, Black Hippie, Talibah Safiyah with MadameFraankie, MonoNeon, Cyrena Wages, Healy, Aaron James, the Memphis Harvest Band, and the North Mississippi Allstars will all make appearances, the latter with the great Ruthie Foster at the Country Blues Festival in October.
See the full lineup below, also available with more details here.
SUMMER SCHEDULE: All shows start at 7:30 p.m. Friday May 17th-Sunday, May 19th: Dreamfest Weekend Friday, May 24th: Lukah with Hope Clayburn & The Fire Salamander Sunday, May 26th: Sunset Symphony Thursday, May 30th: Black Opry Friday, May 31st: BODYWERK with Takuya Nakamura Saturday, June 1st: Laura Denisse Thursday, June 6th: Sister Hazel Friday, June 7th: King & Associates Saturday, June 8th: Perpetual Groove Thursday, June 13th: Cedric Burnside Friday, June 14th: Lamont Landers Saturday, June 15th: Black Hippie Thursday, June 20th: Magnolias Friday, June 21st: Talibah Safiyah with MadameFraankie Saturday, June 22nd: Sweet Lizzy Project Thursday, June 27th: Shemarr Allen Friday, June 28th: Cowboy Mouth Saturday, June 29th: Annual Stax Academy Summer Showcase
FALL SCHEDULE: All shows start at 7 p.m. Friday, August 30th: MonoNeon Saturday, August 31st: Power Pop Festival: Matthew Sweet Saturday, September 7th: Cyrena Wages Friday, September 13th: Healy Saturday, September 14th: MBAA Gospel Night: Tennessee Mass Choir Friday, September 20th: Canti Records Friday, September 27th: Aaron James (Unapologetic) Saturday, September 28th: The Bar-Kays Sunday, September 29th: Opera Memphis: Opera Goes to Broadway Friday, October 4th: Stax Museum Presents: Los Yesterdays Saturday, October 5th: Memphis Harvest Band Saturday, October 12th: Memphis Country Blues Festival Sunday, October 20th: Shakespeare at The Shell: Comedy of Errors
The Sun Ra Arkestra at the 2024 Ecliptic Festival in Hot Springs (Credit: Chris McCoy).
“Hopefully all the generators will be turned off,” Quintron opined some weeks before the Ecliptic Festival in Hot Springs, held in the days before and during this week’s total solar eclipse. “And any lighting will be turned off, and all the unnecessary industrial ambient noise that goes along with providing the needs of a festival with thousands of people will be shut down for that period of [totality] so people can really go back a couple thousand years and connect to what we really are, how small we really are.”
And, as it turned out, that was the case once the sun went dark this past Monday. Yet dwelling on the lack of human noise might obscure the fact that this was one ringer of a music festival, co-organized by Hot Springs’ Low Key Arts nonprofit, who for two decades have staged the Valley of the Vapors festival this time every year, and Atlas Obscura, an online magazine and travel company specializing in unusual and obscure destinations.
Hailu Mergia at the Ecliptic Festival (Credit: Alex Greene)
While this reporter arrived well after the fest’s start date of April 5th, by two days later, on Sunday, there was still an expectant buzz in the air as attendees anticipated the next day’s events. The open meadow atop Cedar Glades Park afforded plenty of room for those stretched out in the blazing sun, or huddled together in the shade of the sound guy’s mixer. And that buzz was well complemented by the first live music of the day, a trio led by Hailu Mergia of Ethiopia. Though his name is unfamiliar to some, his playing brightens many tracks by jazz composer Mulatu Astatke, featured on the popular 2007 compilation, The Very Best of Éthiopiques . As heard in this exclusive video on The Memphis Flyer‘s YouTube channel, the lightly rolling organ and Fender Rhodes piano arpeggios so prevalent in Ethiopian music, backed by a tight rhythm section, helped set the day’s easy-going vibe right out of the gate.
Just before that, I had checked in on Quintron, whose Weather Warlock was set up far from the main stage, in a tent down the hill. Throughout the festival, his sound-generating invention was responding to the everyday shifts in the weather and light, and in the bright blue sky of Sunday it was percolating merrily. Passersby on their way up or down the hill would stop in to hear how the machine was responding to its sensors, most of which (including two spinning in the breeze) sat on a stand capped with a weather vane a few feet away. Other inputs included Quintron’s Wildlife Organ, which used sensors in more distant wild areas. In the video, the inventor explains how one transducer was picking up the creaking of an aged tree limb.
After the funky-yet-calming music of Mergia, and checking out some thought-provoking ideas from speaker Michael Jones McKean, I heard the thumps of a new band getting ready back up the hill. It was ESG, the Bronx’s finest minimalist funk/post-punk pioneers since 1978. Though many years older than when the group was in its heyday, and somewhat infirm, firebrand frontwoman Renee Scroggins could spit chants and rhymes with considerable power and sass, even while seated.
The band’s enthusiasm was part of the show, as Scroggins’ daughter Nicole Nicholas held down those all-important bass lines and son Nicholas Nicholas went from one frenzied percussion part to another, both singing along. Nicole proudly exclaimed that “I’m up here with my mother, my brother, and my aunt [Marie Scroggins, also on percussion and vocals]!” And the camaraderie was palpable. Meanwhile, drummer Mark Giordano was an absolute machine, playing with the precision of an 808 beat and the power of John Bonham. As they played their “U.F.O.,” one of the most sampled tracks in the history of hip hop, brother Nicholas and Aunt Marie donned extraterrestrial masks. “If you see an alien come down,” quipped Nicole, “it’s not an abduction, it’s a rescue mission!”
After ESG’s masterful “Erase You” and a brief encore, Shannon and the Clams were up next. As fans of their 2022 Gonerfest appearance know, their dramatic, soulful harmonies and driving songs of passion, chock full of cinematic guitar hooks and sci-fi organ, were perfect for the Golden Hour.
Shannon Shaw, Nate Mahan, and Cody Blanchard of Shannon & the Clams in the Golden Hour (Credit: Alex Greene).
And then this reporter, having baked in the sun for some hours, valiantly surrendered to exhaustion, though the festival raged on into the pre-eclipse night. No less than the Allah-Las and Fred Armisen presided over the party.
Arriving the next day, just as the moon’s limb was edging into the sun’s brilliant disc, the day began on a dream-like note and stayed there. That was amplified by the ethereal harp music of Mary Lattimore, who runs her ancient instrument through various pedals. The spaciness of those sounds, especially paired with the more sustained notes of accordionist Walt McClements, only added to the mystery of the dimming, silvery light. Meanwhile, a phalanx of small boxes sporting solar panels on one side and a speaker on the other created enigmatic tones as the light shifted and people milled around them.
There were more environmentally interactive tones down the hill, where Quintron continued minding his machine. It was sounding markedly different when I approached just after 1:30. And, with the sun dimming over the next 20-odd minutes, the tones only grew more captivating and rhythmic, complemented by the birds and bugs of Cedar Glades Park.
Quintron didn’t even touch his machine. Instead, we listened to it respond to the dimming of light with a low sinking tone reminiscent of “the Mothership” powering down. A cheer went up as the eclipse reached totality, and I gasped at the sheer breadth of the sun’s corona. Venus and Jupiter flanked the muted orb and its crown like an honor guard, heralds of the day’s second dawn. The world seemed to hold its breath for three and a half minutes. Then, as light returned, the Weather Warlock’s deep bass tone began to rise again, even as the other layers of sound changed in more subtle ways.
It was a powerful moment. Witnessing the incredible coincidence of the moon’s apparent diameter exactly matching that of the sun made me feel lucky to be living in this epoch. After all, the moon is moving away from the earth by an inch every year, and won’t ever completely block the sun’s disc in eons to come.
As the light slowly returned, I wandered back to the performance area, where the Sun Ra Arkestra took the stage. Having played as a group since 1951, they still carry on long after their founder’s death in 1993, led by Marshall Allen, who was there from almost the beginning.
The Sun Ra Arkestra at the Ecliptic Festival (Credit: Chris McCoy).
Allen didn’t make the festival, as bassist Tyler Mitchell later explained. About to turn 100 this year, he is in good health, but is picky about his traveling. Knoel Scott, on baritone & alto saxophones, voice, percussion & space dancing, filled in as the musical director, cueing solos and breakdowns with aplomb and launching each incantation.
One standout member of the Arkestra was keyboardist Farid Barron. Doubling on piano and Moog synthesizer as Ra once did, he had some big shoes to fill, but did so with aplomb, elegance, mischief, and humor. Equally capable of erratic chord clusters, synth noise blasts, stride piano, and bluesy ivory-tickling, he was a stylistic tour de force. (As a high schooler, he was discovered by Wynton Marsalis before joining the Arkestra in 2008). Then again, the Arkestra operating semi-collectively, guided by a single aesthetic, it was the group chemistry that was the real tour de force.
“When the world was in darkness, and darkness was ignorance, ALONG CAME RA!!” they chanted. The music was a perfect balance of out-there free jazz and big band swing, complete with punchy horn arrangements. The band was decked in all manner of glittering outfits, and at one point Scott did somersaults and spins at the front of the stage. Meanwhile, the moon slowly moved away from its moment in the spotlight. At one point as we listened, an elated Quintron borrowed my solar glasses, looked up, and exclaimed “Pac Man!” And, with the moon by then just carving a small divot out of the solar disc, that’s exactly what the face of the sun looked like.
Today, Goner Records announced the initial lineup for Gonerfest 21, which will take place at Railgarten this September 26th – 29th. Once again the Goner team have managed to craft a roster that’s both historically rich and cutting edge, drawing on bands, MCs, and DJs from around the world.
The festival has always had an international bent, and this year is no different, with performances by African desert blues collective Etran de L’air, Japanese garage punks Angel Face, and Kiwi psyche rockers Bailter Space on the slate, not to mention a reliable Australian contingent, including Split System, Gee Tee, Michael Beach and RFMC.
But the most stellar international artist would have to be Derv Gordon, front man for Swinging London’s now legendary outfit The Equals, back in the ’60s and ’70s, now performing those songs and more with the Bay Area’s So What. The band promises to offer “stompers, hand clappers, and all the riffs that matter” on their Facebook page, and indeed they do, especially when paired with Gordon.
After the young/old outfit’s incendiary appearance at Gonerfest 14 in 2017, The Memphis Flyer wrote:
“So What did a fine job of staying true to the old Equals arrangements, harmonies and all, but with a bigger, louder sound courtesy of Jason Duncan’s Gibson SG through a Marshall. Derv’s voice was in fine shape, from crooning to belting to singalong mode. Most of your favorite Equals tunes were revived and given a new jumpstart by So What: ‘Diversion,’ ‘Police on my Back,’ ‘Michael and his Slipper Tree.’ Of the latter, Derv confessed that it was originally written as a ‘nutmeg tree,’ until Derv himself made the more enigmatic lyrical change. The crowd was revved up, joining the band in nearly every chorus of every song, not satisfied until the encore brought the house down. Clearly Memphis is Equals territory.”
The Rip Offs, also headlining, attained a legendary status of their own in the ’90s with a unique approach sometimes dubbed “budget rock.” Garage rock legends Jon Spencer and the Cheater Slicks were also announced today. Here’s the complete list so far:
The Rip Offs, Derv Gordon and So What, Etran de L’air, Angel Face, Gee Tee, Jon Spencer, Split System, Cheater Slicks, Schitzophonics, Bailter Space, Michael Beach, Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, Pull Chains, Tube Alloys, Sleeveens, Th’ Losin Streaks, Sex Mex, RMFC, Feeling Figures.
Since Alex Chilton’s death in 2010, one revelation of the continuing Big Star revivals has been the enduring charm and power of Jody Stephens’ voice. As the only continuous member besides Chilton since the group’s founding, Stephens primarily distinguished himself as the powerful drummer behind their sound, yet also contributed the occasional vocal to their original three albums. His singing then always conveyed a tone of youthful naivete perfectly suited to Big Star’s original aesthetic, as defined by founder Chris Bell.
That aesthetic was acknowledged grudgingly by Chilton at times, as he described the Big Star fans as “nice little guys who are usually in college, and they’re kind of lonely and misunderstood, learning to play guitar.” It was a wistful, yearning sound that Chilton himself conveyed beautifully when he wanted to. But so did Stephens.
Now that he alone is left to carry the torch, Stephens has taken a crack version of Big Star on the road, sharing vocal duties with Chris Stamey, Jon Auer, Pat Sansone, and Mike Mills, with Stephens leaning into the songs that most convey that wistful feeling, as in recent celebrations of the group’s debut album (chronicled by The Memphis Flyerhere). But over the past decade, he’s had another, less celebrated platform for the disarming innocence of his voice: Those Pretty Wrongs.
Ostensibly a duet featuring Stephens and multi instrumentalist Luther Russell, their sound has grown more ambitious over the decade since they formed, until, by the time of last year’s Holiday Camp album, they had taken on the power of a full-fledged power pop group through the magic of overdubs. With Stephens’ vocals front and center, rich harmonies, acoustic strums, and electric guitar riffs flow over the listener like some of the most delicate Big Star tunes, yet with a personality all their own. While all of the duo’s songs are grounded by Stephens’ reliable beat, they’ve also become showcases for Russell’s imaginative guitar work and other instrumental flourishes.
Those elements have always been present, but have ramped up on all fronts as time has passed. “We have more experience with each other,” says Stephens. “It’s evolved into, I think, richer embellishments with the production and songs, and maybe lyrically too. There’s a certain ease that we have now when we get in to record, and more focus. We don’t have to spend much time on trying to figure out where to go. Things just came together naturally for this record.”
Holiday Camp is also notable for the contributions of other players who’ve long been in the Big Star orbit. “On the new album,” says Stephens, “Pat Sansone plays Moog and Mellotron on ‘Always the Rainbow’ and he plays Mellotron on ‘Scream.’ And then Chris Stamey did a string arrangement with flute and clarinet on ‘Brother, My Brother.'”
Stephens and Russell typically tour as only a duo, even mounting a minimalist tour of the the U.K. last year using only train travel, but this week’s show will show off their sonic evolution like no other. “We’ll actually have a string section at the Green Room,” says Stephens. “One of the nice things about Crosstown Arts is that at each one of our shows — and this is our third, I believe — they’ve provided a string quartet. So we’ll have Rebeca Rathlef and Michael Brennan on violin, Katie Brown on viola, and Jonathan Kirkscey on cello. It’s a special show because it’s the only time we ever get to have strings, and there will even be a flutist for this performance.”
There will also be a chance to hear the stripped-down version of Those Pretty Wrongs this week. “We’re also gonna play on Jim Spake’s show on WYXR [Cabbages & Kings, Thursday, April 4th, 2-4 p.m.],” Stephens says. “I’m excited about that.”
Leonard, Marshall, and Phil Chess in the 1960s (Photo: Courtesy Marshall Chess)
It’s only appropriate to bring news of the new Chess Records revival today, for it was on March 12, 1917, that Leonard Chess, the label’s co-founder, was born. In truth, he was christened Lejzor Szmuel Czyż at the time, when the family lived just west of Pinsk on the Yaselda River, Poland at the time, now Belarus. When they moved to America, settling in Chicago with Anglicized names, Lejzor became Leonard and his brother Fiszel became Phil. Together they would go on to found one of the most groundbreaking and influential independent labels in the history of blues, jazz, and especially rock-and-roll.
Memphian Robert E. “Buster” Williams, whose Plastic Products Company pressed and distributed vinyl, was involved with the brothers early on, and it was Williams who suggested that Leonard and Phil name their new label “Chess.” (This and more can be found in Nadine Cohodas’ excellent history of the label). Indeed, the label had many ties to Memphis, from Chess Records hits like “Rocket 88” and “Moanin’ at Midnight” being recorded by Sam Phillips, to young Memphian Maurice White joining the house band.
That tradition only continues with the involvement of Memphis virtuosos Eric Gales and MonoNeon in a recent album by The Chess Project, New Moves, as detailed in this week’s music feature.
Yet the album is but a piece of a larger plan now being pursued by Leonard’s son Marshall, who was in the thick of the label’s business until Leonard and Phil sold the company in 1969. Leonard would die at the age of 52 later that year. Since that time, as ownership of the label’s catalog shifted over the decades, Marshall remained as the keeper of the family’s real legacy: their memories. And lately, he’s more committed than ever to telling their story.
Partnering with Marshall Chess on this mission is longtime friend Richard Ganter, who worked with Marshall to promote the Legendary Masters series in the mid-1990s. Five years ago, Ganter suggested they create a richly illustrated, high-quality coffee table book, and during the onset of Covid they made it happen, Chess Record Corp.: A Tribute, with Marshall providing the foreword.
Upon the book’s release, Ganter and Chess also started the YouTube channel, Chess Records Tribute, to promote the book and provide a multimedia venue to showcase the legacy of the Chess family — with Marshall’s full support.
“The channel covers blues, rock-and-roll, soul, gospel, and jazz, plus comedy — the entire Chess history,” says Ganter. After the soft launch in July 2020 and a fuller launch this January, the YouTube channel now offers over 500 videos. Recently the pair have started to produce podcasts concerning the history of Chess Records as well, sometimes touching on Marshall Chess’ time as the first president of Rolling Stones Records in the 1970s.
All in all, it’s a music historian’s dream, and a treasury of ripping good yarns as well — a fitting memorial to Leonard Chess and worth a visit on his birthday.
The much-anticipated lineup for the upcoming Riverbeat Music Festival went live today, and it’s clear that Memphians won’t have any lack of quality music this May 3rd to 5th. And naturally, given that the festival is produced by the good folks at Mempho Presents, the curated artists are a good fit for the diverse tastes of the Mid South.
For starters, how can you go wrong with The Fugees? The unified forces of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill are touring as one again, despite some of last fall’s reunion shows being postponed when Hill was beset with health concerns. Wyclef Jean confirmed just last month that more touring was on the books for 2024, and now their Riverbeat appearance is proof positive that Hill’s health has bounced back.
That will be especially meaningful to Unapologetic’s Kid Maestro. One of his regular gigs is functioning as Hill’s playback engineer when she’s touring with her solo band. He’s at the ready should he be recruited for the Riverbeat show. “Miss Hill’s needs are very unique in terms of playback engineering,” he recently told the Memphis Flyer. “You’ve got to be super fast, paying attention, and when she puts her hand up to mute, you’ve got to be ready to to stop with the band. Otherwise, if the band stops, but there’s a beat playing in the background, it just doesn’t have that impact.”
Kid Maestro’s experience is just one of the myriad ways Riverbeat reflects its rootedness in Memphis. Another will be an especially unique all-star event, when two-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer Boo Mitchell will direct and play with a hand-picked band of artists called Take Me to the River: Memphis, echoing the generation-spanning Take Me to the River films and education initiatives he’s played a hand in. “I believe this is a unique lineup,” he says of the group, which will include William Bell, Eric Gales, Carla Thomas, Jerome Chism, Lina Beach, and the Hi Rhythm Section. “I’m really impressed by the caliber of talent that signed up for our first year. I can’t wait to get back out there on stage and enjoy this event with all of Memphis.”
Other artists on the bill with a Memphis connection include 8Ball and MJG, Charlie Musselwhite, Southern Avenue, Al Kapone & the B.W.A. Band, Don Bryant & the Bo-Keys, Kenny Brown, Talibah Safiya, Marcella Simien, Lawrence Matthews, Jimbo Mathus, Lucky 7 Brass Band, Bailey Bigger, Dirty Streets, Mark Edgar Stuart, the Wilkins Sisters, Rodd Bland and the Members Only Band, and Salo Pallini.
On the other hand, Riverbeat is also bringing such big tent attractions as Odesza, Jelly Roll, Mt. Joy, Black Pumas, Big Boi, Tobe Nwigwe, The Band Camino, Killer Mike, Matt and Kim, Yung Gravy, Jessie Murph, and over two dozen other artists. All of which put the Riverbeat fest on track to uphold that fine Memphis tradition of music by the river in springtime.
“We are so excited to host the RiverBeat Festival along the Mississippi River at Tom Lee Park,” Jeff Bransford, spokesman for Mempho Presents, said in a statement. “Memphians know us for Mempho Music Festival, and now we’re introducing another signature event in downtown Memphis, which we believe will be a big draw for international and local visitors alike. RiverBeat was conceived as an inclusive event featuring a wide range of genres that will attract music lovers from all walks of life. Through music, we will bring our community together, support our local businesses, and attract new visitors to our city. We believe this is what Memphis is all about.”
All three-day ticketing and parking options are available now for purchase here.
