Tag: Levitt Shell

Categories
News News Blog

Levitt Shell Vandalized

The Levitt Shell, the historic public venue in Overton Park, was vandalized last night, Monday, August 31st. Messages like “eat the rich” were spray-painted on the venue, which has remained closed due to coronavirus concerns during what would be its usual summer and fall concert series schedule.

Natalie Wilson, executive director of the Levitt Shell, says it was a tough message to wake up to on 901 Day, when she had planned to use her resources to celebrate the city.

“I understand some of these messages. I can’t say I understand everything because that would be acting as if I can walk in everyone’s shoes. I can’t. However, I’m empathetic,” Wilson says. “As you read it all, it’s language of pain, it’s frustration. ‘End homelessness.’”

Wilson continues: “While I will not allow the Shell to be used as a platform — we’re for everyone — I want the Shell to be a part of the conversation that has to happen. The conversation about how communication can start the process of healing. We need to start that dialogue in a much stronger way, and I believe the Shell can be a part of that.”

“What is wellness? That doesn’t just mean health,” she says, citing emotional health, psychological health, and civic responsibility as vital to both a person’s and a city’s overall health. “We are a public gathering space that has a responsibility to that. We have a deeper responsibility, and we did when we were built in 1936. Our responsibility was to build morale, to bring our city back from the Great Depression.”

The venue’s executive director reminds the Shell’s supporters that, as with all venues for performing arts, the Shell has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. “This is the most devastating year of our history. Tonight we were going to be lighting the Shell red as a reminder that we need help. This is a red alert time.”

So what will they do about the graffiti? Wilson says they can’t just slap up a new coat of paint. “Here’s the tricky thing with a historic landmark,” she says. “We have to be very careful in the way we do it.”

The vandalism is a potentially expensive hurdle in a year that has, thus far, been filled with complications and hurdles. Still, Wilson remains hopeful for the venue’s future and aware of its responsibility to the community it serves. “We’re hopeful to come back in ’21,” she says, adding: “If the public wants to provide me feedback, guidance, I’m a public servant.”


Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Levitt Shell Offers Health and Wellness Series

The historic Levitt Shell has joined forces with Baptist Memorial Health Care to provide a health and wellness series. The online programming features yoga, Pilates, mental fitness, healthy recipes, and more offerings geared toward wellness, prevention, and community health.

While the partnership might seem unlikely at first glance, Levitt Shell executive director Natalie Wilson says the series fits perfectly with the organization’s mission to build community through music and education.

“We believe that as a public gathering space, we have an ethical responsibility to the health of our community, especially during a global pandemic,” says Wilson.

Sumits Yoga partners for health series

Ann Marie Wallace, senior community outreach coordinator for Baptist Memorial Health Care mirrors Wilson’s sentiments: “We are excited to partner with Levitt Shell on this free interactive health and wellness program for our community. Being able to stay active is more important than ever during this global pandemic.”

The healthy living programming is streamed through Facebook Live and other platforms to support ways to make a healthy lifestyle accessible for all. According to Wallace, the virtual aspect “can help reduce barriers to healthy living.”

The unique programming is suitable for the entire family and features other partners, including Sumits Yoga, Art of Living Foundation, and Edible Memphis. Times will vary. The full schedule can be found on the Levitt Shell website and Facebook page. This week’s programming will feature Morning Yoga and Pilates, in partnership with Sumits Yoga, on Saturday and Food Science 4 Kids, in partnership with Edible Memphis.

If you are interested in sponsoring an upcoming class or have another idea for programming, please contact Lauren Veline via email at lauren@levittshell.org.

levittshell.org, Visit the Levitt Shell website or Facebook page, full schedule offered every Saturday and Sunday through August, Free.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Levitt Shell’s Orion Concert Series, Shell Streams

Jesse Davis

Levitt Shell


The forecast this weekend calls for clear skies and moderate temperatures. If this were any other year, thousands of Memphians would probably be daydreaming about nights on the lawn at the Levitt Shell in Overton Park. But COVID-19 means that Levitt Shell executive director Natalie Wilson was forced to make some tough decisions.

“The Levitt Shell is on pause indefinitely,” Wilson says. “We hope to play on the stage again when it’s safe for all, but we’re going to take a proactive approach to opening.”

“We’re an open-air amphitheater. There are many ways to come into the venue, and social distancing at the Shell would be very difficult,” Wilson says. “If we put a fence around the Shell and say, ‘Okay, the first 500 get in and no more,’ well, that’s not meeting our mission of inclusivity, of open space, common ground, the diverse audience that we inspire.”

Wilson knows how important it is to keep the music going, but the health and safety of the community, performers, her staff, and volunteers has to be the first priority. “Right now, we’re focusing on the people first.”

[pullquote-1]

To combat the quarantine blues, Wilson says, “We created the Orion Virtual Concert Series, which launched in April. We’re launching some of the greatest hits from our past, and we showcase them on Facebook Live.” The Levitt Shell has footage of more than 500 full-length concerts performed in that historic Midtown amphitheater, and they are broadcasting the archival footage Friday nights. The performances will stream at 7:30 p.m. Central, to coincide with the start time for the Shell’s live shows in the past. 

Levitt Shell Executive Director Natalie Wilson

“When we put this out, we were thinking about our local community,” Wilson explains, but she adds, “We’re seeing people from all over the world joining us.” And why not? Already in May, the Orion Virtual Concert Series has shown a 2019 Delhi 2 Dublin concert, and this week’s show will feature genre-spanning pianist Charlie Wood. May’s shows will culminate with a 2016 concert by Memphis indie band Snowglobe on Friday, May 29th. (It was excellent. I was there.)

And as spring rolls into summer, in addition to the Friday-night archival shows, Wilson and her colleagues at the Shell will introduce live-streamed content on Saturdays. “We’re excited that on June 5th we’re going to be launching a second day of programming, which will be full-length live broadcast concerts. We’re calling them Shell Streams.”

“It’s a place that inspires community,” Wilson says of the Levitt Shell, which means her responsibility to the health and welfare of Memphis is doubly important. That’s why Wilson is committed to a data-driven plan to reopen the Shell — once there’s no question that it will be a safe and inviting environment for all music lovers.

Until then, she says, she just hopes that Memphians remember one thing. “We love our community,” Wilson says. “And we will be back.”


Categories
Music Music Blog

Wilco to Play Levitt Shell in First Fundraiser of the Year

Wilco

The band Wilco has longstanding ties to the Bluff City, reaching back to their 1994 debut, A.M., recorded at Easley-McCain Studio.

Even then, in their alt-country days, they displayed a reliable knack for both classic songwriting and sonic experimentation: a perfect fit with that renowned Memphis studio in its heyday. That such a spirit has remained and evolved with the band over the course of 10 subsequent studio albums is a testament to their collective restlessness with indie-pop conventions.

While the group has seen personnel changes over that time — a stable lineup featuring Nels Cline, Mikael Jorgensen, Glenn Kotche, Patrick Sansone, John Stirratt, and, of course, singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy — it has endured since 2004. Now, in the wake of a marked ramping-up of Jeff Tweedy solo albums, they’re touring to support 2019’s Ode to Joy, which strikes a middle ground between the solo Tweedy’s more stripped-down approach and the wider sonic palette of previous Wilco albums.

Mellotron Variations at the Solid Sound Festival, 2019 (L-R, Pat Sansone, Robby Grant, Jonathan Kirkscey)

The band’s spirit of sonic exploration has lately infused the most recent Memphis/Wilco cross-pollination, in the form of the Mellotron Variations group, an ensemble of Mellotron players founded here by Robby Grant and Jonathan Kirkscey, which has grown to include John Medeski and Wilco’s Pat Sansone. The group’s concerts and rehearsals have made Sansone a more regular visitor from his home in Nashville, and when they played Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival in Massachusetts last year, the sympatico between Wilco and Memphis’ flair for the unconventional was sealed.

Thus, Wilco’s upcoming performance at the Levitt Shell on April 14th (just announced Tuesday) has a certain resonance with the Memphis music scene. Part of the Shell Yeah! Benefit Concert Series held at the iconic outdoor stage every year, this will precede the Shell’s regular Summer Orion Free Music Concert Series as a rare ticketed event — one of four this year — designed to raise funds for the many free concerts staged by the Levitt Shell.

Shell Yeah! Presents Wilco, Levitt Shell, Tuesday, April 14. 8:00 pm. Tickets on pre-sale February 5, public sale February 7.

Categories
Music Music Blog

North Mississippi Allstars Shine for Capacity Crowd at Levitt Shell Opener

Cody & Luther Dickinson

The Orion Free Music Concert Series kicked off its summer season last night with a stellar homecoming for the North Mississippi Allstars. Now in its 11th year of free concerts at the Levitt Shell, the series has a tantalizing lineup for every Thursday–Sunday between now and July 21. And it’s hard to imagine a better inaugural show than what the Allstars delivered.

One could just barely maneuver through the crowd on the fringes of the shell’s seating area, so dense was the sea of humanity in attendance. Though the forecast had threatened rain, there was only the coolness of a storm that never was. And in that idyllic corner of Overton Park, Luther and Cody Dickinson, with a shifting cast of band members, gave everyone a guided technicolor tour of the region’s history of rhythms and riffs.

Now, a generation after Jim Dickinson, Sid Selvidge, Lee Baker, and Jimmy Crosswaith (and many others) used their Memphis Country Blues Festivals, also at the shell, to build a bridge between the counterculture and North Mississippi blues artists, the musical hybrid they championed is an institution of sorts. The Allstars presided over a loose-limbed expression of city pride and good will from all walks of life; if Dickinson the Elder proclaimed that “world boogie is coming,” one could safely say last night that world boogie had arrived. 

More than just the blues was celebrated through the set. Shardé Thomas, inheritor of her grandfather Othar Turner’s legacy of fife and drum corps music, joined the band for some songs. Jimmy Crosswaith himself was on hand, bringing with him the good ol’ hippy values of peace, love, and understanding, and a healthy serving of traditional folk, on both washboard and more idiosyncratic percussive inventions. Cody, for his part, took up the washboard as well, but with a tweaked approach involving his deft use of effects pedals. “It sounded like tap dancing on amphetamines… with echo!” exclaimed longtime music fan Jeff Green.

Cody’s multi-instrumentalism shone during an extended drumless jam between the brothers involving fluid dual-guitar harmonies that built into a rocking crescendo. And stylistically, the band’s rock and blues originals sat comfortably with their takes on old chestnuts like “Shake ‘Em On Down” or “Down By the Riverside,” with the latter featuring finely layered gospel harmonies from the brothers and guest singers.

As Luther notes on the band website, “I think it’s our responsibility to the community that brought us up to protect the repertoire. To keep the repertoire alive and vibrant. That’s what folk music is about. It’s an oral history of America. My dad and his friends, they learned from Furry Lewis and Gus Cannon and Will Shade and then taught those songs to us. It’s important for us to write songs and experiment and do other things, but playing our community’s music in a modern way is what Cody and I do best. I think it’s what we were meant to do.”

Revel In Dimes

The night seemed reluctant to end, with the encore extending well past the scheduled wrap-up time of 9 p.m. True lovers of music and leisure could well have simply stayed put in the grass, as it will all begin again this evening and carry on through the summer. Revel In Dimes will take the stage tonight, followed by River Whyless tomorrow and Memphis’ own Talibah Safiya on Sunday. For the summer series’ full schedule and details on the artists, visit the Levitt Shell events page.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Kelley Anderson & the Crystal Shrine Play Shangri-La’s 30th Anniversary

It’s fitting that this Thursday’s celebration of Shangri-La Records‘ 30th Anniversary, at the Levitt Shell, will feature an artist whose first glimpse of Memphis was in the store itself. Kelley Anderson was a key player in the Nashville folk/country/punk group Those Darlins, starting about a decade ago, and, having first played here on Shangri-La’s porch, felt such a strong affinity for Memphis that she ended up moving here permanently. In recent years, she’s been known for the country/western/rock/pop sounds of her group, the Crystal Shrine. I asked her a bit about the evolution of the group, and where they’re headed musically.

Memphis Flyer: It seems you’ll have a bigger version of the band than ever at Thursday’s show, with Jana Misener and Krista Wroten Combest on cello and violin, Jesse Davis on guitar, Seth Moody on keyboards, Andrew Geraci on bass, and drummer Matthew Berry. Is this a new lineup for the Crystal Shrine?

Jamie Harmon

Kelley Anderson

Kelley Anderson: It’s not really a new lineup. The rock band that plays with me, I’ve played with them quite a bit, as well as with Jana and Krista. But this show is the first opportunity to finally put the whole band together: to have the rock band with strings added, and to have a little bit wider instrumentation. Because I have a really good rapport and history playing with Seth and Jesse. Those are my bros. And the same with Krista and Jana. We did the Harbor Town Amphitheater fund-raiser for the Montessori School last March, and we did that as a trio, and we’ve performed a couple other times as a trio. And then more recently, I’ve added Andrew Geraci and Matthew Berry as my consistent bass and drums.

This Levitt Shell show has been really instrumental in helping pull together some of those loose ends and really inspire me to get all of it together. I’ve been really focused on writing, and really focused on the music, and making art music, and not as much on delivery, or marketing, or publicity. You know, all of that business. It’s so cool that Shangri-La asked me to play for their 30th anniversary, because one of the first shows that I ever played in Memphis was on the porch there. It may have been the first show Those Darlins played in Memphis, on the porch at Shangri-La. And that was 10 years ago. So I’m super proud of them for keeping everything running. I firmly believe in the importance of having a local record store in your community, and the ways the store supports the community and the way the community supports the store. It’s an integral part of the music community in Memphis. I’m super proud of all the work that Jared McStay and John Miller and crew are doing over there.
Jamie Harmon

Crystal Shrine as a trio, with (l-r) Jana Misener, Kelley Anderson, & Krista Wroten Combest.


You’ve been working with the Crystal Shrine for some time now. Has the sound evolved in new directions with all these players?

I’m exploring a lot of similar themes, such as redemption and guilt, oppression and liberation, salvation, grace, forgiveness. I’ve been recording some music over at High Low, so I’ve got some new stuff in the works. But no rush to get a ton of it out there. I just got two of the mixes mastered, and I’ve got the new track “Benny” uploaded to my Bandcamp site. All proceeds from the track go to Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities (YEAH!), an organization I founded in 2006 to amplify the voices of young people. It’s the organization that provides the Southern Girls Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp.

I also do more experimental pieces, like this take on the folk song “Worried Man Blues.” I loop the song on a nylon folk guitar and layer harmonies and manipulate the song using a 4-track and pedals. I performed it at Marshall Arts and my friend sent a video he took with his iPhone. Then I manipulated the video to reiterate the time travel aspect and duality of past/present idea I was trying to work out through the audio.

Kelley Anderson & the Crystal Shrine Play Shangri-La’s 30th Anniversary

I’m just writing songs, and whatever the song needs is the instrumentation. I’m thinking of it kinda song first. It’s got kind of a Southern psychedelic vibe to it. Kind of Spaghetti Western, like Morricone. I’m really interested in film and making music for films, and also using a lot of visual elements with music. In fact, film maker Brian Pera and I have a residency at Crosstown Arts starting next fall. We’ll be using some of this material that I’m currently recording, and working on images and video pieces to go with it.

So was it a conscious decision on your part to move away from the sound of Those Darlings?

Not as much the sound of Those Darlins, because I still have all of those same influences. Everything from traditional country music to psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll to noise music and experimental forms of music. It was more a conscious decision to move away from the industry. Nashville’s very much a music industry town, and Memphis is a music town. And I really wanted to explore music as an artist, and not think of it so commercially.

It’s been useful for me to disentangle the two, and not think about commercial viability or how it’s gonna get marketed, or any of that. Ultimately, I’d love for people to hear it, and use those opportunities in any way I can to support other aspects of the community, or lift up voices that are marginalized. And I think when you’re not as focused on it commercially, sometimes that can allow you to do that more.

And Memphis has been really receptive and wonderful. There are lots of weirdos and people doing outsider art and music here. And I appreciate that energy and that undercurrent. And the amount of support that everyone has provided. There’s so many opportunities to collaborate with people. More projects than you ever would possibly have time for. 

Those Darlins

Part of that goes back to ten years ago, and Those Darlins playing in Memphis. I mean, Memphis really embraced us, whereas Nashville was just confused by us. So this really felt like a second home, and at times like a first home for us and for our music and for our vibe and energy. I recall always feeling very accepted here, and have been in love with Memphis for a long time. And so, getting to actually reside here and work and collaborate with other people in the Memphis music community has been a real blessing.

It’s really special and an honor to collaborate with Krista and Jana. They’re exceptional musicians in their own right. But the ultimate goal was always to bring it together under one roof, and have this larger instrumentation. This is the first gig opportunity that has provided the stage and the resources that would accommodate that size of a group. That band lineup doesn’t really work at Bar DKDC, you know? And I can’t say enough about Shangri-La sponsoring and underwriting the show and making those resources available.

I’m also very grateful to the Memphis music community, and to the Levitt Shell and people who have revitalized that space, and people that support live music there. And Shangri-La is a big part of that community. It’s all very connected for me. And I’m very grateful to get to play on the same stage that so many historical, amazing musical acts have performed on. That’s a real treat and a real honor.

Categories
Music Music Blog

September Brings Cool Outdoor Music Galore

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

On good nights, the cool air of autumn is already whistling in. And other tones are floating in the air as well, with the fall outdoor concert season, already underway, really hitting its stride this weekend. Not only do we still have the Delta Fair & Music Festival, this weekend will see the launch of the fall season’s River Series at the Harbor Town Amphitheater and the Levitt Shell Orion Free Music Concert Series.

Of course, it all pales before tonight and tomorrow’s International Goat Days in Millington. There will be a classic “battle of the bands” and other live music, along with other family fair fun…plus goats! Meanwhile, if you really want to see dancing in the streets, check out the Orange Mound Parade, this Saturday morning at 8:00, where marching bands give it their all  from Melrose High School to the Lamar-Airways Shopping Center. It’s the grandest preamble that the Southern Heritage Classic could hope for. 

Memphis Pride Fest

Other fairs and parades ensue through the month, culminating in the 15th Annual Memphis Pride Fest, sure to bring a host of bands out to Tom Lee Park. For even more music with that street carnival flair, check out the diverse lineup of the Mid South Fair, September 20-30, now held at Landers Center in Southaven.

Los Kumbia Brothers

This year’s fair boasts a special celebration of Latino music, presented by Radio Ambiente, with six bands playing from noon til 10:00. And let’s not forget Memphis legends 8 Ball and MJG. That show, like most others, comes free with your fair admission.  

Meta and the Cornerstones

Meanwhile, back to the present, the weekend is exploding with sit-down outdoor shows. Not long ago, we gave you a rundown of the full fall lineup at the queen of outdoor venues, the Levitt Shell. If you missed last night’s Devon Gilfillian, there’s still time to plan on this weekend’s especially international sounds, with Havana’s Orquesta Akokán tonight and the Afro-pop/reggae/soul blend of Meta and the Cornerstones tomorrow. Reba Russell closes down the weekend on Sunday.

Earlier that day, there’s even more music, including a special pop-up sunset jazz event at Court Square with the Bill Hurd Jazz Ensemble. Meanwhile, the River Series at the Harbor Town Amphitheater, aside from being smartly curated, also boasts one of the most beautiful vistas of any outdoor music experience. Perched on the steps of an amphitheater in the style of Ancient Greece, you gaze on shores of the city and the hyper-reality of our gigantic metallic pyramid.

Harlan T. Bobo

Both of the artists jump-starting the River Series season on Sunday, Harlan T. Bobo and Paul Taylor, evoke the city very specifically in their music. Bobo, who recently captivated an audience at the Memphis Music Mansion, might even sing his instant classic, “Must Be in Memphis,” as the city floats out in the night; and Taylor may treat audiences to his new, and very groovy, Old Forest Loop music. The River series then continues with Cameron Bethany & Kid Maestro on September 23, and Teardrop City and the Limes on October 14.

Elsewhere around the city, the Live at the Garden series continues tonight, with the big, rich tones of Big & Rich echoing through the sublime environs of the Memphis Botanic Garden. Although that show will mark the end of the summer series, look for CMT Music Award winners Dan + Shay with special guest Michael Ray at the end of the month.

Of course, Midtowners are already readying for next weekend’s Cooper-Young Festival, and the event’s three stages will feature some choice performers. Highlights on the main stage include FreeWorld with the legendary Dr. Herman Green, followed by Fuzzie Jefferies. The other stages are great ways to check out the many and diverse sounds coming out of Memphis these days, from Laramie to the Switchblade Kid to the current
kings of Memphis hardcore, Negro Terror.
Michael Donahue

Negro Terror at Our Scene United

And finally, we can’t forget Gonerfest 15. While much of the music will happen in clubs around town, the festival does offer some choice opportunities for open air listening. Indeed, it’s bookended with performances at the Cooper-Young Gazebo, with D.M. Bob on Thursday, Sept. 27, and R.L. Boyce on Sunday, September 30. And, as usual, both the Murphy’s Bar interior and patio will be hopping with far out sounds all afternoon on September 29, culminating with a show by Robyn Hitchcock.
Laura E. Partain

Robyn Hitchcock

Fast on the heels of Gonerfest, of course, we’ll wake up and it’ll be October. Check the Flyer that week for a special report on the Mempho Music Festival, which will play host to the likes of Beck, Post Malone, Phoenix, Nas, and Janelle Monáe. But heck, that’s a whole month away. For now, dust off your camping chairs, pack your coolers, break out the bug spray, and get ready. The nights grow cool and the musical creatures are coming out to play.
 

Categories
Music Music Blog

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup

The Levitt Shell, winner of the Memphis Flyer’s Best Place To See Live Music last year, has announced the acts booked for the fall season.

Robert Cray plays the Levitt Shell on July 13.

Beginning September 6th and running through October 21st, the Orion Free Music Concert Series will present 24 shows on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Memphis acts, sponsored by Regional One, include Snowglobe, Star and Micey, North Mississippi Allstars, and Opera Memphis.

Two, ticketed “Stars at the Shell” shows serve as fundraisers to supplement the free music. The first, coming on July 13th, features internationally renowned bluesman Robert Cray, with special guest Cedric Burnside.

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup

On September 29th, Brooklyn soulsters Lake Street Dive will anchor 2018’s final “Stars at the Shell” series.

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (2)

Here’s the full line up for the Levitt Shell fall season:

Thursday, September 6th: 
Devon Gilfillian

Friday, September 7th:
Orquesta Akokan

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (3)

Saturday, September 8th: 
Meta and the Cornerstones

Sunday, September 9th: 
The Mulligan Brothers

Thursday, September 13th: 
Black Umfolosi

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (4)

Friday, September 14th:             
Snowglobe with Star & Micey

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (5)

Saturday, September 15th: 
Rhodes Jazz Night with Joyce Cobb

Sunday, September 16th:
Those Pretty Wrongs

Thursday, September 20th: 
Low Cut Connie

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (6)

Friday, September 21st:             
Memphis Renaissance

Saturday, September 22nd:
North Mississippi Allstars

Sunday, September 23rd:             
Opera Memphis

Thursday, October 4th: 
Dean Owens and the Whiskey Hearts

Friday, October 5th: 
Squirrel Nut Zippers

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (7)

Saturday, October 6th: 
Film and Music Night

Sunday, October 7th: 
Memphis Hepcats

Thursday, October 11th:             
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (8)

Friday, October 12th: 
Bette Smith

Saturday, October 13rd:             
Walden

Sunday, October 14th: 
Las Cafeteras

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (9)

Thursday, October 18th:             
Crystal Shrine

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (11)

Friday, October 19th: 
John Fullbright

Saturday, October 20th:             
Film and Music Night

Sunday, October 21st:
Nefesh Mountain

Levitt Shell Announces Fall Music Lineup (10)

Categories
Music Music Features

Harlan T. Bobo Returns to Memphis With a New Record

Harlan T. Bobo feels like pure Memphis to a lot music fans. His shows this week feel like a homecoming for many, including Harlan himself, though he’s not from Memphis, and he’s spent the past six years living in Perpignan, France, raising his son as his marriage gradually fell apart. Perhaps Memphis feels like home because this is where his voice was born, that wry perspective on love and self-sabotage that his first three albums convey so well.

His new LP on Goner Records, A History of Violence, is somewhat of a departure. What strikes the listener first is the band, now rocking harder, with a more sinister edge. His singing, while still seemingly perched on one’s ear in a confessional tone, is now addressing a world swirling around him more than the romantic entanglements of his earlier work. I sat down with him recently to try to understand these changes.

Memphis Flyer: It’s a pretty bleak bunch of songs. But I also sense an empathy there for down-on-their-luck characters. Which was almost a relief after seeing the cover.

Harlan T. Bobo: The cover picture’s of a woman in a band I travel with now and then, from Bordeaux. I thought the picture was so arresting. For me it captured the feel of the record really well. It was one of those old glass plate photographs, and the glass had broken. Nobody did that, the cracks were already there. I actually asked my ex-wife’s permission to use it. I said, “People are gonna think this is you.” People will automatically assume that it’s about her, but it’s not. Sure, a lot of the aggression and the frustration that was happening during the breakup is in there. But I only sing about her specifically twice.

The fact is, the record has very little to do my marriage. A couple songs are about that, but the rest of it is addressing something that’s disturbed me since childhood, and it’s that aggression wins, you know? It wins out on top of consideration for people, diplomacy, because all those things are very boring compared to the visceral excitation of aggression and violence. Even as a little kid, I just could not figure out why it is. And the place I live in now, it’s not violent like anything in America, but it’s very aggressive. and the way people raise their children and treat each other is really disturbing to me.

I can see how those questions have taken on a new urgency, raising your son and thinking about how aggression flows through generations.

Yeah, there’s a lot about raising children and passing this thing on. And it can be a sort of battle, between how much a kid’s gonna take from an aggressive side of the family, that’s addictive and exciting, and how much he’s gonna take from a parent talking to him, and the boring things.

This album’s less about you. You’re casting your eye out to other characters.

I think it’s just that I made enough records about my personal life. And maybe it’s just being a parent, it directs your attention outside yourself. That’s something I didn’t consciously do, but I did notice it after everything was coming together. I was like, “Oh, you’re not so freaking self absorbed on this one.” There’s actually social commentary on this one. So that’s progress, I think.

It’s hard to imagine replicating the sound of the band you use on the record (including players familiar to most Memphians, Jeff “Bunny” Dutton, Jeffery Bouck, Steve Selvidge, and Brendan Spengler), if you were to tour Europe.

Yeah. I don’t know what the difference is between rock-and-roll players in France compared to here, but it’s entirely different. You know, there are French bands that I like, and I’ve tried to play with these guys, but whatever I do has a very American feel to it. Like swing. I’ve noticed how loose some of these songs are. They sort of whip around. Those guys in France play a straight beat and it’s maddening. It loses its power.

With these Memphis guys, we only had two rehearsals before recording that record. But we’ve all played together in various other bands. It’s sort of my dream band. I actually tried recording this album in France. I had a band, we played together for a couple years. And they were fine replicating the older stuff. That’s kinda why I met them. But I knew what I wanted and I was not getting anywhere close with them. So I just eventually had to ditch it. They’re sending me emails now that they see the record’s out. [laughs]

Harlan T. Bobo and the Psychotic Lovers play Friday, June 15, at Bar DKDC, and Sunday, June 17, at the Levitt Shell.

Categories
Music Music Blog

5 Fridays of Free Jazz Livens up the Library

The “5 Fridays of Free Jazz” concert series returns this Friday to bring the noise into what is traditionally a place of quiet: the library.

A partnership between the Levitt Shell and the Memphis Public Library, the “5 Fridays of Free Jazz” performances take place every other Friday starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Benjamin J. Hooks Central Library. “5 Fridays of Free Jazz,” now in its third year, outgrew its original home in a library meeting room, so concerts now are held in the main lobby, typically drawing 200 or more listeners.

The series helps the Levitt Shell organization, which hosts 50 free concerts as well as a few ticketed events each year on its namesake outdoor stage in Overton Park, to extend its mission of “building community through free music,” says executive director Anne Pitts.

“There’s such incredible jazz music here in Memphis, such wonderful jazz musicians, but not as many venues for that kind of music,” Pitts says. “We wanted to create a space where that music could really be enjoyed by the masses, and so this was a perfect avenue to do that.

“It was one of those great match ups, one of those great opportunities where the library wanted to really reach out into community and bring more people into the library and see all different resources they have available, and we could give them a musical experience that really brings people together.”

World Soul Project

Performing at this Friday’s season opener is World Soul Project, a group of veteran Memphis musicians reuniting after some years apart. Led by guitarist Gerard Harris and keyboardist Ben Flint, along with James Sexton on drums, Barry Campbell on bass, and Ekpe on percussion, World Soul Project fuses Brazilian and African textures with jazz and funk structures.

“We are trying to bring in great music that people are used to seeing and hearing as part of this series,” Pitts says, “but also extend it and include more of a world music base to it.”

On March 23, it’s a double bill with saxophone and flute dynamo Hope Clayburn, leading her funk-soul project Soul Scrimmage, plus Joyce Cobb, one of Memphis’ preeminent vocalists and song interpreters for some five decades.

Hope Clayburn

The April 6 date features The Maguire Twins. Japanese-American identical twins drummer Carl Maguire and bassist Alan Maguire studied together at the Stax Music Academy and later at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where they met their mentor, famed pianist and native Memphian Donald Brown. Brown produced their second album as co-bandleaders, “Seeking Higher Ground,” which comes out March 18, just one day before their 22nd birthdays.

The Maguire Twins

On April 20, the Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra showcases the talents of students — undergraduates to doctoral candidates — from the jazz program at the University of Memphis’ Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. The 17-piece ensemble performs repertoire both classic (Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington) and contemporary (Jim McNeely, Bob Brookmeyer).

Southern Comfort

Wrapping up the series on May 4, Ekpe returns with another band of longtime Memphis players, the African Jazz Ensemble, to incorporate African influences into jazz and soul forms.

African Jazz Ensemble

“We very intentionally use this series to help develop and build audience for jazz music,” Pitts says of how “5 Fridays of Free Jazz” complements the Levitt Shell’s signature free concert series. “We make jazz a priority in our season, and we are constantly looking for great jazz musicians to bring in. There is such love and passion for this genre of music, and so this series we felt like was just so timely in being able to bring in those lovers of this music and also helping us identify who the people are in Memphis who love jazz so we can reach out to them.”