Pedal and lap steel guitar ace Roosevelt Collier, so proficient he’s affectionately known as “The Dr,” released his solo debut, Exit 16, on GroundUP Music. It’s a potent mix of blues, gospel, rock, and, in his words, “dirty funk swampy grime,” as overseen by producer and Bokanté bandmate Michael League (from the Grammy-winning Snarky Puppy).
Almas’s Rainbow is a coming-of-age comedy/drama about three Black women living in Brooklyn. Ayoka Chenzira’s feature film explores the life of teenager Rainbow Gold (Victoria Gabrielle Platt) who is entering womanhood and navigating conversations and experiences around standards of beauty, self-image, and the rights of Black women have over their bodies.
Tonya Dyson is a beloved artist who has not only built a devoted following in a creative landscape of her own design but has helped develop and nurture that same environment for countless other Memphis artists. She’s the genuine article in Memphis’ new soul underground.
TANGELA is the glittery finish to a masterfully crafted collage. She glows, sparkles, and shines wherever she is present. A fusion of love and artistic vision, TANGELA has dibble-dabbled in The Arts since she was a toddler — weaving in and out of painting classes, bands, theatrical outfits and dance troupes, intent on discovering her most magical talents.
Black Opry is a home for Black artists and Black fans of country, blues, folk, and Americana music. Country music has been made by and loved by Black people since its conception. For just as long, we have been overlooked and disregarded in the genre by fans and executives. Black Opry wants to change that. We invite you to discover, support and enjoy the Black artists that make magic in this space. One of the most valuable aspects of country music is its versatility and diversity in sound. Country, blues, folk, and Americana music often overlap or weave together — these artists explore all of those sounds and intersections. The Black Opry Revue showcases the diversity in sound and stories that Black artists offer to these genres.
With unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor, the Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) continues to inspire audiences around the world. Founded in 1946 and hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works, a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring.
Khari Allen Lee has arisen as one of the most in-demand saxophonists, educators, composers, and multi-instrumentalists of his generation.
Michael Schultz directed this deeply felt recollection of adolescent life on Chicago's near North Side in 1964. Like American Graffiti, Cooley High deals with girl, school, and police troubles as a group of high school seniors prepare for post-high-school life.
Leyla McCalla finds inspiration from her past and present, whether it is her Haitian heritage or her adopted home of New Orleans, she — a bilingual multi-instrumentalist, and alumna of Grammy award-winning African-American string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops — has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience.
Sound Fuzion is a sixteen-piece commercial band that was formed and founded at the University of Memphis. Founded in 1988, the vision/ goal for the premiere commercial ensemble is to prepare students for the professional world of touring and performing. Over the years, Sound Fuzion has helped enhance and cultivate artists including Jordan Occasionally, Kyndle Wylde, The PRVLG, Jessica Ray, and The Band Camino. With high enrollment and determined students, Sound Fuzion equips and develops students to prepare them for the music industry and the world.
In 2014, The Project H won the Pitch Music Award for “Best Jazz Ensemble.” Their record, We Live Among the Lines was named the second-best Kansas City release of any genre by The Deli magazine in 2014. Their fourth record of original music, Everyday, Forever, reached #7 on iTunes in March of 2018.
Jim Jarmusch combined his love for the ice-cool crime dramas of Jean-Pierre Melville and Seijun Suzuki with the philosophical dimensions of samurai mythology for an eccentrically postmodern take on the hit-man thriller.
Making Movies is a psychedelic Panamanian band that makes American music with an asterisk: because Making Movies’ sound encompasses the entirety of the Americas. It’s through this broader perspective that Making Movies crunches classic rock into Latin American rhythms — African-derived percussion and styles like rumba, merengue, mambo and cumbia — in a way that feels oddly familiar, yet delivers the invigorating chills of hearing something singularly special.
Described in a recent 5-star review in DownBeat magazine as having “incredible prowess and tender musicality,” New York saxophonist and composer Jim Snidero encapsulates what is both unique and compelling about jazz, reflected in over 10 million plays on Spotify.
Current exhibiting artists Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo and Katrina Perdue will discuss their work, processes, and influences. It’s a chance to get a special glimpse behind the curtain and better understand the art and the artists. The talks will be presented in each gallery, which each artist speaking in the gallery where their work is on view.
The Mahogany Chamber Music Series is a series of three chamber music concerts curated by Dr. Artina McCain, spotlighting Black and other underrepresented composers and performers.
The Freedom Affair’s live shows have proven to be soul-stirring, transformative events moving audiences both physically and emotionally to joy, tears, and elation. Crowds rave about the fireworks these folks bring to the stage. Run, don’t walk, to catch one of this band’s live shows.
Made not long before the fall of the Berlin wall, this stunning tapestry of sounds and images, shot in black and white and color by the legendary Henri Alekan, is movie poetry. And it forever made the name Wim Wenders synonymous with film art.
The award-winning Memphis Central High School Jazz Bandhas been in existence for many years and has produced many talented musicians such as pianist James Williams, saxophonist Gary Topper, pianist Dr. Ashley Davis.
Three of the most legendary women in jazz unite for one special performance, backed up by the Michael Shults Quartet.
Pianist and composer Charu Suri treads fearlessly between genres, pulling global influences that range from the mood-anchoring Indian ragas, Sufi music, to the trio. Her ground-breaking albums, The Book of Ragas, and its sequel, The Book of Ragas vol. 2 have often elicited the response, “I’ve never heard this type of sound before.”
