The Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center has always curated world class seasons, but this one feels even more notable — perhaps at the relief that there’s any season at all, given last year’s shuttering of stages. Whatever the reason, this lineup gives one hope, as we turn to imagine a fall, winter, and spring filled with stellar music.
It all kicks off on August 13th with the Ghost Town Blues Band, hometown favorites who’ve made a name for themselves by using “an unusual array of curious instruments, including organs, cigar box guitars, harmonicas, electric push brooms, brass, and percussion.”
Other perennial favorites on the horizon include the Blind Boys of Alabama, founded in the 1930s, when all were students at the Talladega Institute for the Deaf and Blind; Bill Frisell, who’s floored Memphis audiences many times before with his subtle jazz guitar work; Nutcracker: Land of Sweets, a fresh take on an old classic (scheduled early, on December 3rd); and Ailey II, the celebrated younger company of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, as the season presents a geographically and stylistically diverse smorgasbord of music and dance. It all wraps up next spring, on a date to be announced, with Oleta Adams, whose debut album Circle of One went platinum thirty years ago, after her partnership with Tears for Fears.
Check out the Buckman Arts Center’s full calendar of events for more details.
Ghost Town Blues Band – Memphis Made
August 13, 2021, 8 p.m.
$30
The Secret Sisters
September 16, 2021, 7 p.m.
$35
Lucky 7 Brass Band – Memphis Made
October 15, 2021, 8 p.m.
$20
Blind Boys of Alabama
October 25, 2021, 7 p.m.
$45
Kaki King: Guitar Movement
November 5, 2021, 8 p.m.
$40
Nutcracker: Land of Sweets
December 3, 2021, 6 p.m.
$25/$20
Bill Frisell
January 23, 2022, 7 p.m.
$40
Matsuriza Taiko
January 28, 2022, 8 p.m.
$35
Jonathan Edwards
February 4, 2022, 8 p.m.
$45
Fairytales on Ice
March 24, 2022, 5:00 p.m. and 7 p.m.
$35
Ailey II
April 12, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
$45
Oleta Adams
TBA
$40