Tag: Soulsville Foundation

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Stax Meets Motown

Rickey Fondren III center with microphone (Photo: Claire James)

“If you want to master something, teach it,” the great physicist Richard P. Feynman is said to have remarked. “The more you teach, the better you learn.” That’s certainly borne out by the recent experiences of students who teamed up to create a new musical film and instructional package on African-American history for the Soulsville Foundation. Once it premieres online this Friday, February 2nd, it will be available as a free download for educators and students throughout Black History Month and into September. Producing such a film for the national event is a tradition the foundation began after Covid made live performances risky, and it’s continued ever since. And taking the project’s mission to heart caused this year’s student-producers to learn much along the way.

“What Stax wants to do is keep the history and message of soul music alive, but especially that of Stax Records, and the impact that the label had not only on the Memphis community, but the world at large,” says Anaya Murray, a high school senior and Stax Music Academy (SMA) student who served as the film’s co-writer and co-producer. “Black History Month is an opportunity to remind people of this important part of Black culture and American culture. In our film, Stax Meets Motown, we focus on two record labels who were rivals and competitors, and what they both contributed to music, but it’s about more than that.”

Anaya Murray (Photo: Ayanna Murray)

Indeed, the film and companion study guides delve into the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Detroit Riots of 1967, the history of Black radio, the recording industry, and fashion. At the same time, the topic is also perfectly suited to a musical. “Think High School Musical and Grease,” Murray says of the film, which she masterminded with fellow high-schoolers Andrew Green and Rickey Fondren III. Green and Fondren attend SMA, as does most of the cast.

“There are moments where they’ll break out into song, where there’s dancing, and it’s all Stax and Motown music. And then, I’m one of the songwriting students at the Academy and we wrote an original song for the end credits. So we pay homage to Stax and Motown and then add something new. And all the sounds that you hear are Stax students singing and playing.”

That includes Murray herself, who also studies voice at SMA, and the story, set entirely in Booker T. Washington High School (which many Stax artists attended), is designed to both teach and give performance, recording, and songwriting students a chance to shine. As Murray explains the plot, “Lisa, the lead, moves from Detroit to Memphis, and it’s the simple story of her learning about Stax and the culture, but also of the Memphis kids learning from her about Detroit and Motown.”

Yet ultimately the film reveals the SMA’s support for more than music. As Murray says, “I’ve been a student at Stax Music Academy since my first year of high school, and once I started to show an interest in filmmaking over the past two years, Stax noticed that and gave me an opportunity to assist on the script for last year’s [Black History Month] film.” She also developed her own material, winning the 2023 Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest Jury Award for her film, Father’s Day.

Eventually she was tapped to write this year’s screenplay. “I’m really excited about the opportunity because screenwriting is something I love to do,” she says. “Then I was able to get Andrew Green, one of my film friends, on board. He’s also planning to go to college for screenwriting and directing. And Rickey is a singer at SMA, but acting is really where his passion lies. He’s actually co-starring in the film as the love interest, but he was really excited to go into screenwriting as well, so he helped a lot with doing research to make sure that we were really providing accurate information.”

Thus did the writers learn as they progressed, and gaining the Soulsville Foundation’s stamp of approval was proof positive that they got the facts right. Now the film and instructional materials are being readied for their premiere. As Murray explains, all involved are aware of how important this educational mission is: “When it goes live, they send that link out to students not only in the United States, but worldwide as well. It is a global event.”

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A Historic St. Pat’s Parade Down Beale, One Week Early

The Silky Sullivan St. Patrick's Day Parade, ca. 2019 (Photo courtesy Beale Street Merchants Association)

Silky O’Sullivan’s has been a mainstay of Beale Street for decades, so it’s only natural that St. Patrick’s Day should cause the street to erupt into celebrations. This year, the March 17 holiday is merely the culmination of a week’s worth of revelry that includes Silky Sullivan’s St. Patrick’s Parade on Saturday, March 11. Given that this is the parade’s 50th Anniversary, why not start drinking early?

The parade is presented by the Beale Street Merchants Association and sponsored by the Irish Eyes of Memphis, and is the public highlight of a full week of commemorations, including a motor caravan to pick up visiting dignitaries on March 9, the Africa in April Salutes Ireland luncheon and Beale Street Merchants dinner on March 10, and a Beale Street pub crawl and “raising of the goat” at Silky O’Sullivan’s on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.

Throwin’ o’ the beads at a Silky Sullivan St. Patrick’s Parade (Credit: Vicki Gill)

The roots of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the oldest continuously running parade in Memphis, lie with the Irish Eyes of Memphis, a group led by the late politician Mark Flanagan and bar owners Thomas Boggs and Thomas “Silky” Sullivan. The group started in 1969 when Flanagan began hosting St. Patrick’s Day barbecues at his home. By 1973, the year from which the current event marks its beginning, the barbecue had grown so big it was a multi-venue event.

Of course, being centered on Beale Street, music will be front and center this year. That’s partly reflected in this year’s Grand Marshal, Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation and longtime host of the syndicated radio program Beale Street Caravan (and whose wedding was held on Beale during the parade years ago). Ron Childers, chief meteorologist for WMC Action News 5, will serve as King, complete with a crown forged by smiths at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis.

Also in the court will be Moira Flanagan, niece of the parade’s co-founder Mark Flanagan. She will be crowned Queen of All Western Appalachia. Meanwhile, Benny Carter, the proprietor of Murphy’s, is the Irish American of the Year.

Music will figure more directly into the proceedings via the Christian Brothers High School marching band, the oldest high school band in America. It’s enjoyed a continuous existence since its founding in the fall of 1872 by Br. Maurelian, who served as the first band director. The first recorded performance of the group was in the Memphis St. Patrick’s Day Parade of 1873, and the band has performed every year since.

1888 Christian Brothers Band under the direction of Paul Schneider with Br. Maurelian (Credit: Patrick Bolton – Own work Christian Brothers Band Archives)

“One thing that makes the St. Patrick’s parade so special, and all of the celebrations we have for St. Patrick’s, is that it’s for everyone,” says Joellyn Sullivan, the former owner of Silky O’Sullivan’s and a St. Patrick’s Parade organizer. “This is a blanket invitation to gather our citizens together shoulder to shoulder sharing smiles, sharing cheers, wishes for good luck, wishes for friendships new and old, and peace to all.”

Named by the Beale Street Merchants Association in honor of Sullivan’s husband Thomas, who was considered Memphis’ “King of the Irish,” the parade started in Midtown Memphis, but has been held on Beale Street for the past 30 years.

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Stax Museum Celebrates 20 Years

Booker T. Jones (Photo: Morgan Cannon)

Pat Mitchell Worley, the new president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, sounded a tad nervous on September 14th, standing in Studio A of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and telling a select audience gathered there, “As you walk through our lobby and gift shop today, take your final look. Because in just a few months, all of that will be torn down.” A few of us gasped, momentarily reliving the trauma of seeing the original Stax building demolished in 1989, but then Worley added: “And we will have a brand-new look.”

While the museum structure, built in 2003 with the original blueprints for the Stax Records building, will be unchanged, the interior will get a major overhaul as new exhibits highlighting heretofore mothballed artifacts are installed. As a teaser, Worley pointed out two such artifacts being unveiled that night, including Rufus Thomas’ outfit from the 1972 Wattstax concert. “You cannot miss that hot pink — hot pink! — that only Rufus Thomas could get away with wearing,” said Worley. “You’ll also see some overalls worn by Otis Redding in the ‘Tramp’ video he did with Carla Thomas.”

Yet overhauling the museum’s exhibits is just a small part of what’s cooking at the Stax Museum. The museum will launch a cornucopia of programs and series to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. And by next year, they mean all of next year, and some of this year to boot. Indeed, some special events start next week.

On October 6th, the museum will turn the spotlight on a gem in the Stax catalog by the little-known group 24-Carat Black. As museum executive director Jeff Kollath explains, “The album Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth is probably the most influential recording that Stax released after Isaac Hayes’ Black Moses (and Big Star’s #1 Record). Of course, it fell through the cracks and never got the credit it deserved until it got sampled to the nines in the ’90s. We are hosting a discussion between original members Princess Hearn and Jerome Derrickson; Niambi Steele, who joined the road show after a random gig in Indianapolis; and Zach Schoenfeld, who wrote the 33 1/3 series book about the album.”

At sunset on the next day, October 7th, another milestone will be celebrated: the recent 50th anniversary of the Wattstax festival. In keeping with the museum’s aim of being what Worley calls “the past, present, and future of Memphis music,” the 1973 film of the concert will be screened where the Black arts movement is blossoming today, the Orange Mound Tower at 2205 Lamar Avenue, representing a fresh collaboration between the museum and Memphis Record Pressing, Indie Memphis, TONE, and community radio station WYXR.

Then Kollath drew attention to perhaps the most significant milestone of all, this year’s 60th anniversary of the recording and release of “Green Onions.” As Kollath noted, “The song literally changed the face of music. And to help play it, we have three of our incredible Stax Music Academy alumni. Your eyes do not deceive you, they are in fact related: On the drum kit, Mr. Sam Franklin IV; on the bass, Mr. Christopher Franklin; and on the guitar, Mr. Jamaal Franklin.” After they assembled onstage, the composer of “Green Onions” himself, Booker T. Jones, strolled up to the organ, and the quartet proceeded to knock “Hip Hug-Her,” “Green Onions,” “Soul Limbo,” and “Time Is Tight” (complete with its triumphant coda) out of the park.

Having Jones himself perform these classics with a tight combo of young Memphians, all of whom nailed their parts admirably — in the very (rebuilt) room where it was originally done, no less — caused emotions to run high, not the least in Jones himself. Playing in Studio A again, he said, brought back a flood of memories from when “Green Onions” was cut. “When the moment came for me to play the solo,” he recalled, “I remember trying to think of talking through the keys, like a sentence or something coming out of me. And I think it was the culmination of so much of the training I had at Booker T. Washington High School. Every person that I came close to taught me how to do something for free.”

Visit staxmuseum.com for details on the Stax Museum’s upcoming anniversary celebrations.

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Art Art Feature

ArtsMemphis Awards 2022 Enhancement Grants

Tennessee Shakespeare Company (Courtesy ArtsMemphis)

ArtsMemphis has released the names of the seven recipients of their 2022 Enhancement Grants. According to ArtsMemphis, the Plough Foundation established the grants in 2005 “to strengthen organizational infrastructure and position [selected organizations] for sustained growth and community impact.”

The grants were awarded to Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group, the Metal Museum, Soulsville Foundation, Memphis Youth Symphony Program, the Young Actors Guild, Arrow Creative, and the Tennessee Shakespeare Company.

“This program encourages our operating support grantees to pursue significant projects that propel their missions forward and enable them to, in essence, ‘enhance’ their presence and impact both locally and globally,” said ArtsMemphis President & CEO Elizabeth Rouse in a statement.

All of the recipients have received Operational Support Grants in the past from ArtsMemphis to assist with their general functioning and programming costs. The Enhancement Grants have arrived at a critical juncture when many local arts organizations are continuing to recover from the pandemic and its myriad effects. 

Some of these organizations, like the Soulsville Foundation, have existed for decades, while others, such as the Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group, have been formed relatively recently. 

Soulsville School (Credit: Jesse Davis)

The Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group aspires to transcend cultural divides in the Mid-South through arts programming, language workshops, and festivals that celebrate and promote Latin American and other underrepresented cultures. Dorimar Ferrer, the executive director of the Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group, elaborated on the organization’s origins, which began with a small group of dedicated Latina women, as well as their community-oriented mission. 

“We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was approved in 2014,” Ferrer said. “We wanted to educate. We wanted to share our Latin American culture, to be proud of our own culture. We wanted to build a cultural bridge between cultures.”

While Ferrer acknowledged the ongoing effects of the pandemic, she emphasized that the company adapted quickly and continued providing programming, albeit digitally. 

“We never stopped for the pandemic,” Ferrer said. “We said, ‘Okay, it is time to be creative.’ We made all of our programs virtual. During the pandemic, we did 150 programs.”

Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group (Courtesy ArtsMemphis)

Ferrer spoke on how the pandemic empowered the company’s leadership to learn new technologies and discover nontraditional ways to connect with others. 

“We created programs called ‘Storytimes’ on Facebook Live,” Ferrer said. “We did a ‘reverse’ parade for the Day of the Dead celebration. We had the parade stationed at Overton Park, and people drove by to see the parade. It has been a great opportunity for us to learn new skills.”

The company intends to use the Enhancement Grant funds to support and expand their local bilingual theater workshop program, which meets regularly at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Ferrer looks forward to seeing more workshops proliferate throughout the city and compensating their theater teachers for their time. 

“We do [workshops] the third Saturday of every month,” Ferrer said. “They’re free for the community. We hope to grow the program by expanding locations. We want to pay our teachers too because it is important for us to pay our artists.”  

Cazateatro celebrates Black History month annually with an Afro-Latino week that features speakers, workshops, and programming. In addition to expanding the theater workshops, the company plans on using the Enhancement Grant to convert this event into a month-long affair that will feature more performers and artists than was previously possible. 

“We hope to grow the [Black History Month] program,” Ferrer said. “Three or four days is not enough. We hope to do other events during the year as well to celebrate Afro-Latino culture.”

Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group (Courtesy ArtsMemphis)

Ferrer has created a welcoming space open to people of all identities and backgrounds. Her and the company strive to make the arts more inclusive for everyone, regardless of their nationality. 

“With this accent, it was impossible for me to do theater [in Memphis],” Ferrer said. “And I don’t want that to happen for my community. Our door is always open no matter what.” 

Ferrer encourages interested parties to reach out to her or visit the company’s website for more information on upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. 

“We are always looking for people to help us at the theater,” Ferrer said. “You do not need to have theater experience to be part of Cazateatro. Everyone is welcome.”

Other organizations, such as the Soulsville Foundation and Arrow Creative, will use the grant money in a different way to promote organizational growth and community outreach. Both plan to use the money to renovate their respective spaces. 

“​​The challenges and opportunities over this past year have forced our organization to fight harder and to become more innovative in ways that we provide service and fundraise. We have been more intentional in assuring we meet the needs of Memphis children within the communities we serve,” said Sabrina Norwood, Executive Director of Young Actors Guild. “Our programs constantly evolve and shift to continuously meet the needs of those we serve.  Every challenge has been met with a creative eye and innovative planning to make the necessary adjustments.”

ArtsMemphis has announced that they are now accepting applications from organizations for their next round of Operating Grants. Those interested can find more information about Operating Grants and the full list of Enhancement Grants recipients at artsmemphis.org. 

“Despite the pandemic pause on our industry in 2020, we as an organization have never pressed pause,” said Rouse. “Continuity in our support of local artists and arts organizations has been critical, and we all must contribute to keep these organizations not only afloat but thriving in our city.”

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Stax Music Academy to play Levitt Shell, European tour

Duck Dunn’s pipe

Yesterday I stopped by the Stax Museum of American Soul Music for the thousandth time. It never gets old; it is, as Steve Cropper once said of working there, “like going to church.” This time around, I focused on the little things that I may have passed by earlier. Duck Dunn’s pipe, the marked-up tape box for a Mar-Keys session, Al Jackson, Jr.’s “peace-sign bootjack to remove his boots after a day of studio sessions.” And then there were the current exhibits: Hit the Road, Stax! Wayne Jackson and the 1967 Stax/Volt European Tour (through Sept. 30), A Century of Funk: Rufus Thomas at 100 (through Aug. 31), and the most stunning, Portraits in Soul: Rare Images from the API Archive. This last exhibit, featuring gallery-quality prints of Stax artists’ publicity shots, most in stunning color, will end on Labor Day, so get there while you can. Bill Carrier, API Photographers

Sam & Dave publicity photo, from ‘Portraits in Soul’ exhibit.

But what’s most sanctified about the reborn Stax complex is that it’s not just a museum. I also stopped in to see where the Stax Music Academy summer students have been rehearsing, next door in the Soulsville Charter School gymnasium. At the time, they were taking a well-deserved break, shooting hoop and singing karaoke, but even then it was clear that these young people shared a powerful camaraderie. This year’s Summer Music Experience included the usual in-depth instruction in Stax history, vocals, instrumentals, marketing, audio engineering, songwriting, and choreography, as provided by the Stax Music Academy staff. Students also attended intensive sessions with multi-instrumentalist, keyboardist extraordinaire, and producer Booker T. Jones. As a grand finale for the summer program, they will light up the Levitt Shell this weekend, presenting such classics as Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft,” Shirley Brown’s “Woman to Woman,” and two dozen other Stax songs.

Stax Music Academy students at the Levitt Shell, 2015

Finally, on July 7, a select group of twelve students will embark on the Stax Music Academy European Tour, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the original overseas tour by the Stax/Volt Revue. In 1967, this tour represented an epiphany for many of the label’s artists, as they witnessed sold out shows across England and the continent. When the artists returned home, they had a new sense of their music’s appeal and importance, propelling them to even greater heights in the years to come. Following in their footsteps, the academy students (with funding by the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development) will open for Stax legend Mavis Staples on July 17th in Bristol, England at Colston Hall (one of the original 1967 tour venues), and open for Stax icon and recent GRAMMY winner William Bell on July 21st at the Sage Gateshead Americana Festival in Sage/Newcastle, England. Be assured that the students of today’s reborn Stax will return to Memphis on a note of inspiration, much as their forerunners did half a century ago.
http://www.staxstudenttour2017.com/

Stax Music Academy to play Levitt Shell, European tour