Tag: Crosstown Arts

Categories
Film/TV Music Music Blog

Sisters with Transistors at Crosstown Arts: Women Making Waves

Maryanne Amacher in "Sisters with Transistors" (Photo: Peggy Wells, courtesy Crosstown Arts)

It’s telling that Sisters with Transistors, a new film about the female pioneers of electronic music, is noteworthy at all. The very existence of such a film reveals what a boys’ club recording engineering and audio geekery can be. It’s common knowledge among musicians, and a running joke among those few, proud women producers and engineers around town, like Dawn Hopkins or Alyssa Moore. But casual listeners may not think about those behind-the-scenes magic-makers at all, much less their gender.

Watching this film, this week’s feature at Crosstown Arthouse Film Series, will change all that. As it turns out, many of the key innovators over the past century of electronic and avant garde music have been women. Even electronic music nerds (my people!) have largely ignored this. The classic CD set, OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music (1948-1980), spans decades with 42 tracks over three discs, yet only four of those tracks feature women composers or performers.

Lisa Rovner’s documentary, released this past April in select cinemas, and now only rarely available for streaming via Metrograph.com, helps to correct such bias. Focusing on a far from exhaustive list of 10 or so innovators, Sisters with Transistors, narrated by Laurie Anderson, reveals just how critical women have been to the field.

For starters, there’s Clara Rockmore, one of the first virtuosos of the Theremin, the hundred-year-old tone generator that defined an era of science fiction soundtracks and more. There are two geniuses of the B.B.C., Delia Derbyshire (probably best known for co-creating the Doctor Who theme) and Daphne Oram. There are Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros (who may just have invented sampling from an LP in 1965), Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani (master of the Buchla synthesizer who created many iconic sound effects for commercials) and Laurie Spiegel.

Indie Memphis fans who saw A Life in Waves may know Suzanne Ciani’s work, and Doctor Who fans may know Delia Derbyshire’s name, but beyond that, these are pioneers whose work deserves recognition on par with that afforded the men who’ve been recognized for decades. As one of Rovner’s subjects notes, “I just want to be introduced as a composer, and to start to point out how hard it was for women to be taken seriously as creators of music.”

Sisters with Transistors screens on Thursday, September 2, at Crosstown Theater, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $5.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Scorsese’s Forgotten Gem After Hours

Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette in After Hours.

In 1983, after directing a string of classics including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The King of Comedy — and kicking a bad cocaine habit — Martin Scorsese set out to adapt Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel The Last Temptation of Christ into a feature film. It didn’t go well. Just as everything was coming together, Paramount Pictures pulled the plug, citing pressure from Christian groups in the United States who promised to picket theaters if the story of Jesus’ inner struggles with divinity was ever released. The despondent director decided to do a quickie, low-budget comedy to lighten his mood and keep his name out there while his biblical epic was in turnaround. Maybe that’s why After Hours is such a strange bird — its a great director trying to be funny while he’s really pissed off.

Scorsese was a notorious New York party animal in the 1970s, so he understood the world of After Hours intimately. Griffin Dunne stars as Paul, a hopelessly square data entry worker who meets a cute girl named Marcy, played by Rosanna Arquette in one of her best roles ever, in a late-night diner. From the beginning, Paul is smitten, but Marcy — well, let’s just say she’s going through some stuff.

Marcy invites him to her SoHo apartment under the pretense of Paul buying a bagel-shaped paperweight from her sculptor roomie Kiki. But once he wanders into the wilds of 1980s New York, the going gets weird. Finally, after meeting the baffling Kiki, he makes it as far as Marcy’s bedroom, which is practically littered with red flags.

From there, things go from weird to extremely weird to life-threateningly weird. The comedy stems from Paul being a big fish out of water. Everyone he meets in late-night SoHo (including Cheech and Chong) is a freak by Reagan ’80s standards, but this is their world, and here, Paul is the freak. He never knows what set of rules he’s playing by — or if there are any rules at all.

Scorsese finally got to make The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, after earning Paul Newman an Oscar with The Color of Money, and After Hours was mostly a forgotten curiosity. But the strange, circular fever dream of a film slowly developed its own cult through repeated reruns on late night television. It’s screening tonight, Thursday, August 26, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Crosstown Arthouse series. Admission is $5 at the door.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Blueshift Ensemble Features Our Favorite ICEBERG

Blueshift Ensemble (Photo courtesy Blueshift Ensemble)

Readers may wonder why an iceberg is present in the music blog, and rightly so. Is this some kind of stealth climate change activism? While its true that climate change has become an unavoidable iceberg in the room of our lives, ICEBERG is quite a different matter: It will be very much present in the East Atrium of Crosstown Concourse today and tomorrow, but it won’t be either melting or dangerous.

Rather, the ICEBERG new music collective hails from New York, a group of 10 young composers who promote the idea that “classical” compositions should draw from a broad array of influences in their work — including popular music, avant-garde techniques, and everything in between. The ICEBERG composers hail from different schools and cultivate radically different sounds, but with their longstanding collaboration with Memphis’ Blueshift Ensemble, they often compose for the same group and present their works during a joint concert. The result is a glimpse into the ever-widening possibilities of art music in the 21st century.

Not to be confused with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), also based in New York, ICEBERG was founded by composer Alex Burtzos in 2016. Almost from the beginning, they’ve cultivated a relationship with Blueshift Ensemble, often being featured in the Continuum Festival that typically takes place this time of year. While there’s no festival per se, Blueshift, which happens to include flautist Jenny Davis, Crosstown Arts’ music department manager, will be performing a selection of compositions from the ICEBERG group.

This weekend, they’ll be joined by another ensemble, the Coalescent Quartet, an all-saxophone group playing everything from traditional to contemporary works. Regular members Nathan Bogert, Michael Shults, Nick Zoulek, and Drew Whiting will be joined by Heidi Radtke, instructor of saxophone at Butler University. All told, Coalescent’s members have taught at Ball State University, Silver Lake College, the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, UW Oshkosh, UW Whitewater, the University of Memphis, and Oakland University, and collectively the quartet has presented master classes across the country.

It’s an all too rare chance to delve deeply into the world of contemporary art music, all live and all free. Why not welcome this ICEBERG into the safe harbor of Memphis, and help keep this cutting-edge collaboration a going concern?

Blueshift Ensemble & Coalescent Quartet perform ICEBERG New Music in the East Atrium of the Crosstown Concourse, Friday, August 20 and Saturday, August 21, at 7:30 p.m. on both nights. Free.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV Uncategorized

Crosstown Theater Film Series Resumes with Elizabeth King and Hellbound Train

Satan, the conductor of the Hellbound Train, in James and Eloyce Gist's 1930 film.

Crosstown Theater resumed programming last week with Reigning Sound. Now, Crosstown Arts is resuming its film series with a unique offering. Beginning in October, 2019, programmers Justin Thompson and Courtney Fly have been asking Memphis musicians to compose and perform scores for silent films. The results have been pretty spectacular.

Tonight, the film in question is Hellbound Train. It was created in 1930 by a husband-and-wife team of traveling Black evangelists named James and Eloyce Gist, who taught themselves to use a 16 mm, handheld movie camera. That’s the kind of DIY spirit I love to celebrate. As you can see from the image above, their costuming was crude, to say the least. The story, which was accompanied by real-time commentary from the Gists—call it a “live-preach”—was of thoughtless sinners who boarded a train driven by Satan himself, and faced the infernal consequences of their actions. As you can see, the Gists had a particular bee in their bonnets about dancing.

Wait ’til they hear about twerking.

Hellbound Train was thought lost, as so many films have been from the silent era, but it was recently rediscovered and restored by Kino Lorber and released by Criteron as a part of their efforts to preserve early examples Black cinema.

Performing the live score will be Memphis gospel singer Elizabeth King, accompanied by guitarist Will Sexton and producer Matt Ross-Spang, with percussion by Will McClary. Follow this link for a little taste of what you can expect at Crosstown Theater tonight at 7:30 PM sharp.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Crosstown Theater and Green Room are Up and Running

Arlo McKinley plays the Green Room tonight (Photo courtesy Mempho Presents)

Before the pandemic, one of the freshest spots for new, unpredictable music was Crosstown Concourse. Thanks to Crosstown Arts, both the Crosstown Theater and the Green Room set a new standard for world-class, often edgy music in the Bluff City, hosting everything from down home soul by Booker T. Jones to wildly eclectic jazz by Marc Ribot to the avant-garde classical outings of the Continuum Festival.

As of tonight, that spirit is back in force, and Memphis is the better for it. Yet when I hear from Crosstown Arts Music Department Manager Jenny Davis that both Crosstown Theater and the Green Room will be presenting live music again, the first question that springs to mind is, “That’s great! Will the Art Bar be reopening?”

She laughs and says, “I think I hear that question more than any other.” But, she notes, while drinks will be available at tonight’s show in the Green Room, she can’t commit to a set date for the watering hole. “But,” she reassures me, “it will be reopening sooner rather than later.”

The artist set to bring Crosstown Arts’ venues back to life for the first time since the pandemic, singer/songwriter Arlo McKinley, who plays the Green Room tonight at 7:30 p.m., will be presented by Mempho, a familiar name in the Memphis music scene, thanks to the Mempho Music Festival. Later in the fall, Mempho will be presenting another concert, The Wood Brothers, at Crosstown Arts in the Crosstown Theater.

There will be plenty more between those two, however. “Of course we have Reigning Sound on Saturday, July 24th,” she laughs, partly because (full disclosure) I’m playing in that one, but also because she’s just getting used to how much music is already slated for the two venues. The staff has done a sudden hard pivot into the here-and-now. “Up until just a few weeks ago, we were anticipating late 2021, definitely 2022, for shows happening again here. So we were working on 2022 shows and that was all really looking exciting. Then we found out that we can have shows now. And both the Green Room and the Theater will be fully open, at full capacity.”

Elizabeth King (Photo courtesy Bible & Tire Recording Co.)

Many films dot the upcoming dates, but the one screening on July 29th is actually a hybrid film and live music event. “This is part of our film series,” she says. “We’ll have a weekly film every Thursday for $5, and this will be our first one: Elizabeth King singing on stage at Crosstown Theater to a silent film from 1930, Hell-Bound Train. It’s a film that presents all these terrible situations, with Elizabeth King singing gospel songs in contrast. It’s going to be a really cool combination. She’ll be singing with Will Sexton and Matt Ross-Spang and Will McCarley.” Other live-score events may be part of Crosstown Arts’ future, but nothing is settled yet.

“Then we have two shows in the Green Room that same week,” Davis adds. “The film is Thursday, and then on Friday, July 30th, in the Green Room, it’s Rachel Maxann, a Memphis-based musician, with Oakwalker opening. I’m really looking forward to that show. Then Those Pretty Wrongs, with Jody Stephens and Luther Russell, will be at the Green Room on July 31st.”

Davis stresses that what’s being announced on the Crosstown Arts event calendar is far from all the music being planned. “There’s definitely more to come,” she underscores. “We’re still working on details. We should be back to having shows every single week, starting this weekend. Although there will be no Continuum Festival per se, Blueshift Ensemble is still going to perform pieces by the
ICEBERG composers from New York, in two concerts with five pieces each, Friday, August 20th and Saturday, August 21st.” Beyond that iceberg’s tip, she hints, there lurk many other musical delights,
including a special screening of the recent chronicle of female electronic music pioneers, Sisters with Transistors, on September 2nd. As always, keep checking the Crosstown Arts website for the updated schedule.

Categories
Music Music Blog Music Features

Crosstown Resumes Live Music in the Atrium

Ever since its grand opening, one defining quality of the Crosstown Concourse has been its emphasis on live music. From ad hoc performances on the public grand piano in the West Atrium to full-blown music festivals spilling into all manner of open areas, there were always sounds bouncing around the wide open spaces of the old Sears Tower. There were, that is, until last year’s lockdown.

New light wells in the Concourse have increased its natural light. (Courtesy Crosstown Concourse)

Now, with vaccinations and other preventive measures becoming more common, the Crosstown Concourse is taking its first steps back to those pre-COVID days. For the past few weeks, musicians have occasionally been sponsored to play under the covered tables in the front plaza. And this week, they’ll be back in that huge reverb chamber known as the East Atrium.

Actually, the Concourse is taking a hybrid approach, with some performances still being scheduled outside in the plaza, and continuing online events as well, such as Crosstown Arts’ Virtual Resident Artist Talks. Here, then, are the first pop-up live and online events helping the Crosstown Concourse kick off April.

Alice Hasen, Andrew Geraci, & Jordan Occasionally
(Courtesy Crosstown Arts)

Alice Hasen
Thursday, April 1st, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Central Atrium
Born in Vermont and based in Memphis, Alice Hasen is a professional violinist, recording artist, and songwriter. She leads Alice Hasen & the Blaze and is part of the Blackwater Trio, an acoustic rock band. 

Andrew Geraci with Jeff Hulett and Chris Davenport
Friday, April 2nd, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Plaza
Memphis-based Andrew Geraci is a Mississippi Delta-bred electric and upright bass player who picks up a guitar every blue moon. He is currently working with Alice Hasen and the Blaze, Alicjapop, Crockett Hall, Great Lakes, Eleven Point (Oxford), James and the Ultrasounds, Los Psychosis, Pistol and the Queen, and San Salida. 

Jordan Occasionally and inoahcreation
Saturday, April 3, 11:30-1:30 p.m. | Central Atrium
Jordan Occasionally, or JD, is a neo soul and R&B artist, born and raised in the capital of soul music, Memphis, Tennessee. She was an Emerging Star with David Porter’s Consortium MMT in 2019 and has performed her original music on stages ranging from the Levitt Shell in Memphis and City Winery in Nashville, to Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Virtual Resident Artist Talks
Thursday, April 8th at 6 pm.
Presenting artists include Sepideh Dashti (6 p.m.), Joann Self Selvidge (6:30 pm), and Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo (7 p.m.). Click here to register.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Give Memphis! Great Local Gift Ideas for the Holidays

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that we need to come together to support our community — the health, happiness, and longevity of our fellow Memphians count on it now more than ever. While we may not be able to gather with friends and family for gift exchanges like we have in the past, we can still lift their spirits with thoughtful presents that help our local restaurants, retail outlets, and entrepreneurs keep doing what they do. Think local this season!

A Box of Magic

Have a giftee in your life who seeks to better understand their own power, to look within and outside for growth and restoration? Give them a box of magic, or as Sami Harvey, owner of Foxglove Pharm, calls it: a Coven Box.

“I’ve always been amazed by Mother Nature’s ability to heal, and I love finding new ways to use her ingredients to solve my problems,” Harvey says. “I started Foxglove Pharm in 2017 because I wanted to share some of those solutions with my community.”

Each subscription box ($40/month) includes a rotating variety of handcrafted herbal “remeteas” (About Last Night: Hangover Tea, Out of the Blue: Third Eye Tea, and others), scented oils, Resting Witch Face skincare products, rituals, and more special items that “honor the moon, the current astrological phase, and a featured plant.”

Sami Harvey

Each month, she partners with another local maker or small business to spotlight their wares. For her Foxglove offerings, Harvey is “the only witch in the kitchen,” so the products are small-batch and made with “ethically sourced, organic, sustainable ingredients.”

Regarding the rituals included in a box (or separately on the website), Harvey says, “These aren’t like supernatural spells that will destroy all your enemies and turn Michelle Obama into your BFF. But they’re ways to meditate and channel your energy into manifesting a better reality for yourself. The real magic ingredient is you and your intention.”

Visit foxglovepharm.com to order a Coven Box and shop products. — Shara Clark

Feed an Artist

The old cliché about “starving artists” has seldom been more true. Buying art is often the last thing folks are thinking about during tough times like these, but our Memphis painters and sculptors and photographers — and their galleries — have bills to pay, just like the rest of us. That’s why this might be a great year to put a new painting on your wall, or gift someone a work of art so they’ll be reminded of you every day.

Courtesy Jay Etkin Gallery

Untitled by John Ryan

There are many fine galleries in Memphis. Here are just a few: L Ross, David Lusk, Jay Etkin, Crosstown Arts, Orange Mound Gallery, Art Village, Cooper-Young Gallery, and B. Collective. Artists featured include Matthew Hasty, Jeanne Seagle, John Ryan, Mary Long, Roy Tamboli, Eunika Rogers, Cat Pena, Yancy Villa-Calvo, Hamlett Dobbins, Anne Siems, Tim Craddock, and many, many more. In addition, many galleries are featuring special holiday shows.

End what has been a nightmarish year on an upbeat note: Buy a piece of art. It’s good for your heart. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Let Them Eat Cake

I’d be happy to receive a Memphis Bourbon Caramel Cake from Sugar Avenue Bakery, either in or out of my stocking. This is the Sugar Avenue collaboration with Old Dominick Distillery.

Just listening to Sugar Avenue owner Ed Crenshaw describe the six-inch cake makes me crave a slice or three: “The cake is four layers. Each layer is literally soaked in a bourbon caramel sauce. And then our caramel icing, which we make from scratch.”

Courtesy Ben Fant

Sugar Avenue cake

Sugar Avenue worked with Old Dominick’s master distiller/senior vice president Alex Castle to come up with the perfect blend of cake and bourbon. Old Dominick’s Huling Station Straight Bourbon Whiskey was chosen for the cake, which has “a great hint of bourbon flavor,” Crenshaw says. “We add bourbon to the icing and ice the cake with it.”

To help you get even more into the holiday spirit, Sugar Avenue Bakery recently began adding two-ounce jars of extra caramel sauce with every bourbon-flavored cake.

Memphis Bourbon Caramel Cakes are $55 each, and they’re available at sugaravenue.com. — Michael Donahue

Accessorize in Style

When Memphians need to give the gift of stylish living, they turn to Cheryl Pesce, the jewelry and lifestyle store in Crosstown Concourse. The store takes its name from its owner, Cheryl Pesce, a jewelry maker, entrepreneur, and all-around style guru.

This month, Pesce opened a second store in the Laurelwood Shopping Center, giving Bluff City-area shoppers double the chances to find — and give — stylish accoutrements. “I’m banking on Memphis,” Pesce explains. And Memphis seems ready to support Pesce. “We had a grand open house, social distancing into the parking lot, and it went well.”

Courtesy Cheryl Pesce

Handmade jewelry from Cheryl Pesce

The store opening story is just the tip of the breaking-news iceberg, though. Pesce tells me excitedly that she’s been in touch with fashion designer Patrick Henry, aka Richfresh, about his newly designed Henry Mask. “I spoke with him today and — drumroll — we will now be carrying his masks in my Laurelwood store.”

But wait! That’s still not all. The ink is still fresh on a deal for Pesce to carry Germantown-produced Leovard skincare products. “I will be his only brick-and-mortar store in the country,” Pesce says. “So there are a lot of cool things happening, most of them local.”

In the smaller store in Crosstown, Pesce sells hand-sewn baby items, masks, Christmas ornaments, and anything with the Crosstown logo — she’s the official source for Crosstown-brand goods. Laurelwood is larger and a little more deluxe. “One of the focuses for that store is local and regional artisans,” Pesce says. She carries Mo’s Bows, Paul Edelstein paintings, and, of course, hand-crafted jewelry. “That’s really my wheelhouse.

“My studio is at Laurelwood,” Pesce says, “so not only is it made in Memphis, made by me, but it’s all under one roof now. The store, the studio. You can literally come pick out your own pearls — ‘I want this pearl on that earring’ — and then I craft it for you right there.”

Cheryl Pesce is located at 1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 125, and at 374 Grove Park Road South, Suite 104. Find out more at (901) 308-6017 or at cherylpesce.com. — Jesse Davis

Good Reads

There’s something that comes from holding the edges of a book and being taken to a distant land or wondrous world. Whether it’s due to happenstance or the crazy and confusing world in which we find ourselves now, I have been reading more and more as the months drag on. To fuel my ever-growing hunger for words and phrases completed on the page, Novel has been my go-to place.

Novel is proof that when you are doing something you love, the results will follow. The bookstore, founded in 2017, is the go-to for other local book enthusiasts, too — and with good reason. Their staff will go to the moon and back to help you find the book that fits you just right, and if you’re looking for something specific, chances are they will be just as excited about it as you are.

Matthew J. Harris

of what gift to give this season.

Many of their aisles have felt like a second home to me the past few months. And with books in every genre, it is often easier to ask them what they don’t have, rather than what they do. Personally, I love their new-this-year home delivery option, which offers a safe way to give the gift of literature this holiday season. — Matthew J. Harris

Hit the Boards

This year has given us plenty of time to learn new skills. And what better way to get your mind pumping in both a constructive and competitive fashion than with a game of chess?

The Memphis Chess Club recently opened its new café/headquarters Downtown at 195 Madison Avenue, and the three levels of annual memberships make for a great gift, whether someone is looking to seriously pursue an interest in the game or just learn a few tips and tricks.

Samuel X. Cicci

A Memphis Chess Club membership isn’t as risky a move as the Queen’s Gambit.

The social membership ($50) allows members to play chess in the café area at any time, with tables, pieces, and clocks all provided. The full membership ($100), meanwhile, affords all of the social perks but provides unlimited and free access to all classes and tournaments, which are held at the club weekly. It also offers discounts on merchandise, and members are able to check out materials from the club’s chess library, which contains old magazines and strategy books.

For whole families looking to kickstart an interest in the game? The family membership ($150) contains all full membership benefits and includes two adults and all the children in a household.

And, hey, if chess isn’t your thing, the spacious café is a great space to just hang out or study while sipping on some brewed-in-house coffee or munching on one of chef Grier Cosby’s specialty pizzas.

Visit memphischessclub.com/join for more information. — Samuel X. Cicci

The Gift of Grub

Food is fun and helps define Memphis culture. Those who make that food and fun are in trouble.

Restaurants have maybe suffered more than any small business during this pandemic. Restrictions on them have come and gone and may come again soon. Memphis restaurateurs have shown amazing resilience in these ups and downs. They’ve shifted business models, adapted to the latest health directives, and adjusted staff levels (laying off workers and hiring them back) to match it all.

Memphis Restaurant Association/Facebook

Support local restaurants — so they can stick around.

However, we forever lost some Memphis favorites, like Lucky Cat and Grove Grill. The National Restaurant Association said nearly 100,000 restaurants across the country closed either permanently or for the long-term six months into the pandemic. Nearly 3 million employees have lost their jobs. Help restaurants out and have food fun, too. This holiday season, buy gift cards from our local restaurants.

At the pandemic’s beginning in March, we told you about a national push to buy “dining bonds” or “restaurant bonds.” Many Memphis restaurants jumped in — many selling gift cards at deep discounts. For restaurants, gift cards are quick infusions of cash, helpful in tough times.

So instead of that scarf you’re kind of on the fence about, spend the same amount on a restaurant they love. It’ll be unexpected and, yes, come with some delayed gratification — delicious delayed gratification. Present it not as a gift card but as that dish they love from that place they love.

Sing it with me: “Everybody knows, a burger and some mistletoe help to make the season bright. Memphis foodies, with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight.”

Gift cards are available at almost every restaurant and for almost any amount. Check websites and socials for details. — Toby Sells

Music to Their Ears

Remember when giving music was a thing? Physical things like LPs, CDs, and cassettes could be wrapped. But now that everything’s ethereal, there’s still a way to give the gift that keeps on giving: Patreon. Musicians are embracing this platform more and more, and it’s working for them. A subscription to their accounts may just be the perfect gift for the superfan in your life who already has everything.

Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing, Ghost of Vroom) relies on his Patreon subscribers for both income and inspiration. As he told the Detroit Metro Times, “Doing a song a week is amazing, and that is really what, if I had my druthers, I’d do for the rest of my life.” Patrons can subscribe at different levels, each with premiums like CDs and T-shirts, but everyone paying at least $5 a month can access Doughty’s song-a-week and more.

Greg Cravens

Other Memphis-affiliated singer/songwriters like Eric Lewis, J.D. Reager, and (coming in December) Marcella and Her Lovers also have accounts. And last month, label and music retailer Goner Records began offering Patreon subscriptions that include access to the Goner archives and exclusive music and videos.

Patreon’s site notes that “there isn’t currently a way to gift patronage,” but if you get creative, you can search for an artist on patreon.com and buy a subscription in a friend’s or family member’s name — and they can thank you all through the year. — Alex Greene

Support Arts and Culture

“A plague on both your houses!” cried the dying Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and it seems the COVID-19 pandemic took that sentiment to heart, emptying out our theaters and concert halls and thinning out attendance at museums. But still they persisted. The organizations behind the arts we love are still at work online, virtually, distancing, and striving to keep the arts alive — especially in programs aimed at young people.

You can help the old-fashioned way by getting season subscriptions and memberships for whenever the lights come back on — and they could use that support right now. Or make a simple donation. Help keep Memphis culture alive by giving gifts on behalf of the following, but don’t be limited by this partial list — if you have other favorites, give them a cup o’ kindness as well.

Jon W. Sparks

Spring, Summer, Fall at the Brooks Museum by Wheeler Williams

Performing arts organizations:

• Playhouse on the Square (playhouseonthesquare.org)

• Theatre Memphis (theatrememphis.org)

• Opera Memphis (operamemphis.org)

• Ballet Memphis (balletmemphis.org)

• New Ballet Ensemble (newballet.org)

• Cazateatro (cazateatro.org)

• New Moon Theatre (newmoontheatre.org)

• Hattiloo Theatre (hattiloo.org)

• Tennessee Shakespeare Company (tnshakespeare.org)

• Memphis Black Arts Alliance (memphisblackarts.org)

• Emerald Theatre Company (etcmemphistheater.com)

Museums and galleries:

• Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (brooksmuseum.org)

• Dixon Gallery and Gardens (dixon.org)

• National Civil Rights Museum (civilrightsmuseum.org)

• Metal Museum (metalmuseum.org)

• Stax Museum of American Soul Music (staxmuseum.com)

• Pink Palace Museum (memphismuseums.org)

• Children’s Museum of Memphis (cmom.com)

• Fire Museum of Memphis (firemuseum.org) — Jon W. Sparks

Basket or Box It for a Gift That Rocks It

Need something sweet for your honey this holiday season? Thistle & Bee has the gift that gives twice. A relaxing gift box contains raw Memphis honey, a milk and honey soap bar, and a pure beeswax candle ($20). Every item is handcrafted and directly supports women survivors to thrive through a journey of healing and hope.

Social enterprise director at Thistle & Bee, Ali Pap Chesney, drops a stinger: “We partner with other businesses, too. Feast & Graze uses our honey.”

Feast & Graze/Facebook

Feast & Graze

The cheese and charcuterie company Feast & Grace is co-owned by Cristina McCarter, who happens to co-own City Tasting Box. Boxes are filled with goodies promoting local Black-owned businesses like Pop’s Kernel and The Waffle Iron. An exclusive limited-quantity holiday gift box, Sugar and Spice, just rolled out for the season in two sizes — regular ($74.99) and ultimate ($124.99).

Memphis Gift Basket is owned by Jesse James, who says he is rolling out a new logo this week. Along with the new logo are new products for baskets ($55-$100) that focus on diversity by including more women- and minority-owned businesses, in addition to local items with iconic names like The Rendezvous and Memphis magazine. Guess what else you might find in a Memphis Gift Basket? Thistle & Bee honey.

Now that we’ve come full circle, check out these gift box and basket businesses, as well as partnering companies, for errbody on your holiday list — including that corporate gift list.

Visit thistleandbee.org, citytastingbox.com (use code SHIP100 for free shipping on orders over $100), and memphisgiftbasket.com for more. — Julie Ray

Lights, Camera, Action

A lot of businesses have been hard-hit during the pandemic, and movie theaters have been near the top of the list. With social distancing-limited theater capacity and Hollywood studios delaying major releases into next year in the hopes a vaccine will rekindle attendance, theater chains like Memphis-based Malco have been in dire straits. The exception has been drive-in theaters, like the Malco Summer Drive-In, which have seen a renaissance in 2020.

If you want to support this local institution and give a treat to the movie-lover in your life, you can buy them a Malco gift card. Available in any denomination from $10 to $500, the gift cards can be used for movie tickets and concessions for any film now or in the future. You can also enroll in the Malco Marquee Rewards program, which allows frequent moviegoers to earn points toward free tickets and concessions.

Greg Cravens

Malco has taken extraordinary steps to ensure the safety of its patrons, including mandatory masks, improved air filters, and non-contact payment options. And if you’re not comfortable sharing a theater with strangers right now, there’s a great option: The Malco Select program allows you to rent an entire theater for a screening of any film on the marquee — and that includes screenings in the massive IMAX theaters at the Paradiso. Prices start at $100, which works out pretty well if you want to watch Wonder Woman 1984 with your pod this holiday season. And if the person you’re buying for is a gamer, Malco has a brand-new option. With Malco Select Gaming, you can bring your system to the theater and play Call of Duty or The Last of Us on the biggest possible screen. — Chris McCoy

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Chantae Cann at Crosstown Arts

Music Video Monday is taking you back to the Before Time.

Remember the long-ago days in March when we could see actual musicians perform music live in front of an audience? Good times, good times.

But seriously, Memphis’ live music venues, the lifeblood of the city’s most significant and enduring cultural influence on the world, are in grave trouble because of the coronavirus pandemic. With no shows since March, and no end in sight, we stand to lose the thing that makes our city distinctive and valuable.

One of the best places to see live music in Memphis is the Green Room at Crosstown Arts. This unique venue books all kinds of acts from all over the world, and features state-of-the-art sound. On July 5th, 2019, the Green Room hosted Chantae Cann. The Atlanta R&B singer has appeared with India.Arie, and sang hooks for everyone from Snarky Puppy to Lil’ John.

The Crosstown Arts staff recorded the show, and the entire, hour-long show is here on this well-produced video. So take an hour of your time, or play this in the background as you work, and pretend you’re back at a show in Memphis.

CHANTAE CANN LIVE FROM THE GREEN ROOM from Crosstown Arts on Vimeo.

Music Video Monday: Chantae Cann at Crosstown Arts

If you would like to see your music video appear on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com. 

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Crosstown Arts’ Against the Grain Helps Support Local Musicians

Last week, Crosstown Arts released its Against the Grain platform, where local musicians can submit their musical works for the public to enjoy and show support by purchasing virtual tickets. “The coronavirus pandemic is currently forcing all Memphis music venues to close for the foreseeable future — something that clearly goes against the grain of a musician’s lifestyle and livelihood,” the organization said via a press release.

A number of artists have already submitted unedited, one-take, iPhone/smartphone videos of their exclusive performances, including DJ and producer Qemist and multi-instrumentalist Paul Taylor.

Qemist, an electronic music producer known for blending genres like footwork, electronic, underground house, trap music, and Memphis rap, was among some of the first artists to submit videos to the new platform. “When they reached out to me to participate in Against the Grain, I was very excited about that,” he says. “It definitely let me know that people are still wanting creative work, even though society and the climate of today is really pushing against the working force right now, because it’s inevitable at this point. But [this is] them letting me know that even throughout all of this, they still have avenues that they can give you to help you be a little more stable with your creative work.”

Paul Taylor submitted a video within the first week of the program’s inception, as well, featuring an acoustic set of “Eye to the Sky,” an original song written by him to pay homage to the Old Forest Trail in Overton Park.

“I was disappointed to see that music and the world is canceled for the foreseeable future,” he says. “But, out of adversity always comes the greatest art.”

Visit againsthegra.in to view performances, which are available 24/7. Tickets: $5-$100.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Watch Alex Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra’s ‘A Trip to the Moon’ Live Score at Crosstown Theater

On January 23rd, Alex Greene debuted a live score for two silent classics at the Crosstown Theater. Greene, who is the Memphis Flyer‘s Music Editor, was a resident artist at Crosstown Arts when he composed new music for Georges Méliès’ 1902 Jules Verne-inspired special effects extravaganza “A Trip to the Moon”and the 1924 silent Soviet sci fi film Aelita: Queen of Mars. The performance, which you can read about here, was captured on video by Crosstown Arts’ Justin Thompson. Since Crosstown’s successful live score concert series has been put on hold, like everything else in the music and film world, they’ve decided to share Greene’s performance. It is amazing. Greene’s normal collaborators, the Rolling Head Orchestra, are joined by the strings, flute, and bassoon of the Blueshift Ensemble and Theremin virtuoso Kate Tayler Hunt. The dynamic ups and downs of the 11-piece mini orchestra bring new life to the visually creative silent films. For those who were there, it’s a chance to re-live a great, unique Memphis performance. For those who missed it, here’s your chance to rectify your oversight and get some quality quarantine entertainment.

CROSSTOWN ARTS – LIVE SCORE WITH ALEX GREENE AND THE ROLLING HEAD ORCHESTRA from Crosstown Arts on Vimeo.

Watch Alex Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra’s ‘A Trip to the Moon’ Live Score at Crosstown Theater