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Fall Arts Guide 2024

Robert Petkoff as Harold Zidler and the cast of the North American tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Photo: Matthew Murphy | MurphyMade)

As the temperatures are cooling down, the Memphis arts scene is heating up — with exhibitions, performances, and unique experiences. See for yourself in our Fall Arts Guide.

ON DISPLAY

“ABZ2: Artists’ Books, Prints, and Zines”
Corkey Sinks’ collection spotlights contemporary approaches to print media.
Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, through Oct. 4

“Dear Grandmother”
Heather Howle explores themes of nostalgia and familial connection.
ANF Architects, through Oct. 17 

“Troubling the Line: New Dimensions in Drawing”
The works of Melissa Dunn, Terri Jones, Paula Kovarik, Mary Reid Kelley, and Patrick Kelley complicate the idea of drawing.
Clough-Hanson Gallery, through Nov. 9

“All Rise: Memphis Bar Association at 150”
Through arresting objects and powerful images, the exhibition showcases the Memphis Bar Association’s historical significance and continuing relevance.
Museum of Science & History, through Nov. 10

“Bracelets, Bangles, & Cuffs”
This collection of contemporary bracelets reveals the wide-ranging creativity of artists working in the jewelry form between 1948 and today. 
Metal Museum, through Nov. 17

“The 6 Points Artists”
This exhibition features Sharon Havelka, Mary Jo Karimnia, Paula Kovarik, Carrol McTyre, Jennifer Sargent, and Mary K VanGieson.
Bornblum Library, Southwest Tennessee Community College, through Nov. 27

“Beyond the Surface: The Art of Handmade Paper”
Handmade paper creations explore the shape-shifting quality of paper. 
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through Dec. 15

“Andrea Morales: Roll Down Like Water”
Andrea Morales’ first solo museum show features 65 photographs spanning her decade of photojournalism in Memphis and the Mid-South. 
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through January

“A Hidden Culture”
Master Metalsmith Preston Jackson who gives voice to those overlooked in the history books. 
Metal Museum, through Jan. 26

Lester Merriweather, “ANA•LOG” (Photo: Courtesy Crosstown Arts)

“ANA•LOG”
Lester Merriweather examines the concept of agency over Black visualization within American popular culture.
Crosstown Arts, fall

Alex Paulus, “Size Matters” (Photo: Crosstown Arts)

“Size Matters”
Alex Paulus’ current series focuses on the juxtaposition of small figures within expansive landscapes.
Crosstown Arts, fall

“Still”
Michelle Fair’s latest works delve into the process of painting.
Crosstown Arts, fall

“Chromatic”
This exhibit merges explores the two worlds of sounds and color in a synergistic full-bodied experience.
Arrow Creative, October 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

“Two Rivers”
Huger Foote captures the moments when day slowly turns to night from Memphis and the Mississippi Delta to the Hudson River Valley.
David Lusk Gallery, Oct. 8-Nov. 16

“I Saw the Light in Your Eyes”
Ceramic sculptors Renata Cassiano Alvarez and Anthony Sonnenberg work through complex ideas of identity through abstraction.
Sheet Cake Gallery, Oct. 12-Nov. 23

“Our Love Is a Shady Garden”
Yanira Vissepó studies the ecosystems between her birthplace in Puerto Rico and adopted home in Tennessee.
Sheet Cake Gallery, Oct. 12-Nov. 23

MadameFraankie
Works by MadameFraankie.
Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, October 21-December 8

“2024 Accessions to the Permanent Collection”
This exhibition celebrations the more than 170 pieces added to the Metal Museum’s permanent collection.
Metal Museum, November 27-November 2, 2025

ON STAGE

Concerts in the Grove
GPAC presents some of the best musicians in the area in a park-like setting. 
The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center, select Thursdays, 6:30 p.m.

Sounds of Memphis
Each week, a new Memphis powerhouse presents a unique concert — from the Handorf Company Arts of Opera Memphis to YOBREEZYE.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Thursdays, 6 p.m.

The 8th Annual Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series: The Comedy of Errors
This 90-minute, madcap romp is performed outdoors throughout Memphis.
Various locations and dates, through Oct. 20

De Aquí y de Allá
Accompany the courageous Don Quixote of La Mancha and his trusty sidekick, Sancho Panza, on an adventure full of fun, music, dance, culture and more. 
Orpheum Theatre, October 4-5

Paradise Blue
This dynamic and musically infused drama shines light on the challenges of building a better future on the foundation of what our predecessors have left us.
Hattiloo Theatre, through October 6

Girl from the North Country
The Tony Award-winning musical reimagines Bob Dylan’s songs into a story about a group of wayward travelers.
Orpheum Theatre, Oct.8-13

The Mousetrap
Theatre Memphis presents this murder mystery. 
Theatre Memphis, Oct. 11-27

Lizzie: The Lizzie Borden Musical
New Moon Theatre’s Lizzie is American mythology set to a blistering rock score.
TheatreWorks@The Square, October 18-November 3

The Smell of the Kill
This tantalizing dark comedy has malicious housewives and miserable husbands.
Germantown Community Theatre, Oct. 18-Nov. 3

Amadeus: The Music and the Myth
Opera Memphis explores Mozart through the lens of music from the award-winning movie Amadeus. 
Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Michael Feinstein featuring the Carnegie Hall Ensemble
Michael Feinstein pays a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Tony Bennett.
Germantown Performing Arts Center, Oct. 19, 8 p.m.

Dracula
Ballet Memphis’ original production builds from Bram Stoker’s novel.  
Orpheum Theatre, Oct. 25-27

Firebird (Photo: Courtesy Collage Dance Collective)  

Firebird
Kevin Thomas boldly reimagines The Firebird.
Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Oct. 25-27

(Pilobolus re:Creation Photo: Courtesy Grant Halverson)

Pilobolus re:Creation
Imagination knows no limits with this experimental dance company.
Germantown Performing Arts Center, Oct. 26, 8 p.m.

Variations on a Theme: The Tell-Tale Heart & Other Tales to Terrify 
Opera Memphis, in collaboration with Iris Collective, presents these evenings of music and one-act operas.
Opera Memphis Headquarters, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. | Oct. 27, 3 p.m.

Rumpelstiltskin
A young girl is locked away until she spins straw into gold.
Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Oct. 26, 2 p.m.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical 
Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life. 
Orpheum Theatre, Oct. 29-Nov.3

The Three Bs: Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven
Memphis Symphony Orchestra presents.
Crosstown Theater, Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. | Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Nov. 3, 2:30 p.m.

Iris Collective Orchestra: Transformations
Memphis-native Randall Goosby and conductor and Iris founder Michael Stern will be joined by the Germantown Youth Symphony.
Germantown Performing Arts Center, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.

Taikoproject
Taikoproject traces the history and lore of the ancient Japanese drums. 
Buckman Performing Arts Center, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.

The Orchestra Unplugged: Leonard Bernstein
Music director Robert Moody of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra guides audiences through the life and legacy of the American Maestro. 
Halloran Centre, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m.

Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder
This family-friendly show takes audiences on a humorous journey of growing up with Junie B. Jones.
The Circuit Playhouse, Nov. 8-Dec. 22

Parallel Lives
Two actresses play men and women struggling through the common rituals of modernity.
Theatre Memphis, Nov. 8-23

The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy isn’t in Kansas anymore.
Playhouse on the Square, Nov. 15-Dec. 22

The Rake’s Progress
Opera Memphis presents Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical opera.
Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. | Nov. 24, 3 p.m.

NutRemix
New Ballet Ensemble sets The Nutcracker on Memphis’ iconic Beale Street. 
Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Nov. 23-24

Peter Pan
This high-flying musical comes to Memphis.
Orpheum Theatre, Nov. 26-Dec. 1

Who’s Holiday
Cindy Lou Who returns in this riotously funny and heartwarming adults-only comedy.
Circuit Playhouse, Nov. 22-Dec. 22

A Motown Christmas
Celebrate the holiday season with this musical of all your favorite Motown tunes.
Hattiloo Theatre, Nov. 22-Dec. 22 

Twelfth Night
Shakespeare’s most charming comedy finds itself on the Tabor Stage.
Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Dec. 6-22

A Christmas Carol ’24
Theatre Memphis presents this holiday classic.
Theatre Memphis, December 6-23

Bright Star
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s bluegrass musical tells a story of love and redemption in 1920s and ’40s North Carolina.
Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Dec. 6-8

Tía Pancha
Tía Pancha is Cazateatro’s bilingual adaptation of the classic A Christmas Carol but with a Latin and female twist.
TheatreWorks@The Evergreen, Dec. 6-14

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage
The whole family can enjoy this adaptation of Charles M. Schulz’s timeless story.
Orpheum Theatre, Dec. 7, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m.

The Nutcracker
Ballet Memphis’ production of this holiday classic returns.
Orpheum Theatre, Dec. 13-15

AROUND TOWN

Art Club
The Brooks’ Art Club with Mallory Sharp gives participants an in-depth look at a different work of art each month.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, monthly

Appetite for the Arts
Enjoy a picnic and/or food truck fare while feasting your eyes on music and dance films. 
The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center, Wednesdays in October, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Super Saturdays
Enjoy free drop-in art making workshops for families and free admission to the Brooks.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon

Free Family Day
On the second Saturday of the month, the Stax has live music, outdoors, food trucks, games and activities, arts and crafts for children, and free admission to the entire museum.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music, second Saturdays of the month, 1-5 p.m.

Artoberfest
Off the Walls Arts showcases Memphis artists and musicians for a day of music, vendors, a costume contest, activities, and fun.
Off the Walls Arts, Oct. 5, 2-10 p.m.

V&E Greenline Artwalk 2024
Meet and shop from local artists, and enjoy music, entertainment, children’s activities, and artist demonstrations. 
V&E Greenline, Oct. 7, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Paint Memphis
A hundred or so artists will be painting murals all day long and it’s a spectacle to behold.
Willet and Lamar, October 12, noon-7 p.m.

Come as Thou Art
Guests will don their most imaginative attire, either inspired by the night’s theme — the world of Tim Burton — or the spirit of a designer. The evening will be capped off with a fashion show by Sonin Lee.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Oct. 18, 8 p.m.

Art on Fire
Enjoy tastings from local restaurants, live music, thrilling fire dancers, and a vibrant art sale — all set around a roaring bonfire.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Oct. 19, 7-11 p.m.

Dracula Party
Celebrate Ballet Memphis’ reprise of Dracula and help raise critical funds to support its mission with a Halloween party where you can party like a vampire.
Mollie Fontaine Lounge, October 19, 7:30-10:30 p.m.

Repair Days
Bring your metal items to have them restored their former glory at the Metal Museum’s largest fundraiser, which also includes the Dinner + Auction and Family Fun Day, where visitors can participate in hands-on activities, explore the galleries, and watch metalsmith demonstrations.
Metal Museum, Oct. 17-20

RiverArtsFest
The region’s largest and longest running fine arts festival showcasing works from 200+ participating local and national artists returns with an artist market, artists-at-work demonstration station, hands-on artist station, performances, and plenty of food and beverages.
Riverside Drive, Oct. 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

28th Annual Quilt & Fiber Arts Show and Sale
View around 100 antique, vintage, and modern quilts, plus meet with vendors and demonstrators and see a new special exhibit. 
Davies Manor Historic Site, November 1-3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Orpheum Soiree
Enjoy an evening including glittering entertainment, live auction, specialty cocktails, exciting eats, and fun surprises.
Orpheum Theatre, November 15, 7 p.m.

…

ARTSassist

In August, ARTSmemphis announced the inaugural distribution of ARTSassist grants to 22 individual artists, providing these artists in dance and visual arts an unrestricted $5,000. This makes it the only unrestricted grant program supporting individual artists in Shelby County.

The program comes as an expansion of a pre-pandemic grant program for visual artists, known as ArtsAccelerator. As ARTSmemphis CEO and president Elizabeth Rouse says, “About 10 years ago, thanks to some local artists in the community who asked questions of us, we began a grant program to support visual artists. … We started with visual artists because at the time, they had fewer other networks of support and fewer other opportunities to be hired. 

(top) Dorian Rhea; (below) Therrious Davis (Photos: Courtesy ARTSmemphis)

“But that really, thankfully, put us in a position to launch an artist emergency fund for individual artists in 2020 as artists of all different types immediately lost work during the pandemic. And we supported about 800 artists during the pandemic with emergency funding totaling almost a million, right around $900,000. From 2020 through 2023, we focused on emergency and recovery funding, so coming out of 2023 we wanted to reintroduce an unrestricted grant for artists and expand it rather extensively.”

That meant bringing on an artist advisory committee made up of Memphis artists to make sure artists’ needs were met, and out-of-town jurors to select the grantees without local bias. That also meant, in addition to supporting the 22 selected grantees, partnering with Indie Memphis to support a filmmaker through Indie Memphis’ Black Creators Forum and partnering with Music Export Memphis (MEM) to support three musicians through its Ambassador Access program. “It was a way for us to be efficient and not create something new, but to support and complement,” Rouse says. “We hope, long-term, to be supporting even more types of artists. But it makes sense, just based on the makeup of artists in our community, that we start out with visual, dance, music, and film.”

This first cohort will use their grants for a variety of reasons, Rouse says. Therrious Davis, an illustrator, comic book artist, and occasional muralist, has used his grant money to buy a new computer and tablet. “I had this laptop for close to 10 years now,” Davis says. “It was starting to show signs of its age.”

Davis has been developing a comic project called Exodus of Love, premised on the question, ‘What if Cupid didn’t know what love was?’ But not having reliable or capable equipment has been holding him back from making headway. “The goal will be to make more videos following the development of the comic book project and to give people a chance to follow it from the ground up.” (You can follow Davis’ progress on Instagram @therrothekid.)

Meanwhile, choreographer Dorian Rhea plans to use his grant to fund future movement-based programming at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. “It’s going to be jazz. It’s going to be social dance, known as hip-hop styles, accompanied by excerpts and texts to contextualize the history,” Rhea says. The classes will be for young kids and their parents, an experience that Rhea, as a new dad himself, hopes will “sow the seeds for much more later down the road.” 

Rhea will also use his grant to attain a technique certification in Giordano dance, a style of jazz that originated in Chicago. “I’m hoping that with bringing that style to Memphis, we elevate the cultural exchange that I think is already taking place [between Chicago and Memphis],” he says. “Knowledge is power. Art is all about telling a story and communicating the narrative, sharing an experience, and so as someone who believes in art activism — using arts as a vehicle for creating change and sparking the catalyst for evolution, growth, progress — the more grounded my work is in the history of those who’ve come before, the richer I can articulate lessons.”

No matter their personal goal, Rouse says, “We know how important it is to have a strong community of artists and to be a city that is a city of choice for artists. They’re just so critical to our culture and our economy, so … we intend for this to be an annual grant.”

On Monday, in alignment with this goal, ARTSmemphis, in partnership with Music Export Memphis, also announced a new, first-ever Artist Emergency Fund for local artists, which will support artists in times of unexpected and catastrophic emergency. For more information on both of these grants, visit artsmemphis.org.

…

Andrea Morales: “Roll Down Like Water”

Andrea Morales has been making photographs since she was a child, and yes, “making photographs” is the right phrase here. Not taking photographs, capturing, or shooting. For Morales, these words are too aggressive to describe a process that is about building trust and intimacy between the photographer and the photographed individuals, or, as Morales calls them, her collaborators. 

She’s been working in Memphis as a photojournalist for a decade now, making photographs of the community. You probably recognize her name from her work as the visuals director at MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, but she’s also been featured in The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and TIME Magazine, among many others. Now, to add to her impressive resume, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art has opened an exhibit of 65 of her photographs of Memphis and the surrounding region, titled “Roll Down Like Water.” 

Andrea Morales, Southern Heritage, 2017 (Photo: Courtesy Andrea Morales)

Taking its name from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech in Memphis, in which he said, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream,” the exhibit, says its curator Rosamund Garrett, is “a portrait of America through Memphis.”

“There are some tremendously famous photographers from this area,” Garrett says, “but I really feel that Andrea looks at things through a very fresh lens, and she looks at this region very directly, very earnestly, in a way that still allows the magic of this place to come through.”

But in this exhibit, not appearing in a publication with someone else’s byline, a headline she didn’t choose, or quotes she didn’t pull, the photos can stand alone. “It does feel like something’s being restored, I guess,” Morales says. “I’m struggling with identifying exactly what, but it feels like something’s restored. It’s like back to that feeling of the moment [of making the photo] because you have that moment and then you kind of have to tuck it away because this photo has to exist in this one context [of an article]. But this is all existing in the context of me and Memphis right now.” 

“Roll Down Like Water,” Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, on display through January 2025.

…

We All We Got

Binghampton is putting on a play. The actors are young and old, some seasoned and many freshly-minted to the spotlight. Kids at Carpenter Art Garden are building scenic elements, and community members are tuning their instruments for a show their stories helped create.

It all started over a year ago when the Orpheum Theatre Group launched its Neighborhood Play Program. After working with the Refugee Empowerment Program in Binghampton, making original plays out of participants’ stories, Orpheum staff “realized one of their favorite moments in it was when they got to step out of their story and play the characters that were in other people’s stories,” says Taylor St. John, Orpheum’s director of education and engagement. “There’s something powerful about telling your own story, but there’s also something powerful about participating as a community in a fictional story.”

Ann Perry Wallace (Photo: Courtesy Orpheum Theatre)

So came the Neighborhood Play Program, through which the Orpheum partnered with various organizations and formed “story circles” to create a neighborhood play. “For six months or so, we got people in a circle and asked them questions about their community, things that they found beautiful, things that they found challenging,” St. John says.

These stories, in turn, would be the inspiration for the fictional story that playwright Ann Perry Wallace, author of the one-woman play Live Rich Die Poor, would weave. They then presented this fictional story in another round of story circles for feedback. 

“I felt like I had a lot of responsibility to deliver something that was representative of what I had heard,” Wallace says. “You are responsible for these stories that have been told, you are responsible for putting out this image of the people, and so that is a weight that I carry with honor and take seriously. There’s nuance. And so I’m having to hold all of that in a way that gives dignity where dignity is due and have to show the complex struggles where they are present. It is a dynamic place, and I hope for people to see the intricacies, or just a snapshot of those intricacies come out.”

As for the plot of the play, titled We All We Got, St. John says, “The story itself centers on two young Black girls living in the neighborhood, one from a generational home and one living in the apartments who’s a refugee, and how they navigate the world and encounter all of the various characters of Binghampton.”

The hope, both St. John and Wallace point out, is to highlight the different experiences within Binghampton. “It’s one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Memphis,” St. John says. “There’s over 20 languages spoken there, and so we really tried to honor the stories that do not otherwise get highlighted.”

With all those differences, St. John adds, “It’s been exciting, in the last couple weeks, to see all those people from all those different groups that do different things and have very different beliefs and sometimes cultures now all be in the same room, and we’re all working on this thing together, and it just feels like a great exercise in community.

“We think it’s so important that the people in Binghampton can hopefully see themselves in this play, or see reflections of their ideas and other stories in this play. But it’s also really important that as a city, we’re able to come together [by seeing the play].”

The play is set to premiere in November, with community members acting both in the scenes and behind the scenes. Already, just watching rehearsals has Wallace “thrilled.” “You are seeing people who have pride in the neighborhood come out to be a part of it and really stretch themselves in creative and artistic ways,” she says. “Not all of them are normally doing this in their day-to-day life, and then we do have some actors who are in it, but particularly the community members, them showing up and performing best, to me, that’s pride, and that’s dedication, and that’s belief in their community.”

All three performances, which will take place at First Baptist Broad Church in Binghampton, will be free to attend, and Backbeat Tours will provide free transportation at designated locations. 

We All We Got: A Binghampton Play, First Baptist Broad Church, Friday, November 1, 7 p.m. | Saturday, November 2, 1 p.m. | Sunday, November 3, 2 p.m.

Categories
Music Music Features

Jumaane Smith’s Louis! Louis! Louis!

Jumaane Smith (Photo: Gina Intorre)

For all the rhythmic focus of 21st century music, where beats reign supreme, there’s one type of rhythm that remains elusive: swing. It’s nigh impossible to program machines to swing convincingly, and so it has withered in our musical landscape. But it’s not extinct, as pockets of jazz players in every city make clear. Now, one stalwart jazz pilgrim is single-handedly kicking off a revival of swinging rhythms in a very popular way.

Music lovers can hear it for themselves at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC) on Saturday, January 20th, when the show Louis! Louis! Louis! takes the stage. But at the end of the night, fans won’t be screaming the name “Louis!” — it will more likely be “Jumaane!” That would be the trumpeter, singer, and composer Jumaane Smith, who has recently been leading audiences through the glories of swinging, stomping music by way of his three greatest influences, all of whom happen to be named Louis. Taking a deep dive into the music of Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, and Louis Jordan, Smith has found a way to celebrate much of what he loves in older music without surrendering to nostalgia. The way he sees it, those artists are as galvanizing and entertaining today as they were during their heyday. In fact, they’re still inspiring his own compositions, which he blends in with the classics made famous by three guys named Louis.

Armstrong is rightly considered a pillar of all jazz who remained committed to that genre’s pop potential even as it took more esoteric turns after World War II. That’s something he had in common with Prima and Jordan as well, as all of them combined instrumental virtuosity with singing and a flair for showmanship.

“Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima were both singing trumpet players, and Louis Jordan was a singing saxophonist. And I feel as though one informs the other with the melodic choices they make,” says Smith. Beyond that, they also shared a sense of humor and embodied the notion of the complete entertainer, something Smith would like to see more of in jazz.

He would know, having performed in Michael Bublé’s band for the past 17 years. As he told Variety in 2020, that experience showed him just how popular swinging music could be. “It’s always a weird situation when people say, ‘Oh, nobody likes jazz; nobody shows up to jazz concerts,’” he said at the time. “We’re playing to 20,000 to 50,000 people a night, and half the show or more is just straight up big-band jazz.”

At the time, Smith was plugging his then-new album, When You’re Smiling, which features his interpretations of nine standards popularized by the three Louises and one original, “Sweet Baby.” But the album was released in January 2020, after which all tour plans were scuttled. Three years and one pandemic later, Smith has finally brought the show on the road. Now, “we’ve been traveling all over the States for the last year, doing this project,” he says.

Smith is especially proud of the band he’s assembled. “When I’m performing, I always try to make sure that the groove is at a very high level, and I’ve played with some of these musicians for over 20 years now. It’s really exciting to have that sort of interplay and long-term musical relationship within the band. I’ll be using Will Gorman on piano, and a fellow Juilliard graduate of mine, Luke Sellick, on bass. Our guitarist, David Rosenthal, is a supremely versatile musician, and on drums is another Juilliard grad, Carmen Intorre Jr. Then we’ll have Josh Brown playing trombone, and a young, extremely talented saxophonist from England named Ruben Fox.”

With such a band, Smith says, the swinging comes easy. “That’s where the magic really happens, when these players are all performing true to themselves within the framework of the concert. When I started this project, I had no intention of doing a nostalgia experience. The concept is, how can I allow myself to come through the parameters of this lens? This lens being the music of Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, and Louis Jordan. And when the band’s really cooking and in the groove, people in the audience start tapping their feet and they don’t know why. The feeling of the music just makes you excited in that way and makes you want to move.”

Catch Jumaane Smith: Louis! Louis! Louis! at Germantown Performing Arts Center on Saturday, January 20th, 8 p.m. Purchase tickets ($20-$65) at gpacweb.com.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Pilobolus at GPAC

“On the Nature of Things” (Photo: Robert Whitman)

In 1971, three Dartmouth students — a cross-country skier majoring in English, a fencer majoring in philosophy, and a pole vaulter on the pre-med track — enrolled in a dance composition class. They had no dance experience, and their teacher had no faith in their technique. For an assignment, they created a comedic dance, themed around walking, on a squash court. Today, that dance, titled “Walklyndon,” is the oldest dance in the repertoire of Pilobolus, the dance company that formed out of this moment of exploratory movement.

Decades later, Pilobolus still performs this dance, and will perform it this weekend at Germantown Performing Arts Center, along with selections from performances throughout its 50 years. “We’re like a TARDIS [from Doctor Who] in a way,” says Matt Kent, the group’s artistic director. Indeed, the pieces, ranging in length, take audiences through different times, taking inspiration from antiquity, to the Elizabethan era, to the present day. 

The style is experimental, holding no rule of dance too high. After all, as Kent says, “[The original students] didn’t know what to do; they also didn’t know what not to do. And so they created a vibe of collaborative improvisation that yields non-traditional dance vocabulary.”

For one of the pieces in this tour, Pilobolus has collaborated with Indigenous storyteller Darlene Kascak from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. “The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation,” Kent explains, “are the people who have belonged to and cared for and lived and worked on the land that Pilobolus lives and works on now in Washington, Connecticut.” 

The piece explores an Indigenous myth about the Wendigo, a cannibalistic monster created from greed. “It’s become a symbol of colonial greed and more recently corporate greed,” Kent says.

And while there are heavy moments like this in the show, there is also laughter. “The world doesn’t need artists at this moment to tell everyone how shitty everything is — we already know that,” Kent says. “I hope that people leave our show feeling restored, that they’ve been able to laugh, that they’ve been able to feel that they’ve let something wash over them. That it gives them something to think about, but also that they can just kind of enjoy for the beauty that it is.”

Plus, for those looking to embrace the Pilobolus experience even further, the company is offering a free class, open to anyone, dancers and non-dancers alike, ages 14 and up. “It’s so much fun,” Kent says. “And it is not a class where anyone is asked to do movement that they’re gonna fail at. It’s a no-fail zone. … Like I said, we came out of non-dancers, so we know a thing or two about having people be comfortably out of their comfort zone and find ways to express themselves.” 

To register for the class or purchase tickets to the performance, visit the links below. 

Pilobolus Master Class, University of Memphis, Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., free.

Pilobolus, Germantown Performing Arts Center, Saturday, February 11, 8-10 p.m., $25-$75.

Categories
Music Music Features

Remembering Memphis’ Jazz Champion

Malvin Massey Jr. (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)

It was a momentous evening when Memphis-born jazz giant Charles Lloyd took to the stage Friday, November 4th at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC), but not just for the music. Before playing a note, Lloyd reminisced at length about his youth here, including his time at Manassas High School, where “Frank Strozier put the hurt on me,” as Lloyd said, by virtue of his better chops. But he also took a moment to reflect on a recently fallen friend, one who figured heavily in the local jazz scene for decades: Malvin Massey Jr. Lloyd, who said he spoke with Massey often in his comings and goings through Memphis. And GPAC executive director Paul Chandler even paid tribute to Massey’s manner of speaking, quoting words spoken at his funeral, “Jazz’s human voice was Malvin. Malvin Massey sounded like jazz.”

For countless Memphians over the decades, that was literally true, as his voice wove in with the music of WUMR, the University of Memphis’ jazz-oriented station. Massey, who died this October 29th, became the station’s general manager in 2009, but he’d already been involved with the station nearly 20 years by then, serving as volunteer DJ, music director, and program director over that time. And when Massey left the station in 2020, he carried on promoting what he often called “that classic African-American art form called jazz,” joining co-host Howard Robertson for the popular Kudzukian podcast, Riffin’ on Jazz.

“He told me some years ago that a fan described his voice as ‘a whiskey baritone,’” says Robertson, whose words on Massey’s voice at the funeral were quoted by Chandler. But Robertson personally remembers when Massey’s voice was likely only a pre-teen squeak. “Malvin and I go way back to junior high school. We went to seventh grade together at Corry Junior High, right here in Memphis. We both thought at the time that we were God’s gift to the saxophone, and we were fiercely competitive. Everybody back then was in a band; we were in bands from the time we were 12 years old.”

Massey kept playing music all his life, but he really built a career in radio. Robertson, also boasting years of experience in radio, observes that “he helped build WUMR into one of the best jazz stations in the country. It was absolutely one of the finest university-owned and operated radio stations anywhere.” Indeed, it was one of only eight such stations in the country and carries on today after its rebirth as WYXR, supported by a partnership between the university, Crosstown Concourse, and The Daily Memphian.

There, Massey became a trusted mentor to many. Social media comments upon the announcement of his death reflected as much. “If it wasn’t for Malvin and the chance he gave me at WUMR as a high school graduate, I may have never gone to the University of Memphis,” wrote one former associate. “He was a great guy and mentor to me,” wrote another.

More recently, Massey’s podcast work is distinctive; the fact that both he and Robertson played music all their lives gave Riffin’ on Jazz a unique spin right out of the gate, not least because the hosts interjected bits of jazz lore they’d picked up over the decades.

“That’s how we learned! And that’s why we were thrilled to be able to do the show like that,” Robertson says. “We learned about it at the feet of old guys — our daddies, our uncles, many older people. And we’re sitting on the floor in front of a stereo or hi-fi, reading the album covers, and they’re talking about the music and the artists. And in a lot of cases, they knew them because a lot of them were from Memphis or came through Memphis, so they might be telling stories about them and what-not. And we’d be listening to the music, becoming educated and informed about who was playing what on what album cuts. There was all that great information you could get at that time from the liner notes.”

Reflecting on his last, great collaboration with Massey, Robertson says, “We learned to play together; we learned music together. And to have the opportunity to get back together and do this show, in our seasoned stage of life, was an incredible privilege to me. We had a great time.”

His gratitude echoes the words Massey spoke so often on the air, signing off from a program: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”

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Music Music Blog

Charles Lloyd to Showcase Trio with Anthony Wilson at GPAC

Charles Lloyd (Photo courtesy Forest Farm Music + Art)

It’s not every day one gets to swap emails with a living, breathing creative dynamo like Memphis native Charles Lloyd. But it’s not every day that finds him poised for what looks to be a euphoric homecoming, where Lloyd will rejoin an erstwhile collaborator who was living in Memphis recently, the phenomenal guitarist Anthony Wilson. Local music fans are already abuzz with news of their appearance at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC) on November 4th.

Wilson, a Crosstown Arts Resident Composer in 2021, made a resounding impression on the Memphis jazz scene while visiting here, sitting in with many artists even as he appeared in shows of his own. And, as he explains in a recent Facebook post, an extended stay here resonated deeply with his family history:

Since 2018 I’ve been working on a project of music & photography inspired by my family history in the Mississippi Delta, as well as other histories and vibrations centered in that most essential American space. I’ve been missing being there since my last visit in May. I’ll be so happy to return to the Delta at the end of this month for a few days, just before a tour w/ Charles Lloyd, who was born and raised in Memphis—the northern entry point to the Delta—and also shares deep history in Mississippi. It feels symbolic that we’ll play our first show of our tour in Memphis, and that we can begin by communing with the energies and voices of the lands and the waters and the endless skies and the ancestors who speak to and through us.

To learn more about their collaboration, and Lloyd’s own roots here, I reached out to the saxophone and flute master via email, where we conducted an interview-by-correspondence. What follows is a glimpse into the creative process of one of jazz’s greatest living innovators.

Memphis Flyer: Blue Note has recently released your Trio of Trios album set. What are your feelings about the trio as an intentional approach to music? Many fellow jazz players feel that there’s something charmed about a trio in particular. And that form has a charmed history in jazz, from Jimmy Giufre’s albums, to Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West, and beyond. What are some great examples of trios that have inspired you?

Charles Lloyd: Maestro Rollins’ Way Out West is great, as is Giufre. When I was a young man in NYC I used to play opposite Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard. I have always loved his trios, but especially the one with my friend Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. The trio format gives a lot of space to the music. 

How did the Ocean album specifically come about? Anthony Wilson was a resident artist here at Crosstown Arts not long ago, and the Memphis music world was quite inspired by him.

The Ocean Trio, which is the second trio in the Trio of Trios trilogy, was recorded in the one hundred and fifty-year-old Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, California. I have performed there more than any other venue in the world — so it was very relaxed, kind of like my extended living room. The concert was live-streamed in September 2020, during the pandemic, so there is no audience. I asked Gerald Clayton to join me on piano — he has been touring and recording with me since 2013. And I invited Anthony Wilson on guitar, they both live in L.A. and were easily able to make the drive up. They both happen to be sons of famous musician fathers — Gerald is the son of bass legend John Clayton, while Anthony is the son of celebrated band leader, trumpeter, composer and arranger with strong Memphis roots, Gerald Wilson. When I moved from Memphis to Los Angeles to go to the University of Southern California (USC), I played lead alto in Gerald Wilson’s Big Band. So having Anthony playing with me now is like coming full circle. He is also a great composer and arranger. 

Who will be playing in your trio at GPAC on November 4th?

At GPAC, Anthony and I will be joined by an amazing bass player, Harish Raghavan. Harish has a big rich sound and he has an ability to propel the music forward. 

When I was recording The Water Is Wide, one of the engineers told me how much Anthony Wilson loved my playing. “You should hear him sometime,” he said. I didn’t know Anthony at that time; we had never met. But the fact that he was Gerald’s son meant a lot to me. Eventually we met, and then later, I heard him play (he also has a great singing voice!). He has been touring with Diana Krall for the last 15 years or so and has an extremely busy schedule. Covid slowed things down and gave us the perfect opportunity to get together. We are continuing to forge a path together in the music. Anthony has been exploring his Memphis roots in recent years, so it feels appropriate that we will launch the start of this tour here in Memphis at GPAC.

You’re known for your innovation, and collaborations outside of the jazz world. As someone who evolves so relentlessly, how does it feel to be bringing your newest music to Memphis? You’ve explored so many styles since you left your hometown. Are there still echoes of your earliest playing in what you play today?

I’m in service. Music was always my inspiration and consolation — I hope I can bring that to someone and lift them up. Nancy Wilson called me a bluesman on a spiritual journey. The blues are in my DNA but I’m also an explorer looking for that perfect sound. The sound that will allow me to put my horn down and go back into the woods. But the Lord has this carrot he dangles in front of me… “Not yet Charles, not yet. Just a little bit further.”

The Charles Lloyd Trio will play GPAC on Friday, November 4, 8 p.m. Click here for tickets.

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Music Music Features

Terrance Simien Brings Zydeco to GPAC with a Special Guest: His Daughter

Terrance Simien (Photo: Courtesy Terrance Simien)

The zydeco tradition is to evolve,” Terrance Simien tells me. It’s a refreshing idea in a genre that’s so identified with roots music that purists of all kinds gravitate toward it, and that unique reading of the tradition will take center stage when Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience appear at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC) this Saturday.

“You’ve got a lot of people that hear zydeco music from a certain period, and think, ‘Oh, if it doesn’t sound like that, it’s not zydeco.’ But when I listen to zydeco music as a whole, I’ve always heard an expansion. Every zydeco artist has their own interpretation of the music, in their own voice.”

It’s a lesson that Simien learned right out of the gate, when he was still a teenager, unexpectedly catapulted from his hometown of Mallet, Louisiana, into the world of rock royalty. “My career started out like this,” he explains. “I did two 45s that I produced myself, released in 1982 and 1983. I was still a kid. Around that time, Paul Simon was thinking, ‘I’ve got to have a zydeco song on my next record.’ It was before he was even calling it Graceland. So he had Dickie Landry find three bands to do a session with him, and my band was one of them. In the end, he decided that we weren’t gonna make the album, but he wanted to do something special for us. So I recorded this Clifton Chenier song, ‘You Used to Call Me,’ and Paul went back and put these five-part harmonies on it, making it sound like Simon & Garfunkel! To hear Paul take a zydeco song and bring it into that world, I couldn’t sleep for days with all the ideas I got from what he did. That was in 1985, and I’ve been on the road ever since.”

Simien kept evolving, and so did his brand of zydeco. Many of his mentors were not zydeco artists at all. “I was mentored by some of the best. In addition to John Delafose and Clifton Chenier, Dr. John, Art Neville, Allen Toussaint, Dickie Landry, and Taj Mahal all mentored me,” he says. “Every last one of them did their best to help me any way they could. My mission now is to pay it forward and do the same with younger artists. I’m nowhere near the level those guys were and will never be, but I see it as a mission. My wife and I have a nonprofit called Music Matters, and we try to mentor people in the business.”

He also pays special attention to bringing his history and music to much younger folks, and he’ll be hosting a kid-friendly matinee show on Friday, October 21st, at 10 a.m., where children are encouraged to dance and sing along. He’ll also bring a strong family vibe to his Saturday show, where his daughter, local singer/songwriter Marcella Simien, will make a cameo. Seeing her thrive here is one reason Simien is especially fond of Memphis.

“I can’t thank Memphis enough for embracing my daughter like they did,” he says. “Marcella has seen what a roller coaster the music business is, but she’s embraced it. That’s what she wanted to do. She went to the Memphis College of Art, and what an awesome school. That’s where she learned to have confidence in being creative, knowing what it takes, that it’s a process.”

But Marcella won’t be his only guest: Drummer George Receli will also make an appearance. “At 17, George left Hammond, Louisiana, to tour with Edgar and Johnny Winter,” says Simien. “Since then, he’s played with Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, James Brown, Keith Richards, and many others. I’m even going to do a little interview — he has these amazing stories. And we’re going to play together. He played on and produced our last record that won a Grammy, Dockside Sessions.”

Ultimately, reflecting on his daughter’s cameo, Simien is encouraged by zydeco’s continued appeal to young people. “Because the music evolves,” he says, “it connects with the youth of today. We’re not just doing this to keep it alive; we’re doing it because it is alive.”

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Music Music Features

Chuck Leavell: Bringing Music and Tales from a Rock-and-Roll Life to GPAC, Mempho

Chuck Leavell (Photo: Courtesy Chuck Leavell)

Flailing musicians take heart at this tale: Chuck Leavell, a keyboardist of no small accomplishment, hit a rough patch at the turn of the 1980s. As he neared the age of 30, the best option in his life seemed to be … farming? Granted, he loved the tree farm near Macon, Georgia, that he’d settled on. But, as his wife Rose Lane notes in The Tree Man, a documentary on Leavell’s life, “Chuck comes in; he’s kind of downtrodden a little bit because his life isn’t going the way he wanted it to. He said, ‘I’m just gonna not do my piano. I’m just gonna have a farm; We’re gonna live out here on the farm, everything’s gonna be great.’ And I’m going, ‘No, it’s not going to be like that.’” Rose Lane knew something Leavell didn’t: She’d received a phone call earlier, arranging to have Leavell audition for the Rolling Stones.

Now Leavell has been with the band 40 years, and his penchant for organization has paid off. “I began taking copious amounts of notes,” he says in the film of his early days with the Stones. “Eventually they gave me the moniker of musical director. I kinda scoff at that because Mick and Keith are the musical directors.”

And yet, as the Stones’ Ronnie Wood himself admits on camera, “He’s indispensable — an indispensable part of our setup.”

Nevertheless, the Rolling Stones are but one chapter in the storied life’s journey that Leavell has pursued. Most listeners know his work, if not his name, via recordings by the Allman Brothers Band at their peak, namely the piano-laden instrumental, “Jessica.” But there has been so much more. That’s the point of a special event at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC) on Thursday, September 29th: to explore every angle of a very multifaceted life.

Reached by phone at his tree farm, Leavell describes the unique experience in store that night. “I have a recent documentary out called The Tree Man, and we’re going to show about a 30-minute version of it, to get people warmed up to who I am, what I do, and see some of the comments that some of my fellow artists have been kind enough to make about me,” Leavell says. “After that, I’ll come onstage with a moderator, Matt Ross-Spang, and Matt will cue me with some questions. We’ll discuss some specific parts of the career and the fact that I’ve worked with the Stones for 40 years and had the pleasure of working with Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and other artists. So, we’ll tell some stories along the way, and that segment will probably be an hour. The audience is welcome to ask any questions. Then we’ll wrap it up with a song. I think it’s going to make for a really fun night.”

Lest readers think he will be speaking more than playing, note that Leavell will have a piano nearby for the proceedings. “For instance,” he says, “when we talk about Eric Clapton, I’ll do a song from when I worked with him. When we talk about the Stones, I’ll do a song or two I did with them. I’ll even play some Allman Brothers and Sea Level. I’ll play at least one song for every period of my life represented, and tell some stories along the way.”

While Leavell first cut his teeth in the Muscle Shoals area as a teenager, he says Memphis has always had a special place in his heart. “I just love being in Memphis,” he says. “The history speaks for itself. The music is all over the place. During the inaugural Mempho Festival five years ago, we did a presentation called Stone’s Throw, which is some of the side men from the Rolling Stones — Bernard Fowler, Lisa Fischer, myself, and Tim Ries on sax. We did an all-Stones set at the first Mempho. I’ve had a lot of great experiences in Memphis.”

Speaking of the Mempho Music Festival (running from September 30th through October 2nd), Leavell lets it be known that he won’t be leaving Memphis right away after his GPAC appearance. “I’ll be hanging out the next couple of days because Mempho is going on,” he says. “And I’ll be making some surprise appearances on Friday and Saturday with some bands. I’ll be looking forward to that as well.”

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Music Music Features

Iris Blooms and Keeps Blooming

Awadagin Pratt (Photo: Courtesy of Iris Orchestra)

The Iris Orchestra’s closing concert of the 2021-2022 season, on April 23rd and 24th, was nearly its swan song. For a moment, it appeared that the much-loved collection of virtuosos from around the world, who gather in Memphis for a few select concerts every year, was unsustainable. The notion was deeply troubling for founder and conductor Michael Stern, but he wanted to do the moment justice. “We expressly chose Beethoven’s 5th Symphony because we thought for a moment that we’d be suspending operations, and that this would have been our last concert ever,” says Stern. “I wanted to bring full closure. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony closed our very first concert ever, in 2000. So I thought, if this is going to be our last concert, let it also feature the piece that closed our first concert. But with joy I can say that Iris is not going away!”

As it turns out, Iris will stick around, albeit in new form. After the upcoming concerts, Iris Orchestra will be known as the Iris Collective. “The musicians themselves grouped together, committed to the idea that they simply would not let Iris go away. It was absolutely musician driven. And Iris will continue on. It’s going to have a different feel. I will be less involved, and it will be an amalgam of ensembles, chamber music, orchestra concerts, and new ways of imagining community engagement,” Stern says.

The fortuitous change will be foreshadowed by Iris’ chamber music concert on April 24th. “It’s entirely Iris musicians playing Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat Major, and it’s a fantastic group. It gives a little taste of what the Iris Collective is going to be about.”

Reinvention is par for the course for an organization that’s been dedicated to reimagining music from the beginning, founded to be “an ensemble for the 21st century — flexible, non-hierarchical, and passionate about the highest standards of performance.” And, as Stern sees it, this season’s last program embodies all of Iris’ ideals at once. “We have a wonderful piece from the 20th century, not one but two new pieces by essential American composers, and then an iconic work from the canon. That, in a nutshell, is what Iris is about.”

Stern is especially enthusiastic about the new works. “When we started Iris 22 years ago,” says Stern, “the express intention was, in part, to nurture and promote the music of our time, especially American composers. So this is quite a lovely thing, to have a co-commissioning relationship with two pieces in the program.

“Jonathan Leshnoff has been a great partner and friend to us since we commissioned him to write his first symphony, which was a companion piece to Beethoven’s 9th. This new piece was written to commemorate our 20th anniversary in 2020, which is why he called the piece Score. It’s not only a reference to sheet music, it also means 20 years. Since the premiere got delayed by two years because of Covid, this is a long overdue and very welcome performance.

“And Jessie Montgomery is one of the most compelling voices of the last two or three years, for good reason,” Stern continues. “I’ve done quite a few of Jessie’s works now. This piece especially, Rounds for Piano and String Orchestra, is playful and dancing and really lovely. Awadagin Pratt is making his solo piano debut with us on Jessie’s piece, which she wrote specifically for him. He is a force. A wonderful pianist, a wonderful musician.”

That forward-thinking spirit is also apparent in the classics Iris will present on April 23rd, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, Op. 25, the “Classical.” Stern describes the latter piece as “turning a Haydn symphony on its ear. Through the prism of the early 20th century, Prokofiev writes this really tongue-in-cheek and wonderfully energetic music, doing something new. Beethoven, in his time, was also doing something new. He often said he was writing music for the future. Prokofiev was writing at the dawn of the 20th century, and Beethoven was writing at the dawn of the 19th century. And both were trying to find a new way of speaking in the world.”

Iris Orchestra, featuring Awadagin Pratt, piano, presents Where Past & Future Gather, Saturday, April 23rd, 7:30 p.m. at GPAC; and Iris at the Brooks: Beethoven, Sunday, April 24th, 3 p.m. at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

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Music Music Blog

lris Orchestra to Close

(Credit: Courtesy Iris Orchestra)

The Iris Orchestra will come to an end after the 2021-2022 season.

A press release issued Monday said that in the past 18 months, the orchestra had “confronted significant financial and operational challenges.” It also said the organization was facing “the inevitable and formidable task of transitioning in the near future to new artistic and executive leadership, while also grappling with the additional burdens and restrictions of Covid-19 in an altered philanthropic environment.”

The final concerts will be the weekend of April 23-24, 2022. That program will include Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony — the work Iris played during its inaugural concert 22 years ago.

The 2021-2022 season will continue as planned, including all GPAC and Brooks Museum concerts, and all scheduled community engagements.

Iris Orchestra began in September 2000 as an experiment, founded by Michael Stern and Albert Pertalion in partnership with the City of Germantown. The organization transitioned from a municipally funded orchestra to an independent organization funded primarily by private contributions and institutional grants.

It was noted for its unusual structure that brought in orchestra members from around the country and abroad for a handful of performances every year, mainly at the Germantown Performing Arts Center. The roster of guest artists has included some of the world’s top performers.

Under Stern’s leadership, the orchestra made several recordings, performed new as well as old reliable works, and commissioned works by American composers. It also was involved in community arts education, including establishment of the Iris Artists Fellowship Program.

Yo-Yo Ma was the first soloist in the group’s inaugural concert and he appeared with Iris again 10 years later. Other luminaries who performed with Irish include Yefim Bronfman, Garrick Ohlsson, Emanuel Ax, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Commissioned composers include Anna Clyne, Chris Brubeck, Jonathan Leshnoff, Ned Rorem, Huang Ruo, and Edgar Meyer.

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Film Features Film/TV

Alex Greene’s New Live Score for Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman Debuts at GPAC

In January 2020, Alex Greene, joined by his jazz band The Rolling Head Orchestra and members of the Blueshift Ensemble, did something extraordinary: They performed original live scores to the silent films A Trip to the Moon and Aelita: Queen of Mars. Back in the first decades of the 20th century, people did it all the time, mostly organists in movie palaces, but occasionally with full ensembles. In the days before sound recording, some more elaborate film productions even came with their own sheet music for the score. 

These days, it’s pretty rare, except for groups like the Alloy Orchestra, who have made a career out of performing live scores for films like Metropolis and Phantom of the Opera at film festivals. Just before the pandemic started, Crosstown Arts had commissioned a series of live scores in their new Crosstown Theater, where Greene was artist in residence at the time. “It was kind of the culmination of my residency at Crosstown Arts, and it was great, because they made everything very easy.” 

“Very easy” is relative when you’re talking about writing original music for a 12-piece ensemble, including a theremin, that’s designed to sync up perfectly with a moving image. “It’s very different from recording a soundtrack,” says Greene. “You have the whole process of editing to make sure it all syncs up, but in this case, you’re just ‘Once more unto the breach!’ You’re launched into it and by the seat of your pants, hoping you can keep up with the movie, because there’s no pausing … I really wanted it to sync up with the emotional cues of the movie in a very precise way, as if you were watching a film with a pre-recorded soundtrack. That ambition made for a lot more work for all of us.” 

Greene and the orchestra’s performance drew raves from the Crosstown audience, and the musician-turned-composer really wanted to jump into the breach again when COVID shut down the theater. He saw a new opportunity at Germantown Performing Arts Center’s new outdoor venue, The Grove, which features a massive video screen behind the stage. “I pitched to them back in January, and we went back and forth a lot about the best time to do it. At the time it seemed like summer was the best bet in terms of COVID, partly because the virus supposedly recedes in the heat somewhat, but also just we assumed once a vaccine became available everyone would be vaccinated by now. In any case, it is an outdoor venue, so even as early as January, we felt pretty safe in moving forward with a big concert like this.” 

Greene says when it came time to choose a film, he wanted to “find something dark.” But GPAC director Paul Chandler disagreed. “People are emerging from a very dark year and a half, so let’s do something lighthearted,” Greene says. “I’ve always loved Buster Keaton, so I immediately saw what Buster Keaton films were being distributed by GPAC’s distributor, and the only one was The Cameraman, which I had never seen,” says Greene. “I looked it over and I loved it. I was like ‘Wow, why don’t more people know about this one?’ People know about The General, or Our Hospitality, or Steamboat Bill Jr., but this one is lesser-known, and in a way, that’s better for this kind of project. You’re seeing the film and the music in a very fresh way.” 

The Cameraman is considered to be the last film of Keaton’s golden age, where he made incredible strides in big screen comedy and action in the mid-1920s. Keaton, who was used to total creative control, had just gotten a lucrative contract with MGM when he directed and starred in the comedy about a newsreel cameraman trying to impress a female co-worker — and failing spectacularly. It would be the last film Keaton fully controlled. Afterwards, MGM executives clamped down on the auteur’s perceived excesses; later, Keaton would say signing with MGM was the biggest mistake he ever made.

Green wrote the new score for the same band who played in January 2020: Carl Caspersen on bass, Mark Franklin on trumpet, Tom Lonardo on drums, Jim Spake on reed instruments, John Whittemore on pedal steel, and Jenny Davis and Delara Hashemi of the Blueshift Ensemble on flute, Jonathan Kirkscey on cello, Jessica Munson on violin, and Susanna Whitney on bassoon. “Once again, I have this wonderful theremin player from Florence, Alabama, Kate Tayler Hunt, who used to be the concertmaster at the Shoals Symphony. An injury prevented her from continuing as a violinist, so she pivoted and put all her conservatory training into the theremin. She has a very precise ear, and unlike a lot of people who play theremin for texture or sound effects, she can play melodies very accurately, and that just takes it to a whole other level.”

But before the players can bring the magic to The Grove, Greene has to write it down. “I’m scoring as we speak!” he says. “It’s really incredible, it’s a new thing to me. I started doing it in earnest with last year’s live score. Sure, I would write chord changes and lead sheets for my jazz group, but to actually score every note that everyone plays in a 12-piece group, and then to hear them execute it almost perfectly in the first rehearsal … it’s breathtaking!” 

The audience will get to see Alex Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra with the Blueshift Ensemble and Kate Tayler Hunt’s live score of Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman at The Grove at GPAC on Saturday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. Greene says he hopes there are many other opportunities in the future to breathe new life into silent classics.