New Music composer Evan Williams is no stranger to Memphis, having lived and taught here from 2018-22. And, as he noted in his remarks in the Crosstown Concourse East Atrium last night, his time as a assistant professor of music and director of instrumental activities at Rhodes College made an indelible impression on him. Indeed, Wednesday evening’s premiere of his new work, Crosstown Counterpoint, was a deep rumination on that iconic space and its place in the city’s history.
But that multi-movement suite was book-ended and contextualized by other pieces that helped situate Crosstown in time and space. Williams began with a trombone solo titled Amber Waves, in honor of the semi-rural Chicago suburb where he grew up. His use of delay effects only added to the natural reverberation of the towering atrium, with its echoing brass tones reminiscent of Sean Murphy’s Sketches of Crosstown from 10 years ago, featuring tuba and saxophone in the abandoned Sears Tower, pre-renovation.
There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, it makes you so sick at heart that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus — and you’ve got to make it stop!
Historical recordings of Savio’s words were woven into a duet for flute and cello, and, echoing through the cavernous space of Crosstown, the combination served to remind listeners of the political and aesthetic dimensions of such a public commons, and the citizens’ duty to make good on any promise that such a space implies.
And then came the centerpiece of the evening, taking place within the very space it celebrated. Subtitled “for two antiphonal string quartets and audio playback,” Crosstown Counterpoint and Memphis’ own Blueshift Ensemble made use of the concourse’s multiple levels, with one quartet on the ground floor and another on the mezzanine above. The sound of stereo strings responding to each others’ hypnotic patterns evoked the origins of Sears, Roebuck and Company’s founder, Richard Warren Sears, in the railroad business; and as recordings of voices were heard on the P.A., the effect was reminiscent of Steve Reich’s Different Trains. But the voices’ stories were closer to home.
Those voices, originally recorded for the Crosstown Concourse Breaking Ground Oral Histories Project, were provided to Williams by Crosstown Arts, and recounted decades of history, from the original Sears department store to its demise and abandonment, and finally its rebirth. In one moving passage, a Memphian observes, “The building has a personality,” then adds, “and layers of history,” a phrase which repeated as the strings played on, the words echoing through the very walls being remembered.
Throughout the proceedings, it was as if the atrium itself was an instrument, its reverberations throwing the composer’s sounds back at us in real time. When Crosstown Counterpoint concluded, Williams then led an expanded ensemble through a classic of the modern classical canon, Terry Riley’s In C.
Evan Williams leads scattered musicians through Terry Riley’s In C (Credit: Alex Greene)
This piece was also well-suited to the space, full of cascading, contrasting patterns played by various musicians scattered strategically throughout the atrium, on multiple levels. The slightly out of sync parts would ebb and flow, harmonizing with each other in unpredictable ways. Though considered groundbreaking when it premiered in 1964, the piece is not often heard in Memphis, though Williams noted that he led a group through the piece during his time at Rhodes.
In this case, the ever-shifting piece held the crowd’s attention for nearly a half hour, as audience members wandered through the atrium, sampling the sounds from different niches of the concourse. It was met with a standing ovation and raucous cheering as the evening came to end, the reborn vertical village of Crosstown still resonating with its own history.
LaShonté Pop competes
in the 2021 Memphis qualifier. (Photo: Justen Williams)
This Saturday, March 25th, 16 street dancers will dance their way into the hearts of the crowd at Crosstown Concourse in hopes to earn a spot to compete in the Red Bull Dance Your Style Chicago National Final in May.
The Saturday event, in which dancers will compete one-on-one in a single-elimination bracket, serves as the first qualifier of eight for that final battle in Chicago. The dancers won’t know their music beforehand, so they won’t have any choreography planned. Instead, they’ll have to rely on their freestyle instincts and musicality skills. Without a panel of judges, their progression through the competition depends on the crowd vote.
The dancers set to compete in Memphis are from all around — from New Orleans to Detroit. But three competitors have a home-field advantage: defending Red Bull Dance Your Style Memphis champion Jadyn Smooth and jookin’ specialists Gangsta E and Trent Jeray. And those are the three for whom host Ladia Yates will be rooting.
A dancer in Memphis herself, Yates, also the founder of L.Y.E Academy, understands what sets Memphis jookin’ apart from other street-dance styles that’ll be on display at the qualifier. “It’s not like one of those ‘I watched a music video or something and I copied some moves,’” she says. “It has a rich culture behind it. It has a certain swag. It consists mainly of cool footwork — dope footwork — and it has, like, a ballet technique to it. … It stands out.”
Jookin’ won’t be the only Memphis representation at the event: Memphis hip-hop legends Duke Deuce and NLE Choppa will also perform. “It’s like a concert-slash-dance battle,” Yates says, “and they’ll be giving out free Red Bulls all night.”
The event, Yates adds, is family-friendly. “So you might have a 5-year-old who comes and has never seen [this style of dance] before and sees it and may find interest in the whole culture,” she says. “And it can be life-changing. Dance is an outlet. It gives us direction, a positive direction. It keeps us out of trouble. These days you can make money from it, from social media, posting your content. If your video goes viral or the right person sees it, it can change your life. You can get major opportunities such as doing things with Red Bull and stuff like that.”
In all, Yates hopes audience members of all ages will leave inspired. “This is a big brand that’s pouring into Memphis in a lot of positive ways and opportunities — that’s not really the norm,” she says. “We would love for the city to come out and support and enjoy a good show.”
This Saturday, Crosstown Concourse and Cafe Noir will present Memphis’ first-ever Literature Is Liberating Festival, a free, communitywide festival celebrating Black voices in literature. The event, which is open to all ages, will feature vendors, author discussions, panels, and activities and readings for kids.
“The mission,” Jasmine Settles, owner of Cafe Noir, explains, “is to enrich the community through literature by uplifting the mind, nourishing the body, and liberating the spirit.” And that same mission carries within her cafe/bookstore, set to open this summer, which will focus on books by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors. “The main goal is to highlight marginalized voices, … to kind of give folks the space to be able to explore these authors and explore marginalized voices because oftentimes the content that’s presented to us in school leads us to be kind of bored and uninterested [without diverse voices to capture imaginations and reflect different backgrounds].”
As such, Settles, who rediscovered the importance of diverse storytelling while pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Memphis, wants to spark this interest in the community. “Memphis has one of the lowest literacy rates in Tennessee. I wanna get folks more involved with reading literature and ways that we can improve our community through doing so.”
The festival on Saturday will feature a spoken word performance by local poet Nubia Yasin, reading from her recently released collection of poetry The Blood and Body. “It’s a self-portrait,” Yasin says of her collection. “It’s about love and all its shadows, and how I learned that from my family. … It deals a lot with the theme of home and what that means and what that looks like, who are the players in like this thing called home.” This will be the first time Yasin will be able to speak publicly about her book, and she will be accompanied by musician Desire during the performance.
Also, on the festival’s schedule, is a performance by Hattiloo Theatre and a panel on African-American literature, presented by professors Jacqueline Trimble, Shelby Crosby, and Terrence Tucker. Plus, Michelle Duster, great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells, will discuss her writings on Wells in conjunction with an Indie Memphis screening of the documentary Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells. Indie Memphis will also screen 1970’s Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris, a portrait of the writer during his time abroad.
Meanwhile, young writers and readers can take part in a reading and a writing workshop with Ali Manning, a food scientist whose first book Can I Play with My Food? was published in early 2022. Librarians from Memphis Public Libraries will also make an appearance for readings, and a free craft-making station will be open throughout the day in the Central Atrium. For more information and a full schedule, visit crosstownconcourse.com/events.
Literature is Liberating Festival, Saturday, February 4, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., free.
I help Eli Berry show off a T-shirt advertising a place close to our hearts at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Louisa Yanes)
Memphis Flyer events never cease to amaze. People FLOCK to them.
Crafts and Drafts, held November 12th and 13th outside and inside Crosstown Concourse, was no exception.
Thousands of people were there even though it was cold. Caitlin Dirkes with the National Weather Service said it was 40 degrees at 2 p.m. on Saturday with a wind chill of 32 degrees. But still there was a crowd. And not just inside, but outside.
Even Santa was there. But he can put up with the cold better than most people. I’ve never seen a picture of the jolly old man wearing a ski mask while he’s maneuvering his sleigh in the sky with that reindeer backdraft.
Eliza Hulverson and Max Milburn at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Bey, Rey, Grey, and Antoine Neal at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Santa Claus at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Gus Gottlieb and Lucas Bradford at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Over two days, more than 3,000 people attended Crafts and Drafts, says event producer Molly Willmott. And, she says, there were more than 130 local artists, makers, and vendors.
Andrew Gafford and Grace Porter at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Anna and Xavier Graves at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Chris Dickson at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hannah Dawson at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)KG at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Rob Williams at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)
People were enjoying ice cold beer on an ice cold day. Beers were chosen and curated by Cash Saver, Willmott says. And there were food trucks.
Maggie and Robert Anthony at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Wesley Earnest at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Carter Dunn, Paul Lichlyter, Erika Gavrock at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Nikki Dildine, Daniel Bauer, Madison Raper, and Terrance Raper at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Sara Abbott, Jen Church, Russell Church, Pat Church at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)
By the way, I mentioned to Dirkes at National Weather Service that I hoped it was going to warm up next week, but she said, “Its going to be cold next week, too. I hate to be the bearer of bad news.”
But some people like it to be cold on Thanksgiving.
Samuel Macri at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jazmin Miller and Jaffi at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Noah Fogle, Cameron Fogle, Anna Traverse Fogle, and Lily Bear at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)DJ Zetta at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Mary Hamlin at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Allie Miller and Emily Donahoe at Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue)Crafts and Drafts (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
The Mid-Autumn Festival is known as the “Children’s Festival” in Vietnam. (Photos: Stacy Wright)
Fall officially begins on September 22nd this year, but, for some of us, especially my mom, waiting just a couple more days to embrace the season and put out the knock-off Pottery Barn pumpkins and pumpkin-latte-scented candles is practically unbearable. So, why not celebrate the season of harvest a bit early, the Vietnamese way, with a Mid-Autumn Festival, hosted by Crosstown Concourse, in partnership with Gloss Nail Bar, Karina Tong, and the Vietnamese Association of Memphis?
The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Tết Trung Thu in Vietnamese, is also known as the “Children’s Festival” as it celebrates children’s innate innocence that marks them as the closest connection to the pure and natural beauty of the world. The special event also has “components of a harvest festival and a fertility festival,” says Jesse Davis, communications manager at Crosstown Arts.
As such, lunar imagery plays a large part in this holiday, traditionally celebrated during the Harvest Moon, with celebrants observing the moon to divine the future of the people and the harvests. In fact, mooncakes, representative of the night sky, are a staple dish for the festival and will be served at Crosstown for the occasion.
Crosstown’s festival will also feature live music, face painting, and a dragon dance. Davis explains, “In its oldest form, the festival commemorated the dragon who brings the rain [for crops].” Moreover, this year’s festival will host an Áo dài fashion show. The Áo dài is traditional Vietnamese formal wear, essentially a long, split tunic worn over trousers.
Already, Crosstown is decorating its central atrium, hanging lanterns that traditionally signify the wish for the sun’s light and warmth to return after winter. “Just that alone is fantastic,” Davis says, pointing out that the evening itself promises to be just as — if not more — fantastic.
Mid-Autumn Festival, Crosstown Concourse, Saturday, September 17, 5-8 p.m., free.
Jesus Christ Superstar rocks the Orpheum as the last show of the “pandemic” season.
October 5, 2021 is a day Brett Batterson will never forget. That’s when Come From Away opened at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Memphis, marking the return to live performance after 18 months of pandemic shutdown.
“That opening night is one of the greatest nights I’ve ever experienced in my career,” says Batterson, the Orpheum’s president and CEO. “Everybody was so excited to be there, and the audience was just so grateful for Broadway to be back in the Orpheum. The cast was excited to perform for people. It was like a magic stew of emotions that was just wonderful.”
When Jesus Christ Superstar opened on June 28th, it marked the belated end of the star-crossed season that began in March 2020. “It feels really good to have what we call the pandemic season behind us, and we start our new season in just a few weeks with My Fair Lady, followed by To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Located at the western edge of Beale Street, the century-old theater has witnessed a lot of changes Downtown, but nothing like the last few years. It has been a time of both growth and tragedy. “I think Downtown Memphis is starting to see the resurgence, the coming out of the plague. If you come down here on a Friday or Saturday night, there are people everywhere. I don’t think we’ve seen the return of all the office workers that we need for the restaurants to have a lunch crowd, but on a weekend night, there’s a lot of people down here.”
Batterson sees the crowds as a continuation of positive trends the pandemic interrupted. “When I first arrived in Memphis six and a half years ago, I think Memphis was just at the tail end of the low self-esteem problem that Memphis has suffered from since the assassination of Dr. King. Shortly after I arrived, people started making plans and talking about how great of a city it is. Nashville is a tourist trap while Memphis retains its soul and authenticity. That’s the big change I’ve seen — Memphis is proud of itself again, as it should be.”
The Orpheum is about to dance into its next season in late July with My Fair Lady, followed by To Kill a Mockingbird.
Downtown Delights
The Orpheum was once a movie palace owned by Memphis-based Malco Theatres. Just a short hop down Front Street, Malco’s newest movie palace is the Powerhouse, a seven-screen multiplex built around a historic structure which once provided steam power for next door’s Central Station. On Saturdays, the Powerhouse’s parking lot plays host to the Downtown Memphis Farmers Market. Sergio Brown is one of the dozens of vendors who gather under the T-shaped shelter every week to hawk their locally produced wares. His company, Earthworm Plants, is based across the river in West Memphis. “We just started, so this is our first year here in Memphis,” he says. “The support we’ve gotten from Downtown has been amazing. When people from other states come here, they’re just amazed at what we do.”
Earthworm Plants is part of a wave of new businesses that have opened in the pandemic era. A few blocks to the east is South Point Grocery, the latest venture by Castle Retail’s Rick James, which filled a need created by Downtown’s growing population. But South Point’s biggest draw is the sandwich counter, run by Josh McLane.
Like many people in Memphis, McLane is a man of many hustles. He’s a well-known comedian and drummer in the punk-folk duo Heels. (Their new album, Pop Songs for a Dying Planet, will be released in October.) His sandwich skills first got attention when he manned the kitchen at the Hi Tone music venue. “Unlike other people, when I’m hammered and make a sandwich at 3 in the morning, I write it down,” he says.
At lunch time, there’s a steady stream of foot traffic coming through the door for McLane’s creations. “I genuinely get a kick out of being able to say, ‘Come see us for lunch, and I will get you outta here in five minutes, unless we have a giant line — and even then, it’s gonna take 10, tops.’”
McLane says the wave of new businesses was born of necessity. “That first year of Covid, everybody started opening something, either because you had nothing to do or you had no money coming in. And after that first year, everybody who wasn’t good at it or didn’t have a good enough sustaining idea got weeded out and everybody else just kept going.”
Good Fortune Co. is a new eatery that has been earning raves Downtown. Co-owner Sarah Cai lived in Collierville until she was 13, when her father was sent to China to open a new FedEx hub. “I’m from here, and I always wanted to come back,” she says. “We had been paying attention to restaurants in the area and what was popular. There was really nothing like this kind of cuisine, and from what I could tell, there was nobody who could bring the kind of experience that we have had, traveling and working abroad in different places.”
All of the food at Good Fortune Co. is made by hand. “The kimchi is important to me,” Cai says. “It’s something I’ve always made on my own because when you buy it, it just doesn’t taste the same. The whole [restaurant] concept stemmed from scratch-made noodles that have always been a huge part of my food. Dumplings are my food love, my passion. I’ve been making them since I was a kid with my family. They had to be on the menu. I knew I wanted it to be Asian, but influenced by a lot of different regions, not necessarily Chinese or Japanese. My background is really mixed. My mom’s Malaysian and my dad’s Chinese. I’ve traveled all around Southeast Asia, so I’ve been inspired by a lot of different flavors. What I wanted to showcase here is the fusion of those authentic flavors. The food itself is kind of Asian-American — like myself.
“I’ve been able to come back and rediscover the city as an adult. It’s a totally different experience. Memphis is really cool! I’ve lived in China, Austria, Europe. I’ve traveled all around the world, and Memphis is one of the most authentic cities I’ve ever been in. It’s gritty, but it’s all part of the charm — it’s just a genuine place. I’m really happy to be able to be a part of this world now.”
A larger-than-life Red Queen plays her twisted game of croquet at the Memphis Botanic Garden.
New Growth
She’s 19 feet tall, weighs 15,110 pounds, and her dress is made from 6,507 plants. The Red Queen is the most spectacular creation of “Alice’s Adventures at the Garden,” the larger-than-life new exhibit at the Memphis Botanic Garden. The living statuary of the timeless characters from Alice In Wonderland, like the Cheshire Cat, the Queen’s chessboard full of soldiers, and Alice herself, originated at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Alice and her companions have made a big splash, says Olivia Wall, MBG’s director of marketing. But the exhibit is just one of the new features at the 96-acre garden. “We have gone through a lot of transformation,” she says. “We are just finishing up a capital campaign that was focused on campus modernizations, so part of that, like the visitor center, was completely redone in 2022. It’s been a lot of change and a lot of transformation for the better. We are always focused on our mission, which is connecting people with plants. How can we best do that?”
The Alice figures are made from steel armatures and given color and shape by plants and flowers. In the summer heat, it can take 90 minutes just to water the Red Queen. Other artists were invited to participate. “We have these renditions of the White Rabbit around the grounds that local artists created,” Wall says.
There are also interactive elements. “It’s classic literature, so we have quotes from the book around to help put it into context. Kids can have their own imaginary tea party. They can pretend to be the March Hare or the Mad Hatter.”
Wall came to Memphis in 2014 to get her master’s degree from Memphis College of Art. The Cooper-Young resident says she’s a “Midtowner through and through.”
Midtown has been the focus of intense development in the pandemic era, with new apartment complexes springing up everywhere. “They’re called ‘five-over-ones,’” says F. Grant Whittle. “They’re the apartment buildings like they’ve got on McLean and Madison. They are built with concrete on the first floor and then stick on the upper floors. They’re easily put up. They’re not hideous, and they’re not beautiful, but just getting apartments in place for people to live is important right now.”
Whittle and his husband Jimmy Hoxie recently opened The Ginger’s Bread & Co. on Union Avenue. “Jimmy was working at City & State making pastries, and they didn’t need him anymore because they didn’t have many customers. At the same time, a man moved out of a duplex we owned and I said, ‘Jimmy, why don’t you go over there and start baking? We can sell your stuff online.’ And so, that’s what we’ve been doing since the beginning of the pandemic. Then, I was let go from my job. I needed something to do. So we sold the duplex, and we used the money to open this place.”
Since they opened earlier this summer, bread, cookies, and cheesecake have been flying off the shelves. “I think that this little part of Union is ripe for renewal and regrowth,” Whittle says. “I really like Cameo, which is a bar that just opened at Union and McLean. I can walk there in five minutes. They’re still getting their sea legs. They’re trying to do a good product there, and the food is not too bad.”
Midtown remains a cultural center. The history of Memphis music is enshrined on Beale, but the present and future lives in places like The Lamplighter, B-Side, and Hi Tone. The reopened Minglewood Hall is once again hosting national touring acts. In the Crosstown Concourse, the Green Room offers intimate live music experiences, and the 400-seat Crosstown Theater recently put on a blockbuster show by electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk. Not far from the towering Concourse is Black Lodge.
The movie mecca began life more than two decades ago as a tiny Cooper-Young video store. Now, it not only boasts one of the largest DVD and Blu-ray collections in America, but also a state-of-the-art sound system and multiple projection screens. “We’re proud to be serving a full menu of food as well as a full bar,” says Lodge founder Matt Martin. “Come in and check out some of our signature cocktails and dishes designed by our chef and co-owner James Blair. We are pleased to finally offer a full nightclub experience to Midtown Memphis. We’ve got great EDM shows, great bands, movie screenings, burlesque and drag shows, comedy, and video game tournaments — and our AC is amazing!”
Jessica Hunt tends bar at the artsy and new Inkwell.
Another Midtown dream realized is Inkwell. The popular Edge District bar was founded by Memphis artist Ben Colar. “The concept was to create a super dope cocktail bar where people could just kind of be themselves,” says bartender Jessica Hunt. “It’s Black-owned, so Ben wanted to show the city that there are Black bartenders that can do really good craft cocktails.”
The relaxed vibe is maintained via cocktails like the Sir Isaac Washington, a complex, rum-based, summery drink. “It’s always a breath of fresh air to come in here and work around people I love,” says Hunt. “Plus, I get to meet so many cool, artsy people!”
Yola, Oliva DeJonge, Baz Luhrmann, Tom Hanks, Alton Mason, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Jerry Schilling, Pricilla Presley, Riley Keough, and Lisa Marie Presley at the Graceland premiere of Elvis.
Music for the Masses
“Memphis’ identity is its musical history,” says the Orpheum’s Batterson. “Our tourism is music tourism. There may be some Broadway fans, or the timing may be right so that we’ve got Bonnie Raitt or Bob Dylan at the Orpheum, but most of the tourists are music people who want to hang out on Beale Street, go to Graceland, go to the Stax Museum, go to Sun Studio.
“I think we have some real gems in our museum system, from the National Civil Rights Museum to the Brooks and the Dixon and MoSH. An hour at Sun Studio is probably one of the most important hours you can spend in Memphis — that and going to Stax and seeing Isaac Hayes’ gold-plated car!
“I am shocked at how many Memphians have told me they’ve never been to Graceland. To me, you’ve got to go once. If you never go back, that’s up to you. But you’ve got to go once. How could you have this huge, international tourist attraction in your city and not ever go? I don’t get that.”
With Elvis, the spectacular new biopic from Australian director Baz Luhrmann, the King of Rock-and-Roll is once again topping the box office. After earning a 12-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, Luhrmann and his stars, including Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, made their American debut at the Guest House at Graceland. “It’s something that younger people don’t understand,” said Luhrmann to a packed house. “They know they’re very interested in this film because they’re very interested in instant fame. You can get on TikTok and have 20 million followers the next day, and you’re famous. But when Elvis came along, the teenager had just been invented. The idea of young people with money was a new idea. There was no precedent for someone driving a truck one minute and being a millionaire and the most famous man on the planet the next.”
As he stood on stage with Elvis’ wife Priscilla Presley, daughter Lisa Marie, and granddaughter, actor/director Riley Keough, Hanks, who plays Elvis’ infamous manager Col. Tom Parker, recounted the welcome they had received. “We visited the home of the King last night. It is a place that is, I think, as hallowed as any president’s home, as any museum dedicated to a particular type of art. What’s unique about it is, it is so firmly stamped with the name Presley, and it would not have existed were it not for the city of Memphis and the genius of a one-of-a-kind artist who, more than anybody else in music or any sort of presentational art, deserves the moniker of the singular word ‘King.’”
Back in the days of lockdown (Photo: Jamie Harmon)
To anyone who may have been driving around Memphis last weekend, please accept my sincere apology. I was playing tour guide to my aunt and uncle, who were visiting from North Carolina, and, being somewhat distracted, I made what my sister called some “interesting” driving decisions. So if you saw someone still stopped at a green light, pointing out a particular piece of architecture or a local landmark, that was probably me. I hope I didn’t make you late for an appointment.
Besides being absolutely roasted for my inability to be a somewhat competent distracted driver, the day was a delight. My aunt is from Memphis and my uncle was stationed here when he was in the Army many years ago, so they’re not totally new to the city, but it still felt like a chance to see my hometown with new eyes.
Before I delve into our itinerary, know that I know we barely scratched the surface of any meaningful Memphis to-do list. But I tried to cater to everyone’s personal interests as much as possible.
First, we went to Crosstown Concourse, which my aunt pointed out has been much transformed since its time as a Sears building. Indeed.
We took in the last day of photographer Jamie Harmon’s “Quarantine Portrait” exhibition, and I was struck again by the power of so many faces seen through so many windows and screen doors. Though I had seen many of the portraits before — even written about Harmon’s work while it was still in progress — seeing them all collected was another experience entirely. Though I don’t truly believe we’re fully out of the Covid woods just yet, it brought home how much has changed in the past two years. Often, perhaps as a side effect of my profession, I tend to focus on the seemingly negative changes — the loss of trust, the fragmentation of communities — but I was forced to confront the many ways things are better than they were in April 2020. It was a catharsis to revisit that time from the safety of an art gallery, and with loved ones in the same room. That is a blessing I must endeavor not to take for granted.
While at Crosstown, we stopped at the little reading area, where my nephew enjoyed finding books about dinosaurs. It’s a place I’ve walked past many times but hadn’t taken the time to appreciate. How many such spots must there be in town?
Next, we made our way to Broad Avenue, to give the out-of-towners a chance to peruse some arty knick-knacks and to reward my nephew with some ice cream after his patience with the exhibition. He’s 4 years old, so his tolerance for the gravity of any situation is tenuous at best. My fiancée, who is passionate about the built environment, enjoyed being able to talk about the work done in both locations. My nephew enjoyed a cup of chocolate ice cream and the faux-flower-wearing skeletons at Sugar Ghost Ice Cream and Bubble Tea.
We spent a little bit of time talking about and looking at Summer Avenue, then we hopped back on North Parkway to hustle down to Greenbelt Park by the Mississippi River. It was a sunny, breezy spring day, and there were picnickers, joggers, dog-walkers, pot-smokers, cyclists, and everyone in between enjoying it. There’s something special about being close to the river, and we all felt it. Until I accidentally knocked my nephew off a tree while we were playing some game in which we were both (I think?) territorial spiders locked in bitter combat. Oops. Everyone was okay, though it was decided that perhaps it was time to move on.
We drove through the South Main Arts District, where my uncle used to pick up his contacts. We talked about the trolleys, the changes, the things that had stayed the same. We drove past a busy FedExForum and saw young people popping wheelies on ATVs. We waved as we passed both business and entertainment districts Downtown, and I pointed out a billboard of Ja Morant in the Vitruvian Man pose.
Eventually we made it back to my house to make dinner and play board games, not unlike how we used to spend so much time at my Grannie’s house when I was a child. It was modest, but not without its own magic.
I guess, in many ways, that’s true of Memphis, too.
Hugh Balthrop is opening a new Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co. location in April in Crosstown Concourse.
“I’m taking the space that was Area 51 [Ice Cream] next to French Truck Coffee,” Balthrop says.
He’s also working on a children’s book about gelato. Adults might want to read it, too. “When I first got into this business [I had to] and to this day, I still explain to people what gelato is.”
Gelato is “just ice cream; but it’s denser because it has less air/overrun than traditional American ice cream.”
When he decided to open a business in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Balthrop didn’t want to get into an oversaturated market like coffee or breweries. He wanted to take “the road less traveled.”
Balthrop, who now lives in Oxford, Mississippi, features more than 500 Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co. flavors. He currently is offering an old favorite, Lotus, which is based on the gelato served at the old Justine’s restaurant. He discovered it years ago in a newspaper article. “My relationship with Memphis — it’s my other home … I started talking to some folks, particularly older folks that are familiar with Justine’s. They thought it was a great idea, so I recreated it.”
Lotus, which is only available in Memphis at South Point Grocery, is “lemon-based with a little lemon zest. And toasted almonds. It has almond essence as well. It’s a unique taste.”
Balthrop originally owned First World Gallery, which he opened in 1995 in Washington, D.C. “It was art from the African diaspora.” He closed his gallery, and he and his wife, Dr. Erica Balthrop, moved to Chicago, where she could finish her residency. They then moved to Clarksdale, where his wife, as a child, spent summers with her grandparents.
Balthrop became a “stay-at-home dad” and did the cooking for their three children. “My tradition was to wake them up with mango, pineapple — tropical fruit. They liked it.”
Around 2011, Balthrop, who “always had this entrepreneurial spirit,” enrolled in the annual Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, where he studied ice cream and the science of ice cream. He also studied under a gelato master at The French Pastry School in Chicago.
Balthrop opened his first gelato business in a 2,000-square-foot industrial building in Clarksdale. He got the idea for his business name while holding hands with his daughter on a walk. “It was a breezy day. We had a bunch of magnolia trees, and at some point I just got a whiff of the magnolia flower.” Everything came together. “It hit me like a ton of bricks.”
Balthrop began creating flavors. He wanted “something Southern, either banana pudding or watermelon or blueberry.” He used “local ingredients from local farmers. Anything I could get my hands on … honey, sorghum, pecans.”
Balthrop then began selling. “Initially, what I did was start knocking on restaurant doors. I was like, ‘Take these samples, just give me an honest opinion. That’s all I require.’” If they didn’t like a flavor, Balthrop “went back to the drawing board. That’s what we did and what we do to this day.”
When the Clarksdale building was sold, Balthrop and his family moved to Oxford, where the manufacturing business and his other retail store are now located.
Karen Carrier, whose restaurants include The Beauty Shop Restaurant, recently sent Balthrop an order for 20 gelatos. She came up with most of the flavors, including Cinnamon Mexican Chocolate Chili Chunk and Jamaican Rum and Mango Vanilla. He got the order on a Monday and he delivered the gelato, some of which he’d never made before, on Friday.
Balthrop’s gelato is also available for shipping, and as for more retail stores, he says, “We might have another Downtown presence.”
And Balthrop does have a nickname. “The Gelato Man,” he says, with a laugh.
Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co. is at 1350 Concourse; (662) 313-6551.
Posted to Facebook by the Tennessee Democratic Party
Memphis on the internet.
GTFO
The other Nathan Bedford Forrest statue fell last week in Nashville. Hey hey hey! Goodbye!
Irony
Posted to Instagram by @thefilmfriendo
Work continues to remove Ku Klux Klansman Clifford Davis’ name from the federal building Downtown. The fence around the project (which reads “Restoring Memphis”) was knocked over last week, long enough for @thefilmfriendo to capture it and post it, saying, “Oh delicious irony.”
Legal chicken?
Posted to Instagram by By the Brewery
By the Brewery posted this photo of its Tennessee Street chicken biscuit, and we’re not sure it’s even legal.
Magical Concourse
Posted to Instagram by Crosstown Concourse
Crosstown Concourse posted video from its holiday lighting ceremony to IG last week and, honestly, it’s magical.
Dancer adorning traditional calaveras, or sugar skull, makeup (Photo: Wendy Adams)
“Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of life,” says Dorimar Ferrer, executive director of Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group. “It’s not Mexico’s Halloween.”
Though Dia de los Muertos takes place on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico, Crosstown Concourse, in partnership with Cazateatro, is celebrating a little bit earlier with their own Day of the Dead celebration — with an emphasis on celebration.
“Dia de los Muertos has nothing to do with sadness or anything scary,” Ferrer says. “Knowing that, for two days, we have the opportunity to share and celebrate with our loved ones fills us with joy. Keeping them alive in our hearts and minds is part of this beautiful tradition that is passed from generation to generation.”
Cazateatro Catrinas, Ballet Meztli, and other dancers in traditional garments and Day of the Dead makeup will populate the first floor and invite you to join along to the music by Tropical Fusion Latin Band, DJ Alexis White, and more. Kids can have their face painted and create a few crafts as well — all for free. Themed specials will also be available to purchase at a few of Crosstown’s restaurants. “Pop-a-roo’s Popcorn is staying open late for the event. They’ve got Mexican street corn in a cup,” says Bianca Phillips, communications manager at Crosstown Arts.
But what will stand out the most for event-goers, Phillips says, are the intricately decorated altars lined up along the second floor for viewing, made by different community organizations in honor of loved ones who have passed on.
“For a person who doesn’t know about this tradition,” Ferrer says, “our recommendation is to ask. Never assume that you are right or wrong in making an altar. With Cazateatro, we’re always open to talk to anyone who wants to know more about El dia de los Muertos and how they can build an altar with respect.”
Day of the Dead at Crosstown Concourse, Saturday, October 16th, 5-8 p.m., free.
