STAX MUSEUM BLOG CORRECTION

In the last entry where it reads in the first sentence, "artists who did record at Stax Records," that should have been "artists who did NOT record at Stax Records." Sorry for the error!

STAX MUSEUM'S MESSAGE TO MICHAEL

Here at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, we have a wall of video screens where many, many artists who did record at Stax are represented with video footage and information. They include Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Labelle, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Parliament, Billy Preston, The Spinners, and lots of others.

There's also a great video of a very young man in flowered pants and a fringe vest singing lead with his brothers behind him, all in front of a massive crowd of screaming fans. The young man is, of course, Michael Jackson.

With the soul music world losing such icons in recent years as Ray Charles, the aforementioned Billy Preston, and our own beloved Isaac Hayes, it's a particularly piognant day for us as we look consider the life, career, accomplishments, and the extraordinary philanthropic contributions of Michael Jackson, one of the world's greatest entertainers for many decades.

Just like Isaac Hayes, Michael Jackson always did things his own way. He always broke new ground. He never fit into any particular category because he was unique. He respected those who had come before him and he helped pave the way for many others. He is one of the few artists living today whose music will stand the test of time, and in fact, already has become a part of the international psyche.

Tomorrow night, the Stax Music Academy is performing a special tribute concert to Motown as its Summer Grand Finale in conjunction with that label's 50th anniversary. Three Michael Jackson/Jackson Five songs were already in the show. Now when our students perform them, they will be a special tribute and will have new meaning for all of us.

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY SALUTES MOTOWN SATURDAY, JUNE 27TH!

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY SNAP! SUMMER GRAND FINALE!
"At the Corner of Soulsville & Hitsville: Stax Salutes Motown!"

Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 7 p.m.

Buckman Performing Arts Center

$10 Advance, $12 at the Door

Special Guest Terron Brooks from Broadway's The Lion King and HBO's The Temptations!
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door if available. Get your tickets now at the Stax Museum gift shop or by calling 901-946-2535. Does not apply to special Father's Day special.

MORE ABOUT THE STAX SUMMER MUSIC CAMP

The Stax Music Academy’s SNAP! Summer Music Camp is taking a turn this year, focusing more attention on each student and offering a wide variety of music experience with a seasoned staff and hand-picked guest instructors comprised of music business veterans from throughout Memphis and Shelby County.

The camp, which operates Monday – Friday, June 1 – 26, 2009, is designed for some 30 high school students who will benefit not only from the expertise of music instructors, but also from those with longstanding careers in writing, composing, conducting, music business, music theory, production, image consulting, and radio.

The Stax Music Academy is a program of the Soulsville Foundation, which also operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and The Soulsville Charter School, all at the original site of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee.

While the Stax Music Academy’s mission is mentoring primarily at-risk young people through music education and unique performance opportunities, this year’s camp, according to Soulsville Foundation spokesman Tim Sampson, takes that mission to new heights by offering these valuable, behind-the-scenes life lessons so that the students gain a broader sense and detailed knowledge about the music industry above and beyond playing, singing, and performing.

In response to the global economic crisis that has hit nonprofit organizations so hard, the Stax Music Academy put a great deal of thought and effort into making this year’s summer camp as productive and efficient as possible, while still maintaining a high level of quality, by embracing the incredible talent right here in Memphis with instructors who are able to spend more focused time with a smaller group of students.

Rather than one-off workshops and/or day-long sessions, many of these music industry professionals are actually on staff for the full four-week camp. The students will gain more than ever before in terms of building relationships with these professionals, relationships that will help prepare them for college and adulthood, no matter what they major in at college or what profession they choose in the long run.

In addition to the academy’s full-time Manager of Operations and Program Development Jackie Peters, Artistic Director and Lead Music Director Ashley Keith Davis, Music Director Paul McKinney, and Program Assistant Leona Johnson, the summer camp staff includes:

Velma Cato – an award-winning producer and journalist who has worked in nationally syndicated television, radio, film, and other aspects of the entertainment industry;

Veronica Chisem – CEO and Chairman of Kindred Souls Entertainment Group, Inc. who has manages such acts as The Manhattans, The Temprees, J. Blackfoot, and Larry Dodson of the Bar-Kays, and who brings a special music finance expertise to the camp;

Diane Louie – a classically trained composer, conductor, and songwriter who has worked with the likes of Roberta Flack, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and others, and who has served as head arranger for specials such as American Idol, Grammys, and the NAACP Image Awards;

John Payne – music business teacher through the nonprofit Persuaders, Inc., owns JDP Records, which has signed Michael and Regina Winans; and is a local radio and television host;

Ken Steorts – Founder and President of VISIBLE SCHOOL – Music and Workshop Arts College in Memphis, Tennessee, and founding guitarist of the Grammy-nominated band Skillet;

Kelley Muller Smith – singer, actress, and a member of The Memphis Symphony Chorus, where she also serves on the Board of Directors;

Ralph Sutton – longtime national and international music producer who for three decades has worked with a who’s who in the music industry, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and a number of others, in addition to scoring film soundtracks for such movies as The Big Chill, John Q, and many others;

Marlon Wilson – radio disc jockey, special events DJ, and CD mixer for a wide variety of artists, events, and awards ceremonies. \

Gary Goin – Memphis-based writer, producer, guitarist, and protégé of Stax Records’ David Porter;

Malvin Massey – Radio producer and personality and station manager for the University of Memphis’ WUMR Jazz Station.

SPECIAL TOURISM WEEK DEALS AT THE STAX MUSEUM

SPECIAL NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK OFFER:

BUY ONE ADMISSION AND GET ONE FREE!

From Monday, May 11th through Sunday, May 17th, the Stax Museum is offering buy one admission at regular price and receive one FREE! So bring a friend, family member, your sweetie, whomever and enjoy this great discount!

No other discounts apply, including special rates on groups of 15 or more.

Also, receive $4 off the regular price on the Memphis Tourism Education Foundation's documentary "I AM A MAN: From Memphis, A Life Lesson," a film about the brave 1968 Memphis Sanitation Department striking workers and their familes. The film also features students and faculty of the Soulsville Foundation's Soulsville Charter School.

Remember, we are now open again on Mondays through October 31st!

STAX OF DVDS: Read what Philadelphia Inquirer's Nick Christiano Writes about "Sam & Dave"

If you haven't visited the Stax Museum Satellite Record & Gift Shop lately, check it out for recent additions, including the new CD by Booker T. Jones, "Potato Hole," which is getting rave reviews. Another is the documentary The Original Soul Men: Sam & Dave."

Here's a review from our friend Nick Cristiano at the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Capturing the magic of live performances
By Nick Cristiano
Inquirer Staff Writer

Like James Brown, Sam & Dave made great records, but they were even more dynamic on stage, where their galvanic showmanship revealed another, essential dimension of their artistry. That's what makes Sam & Dave: The Original Soul Men such a treat.

This two-hour documentary tells the story of Sam Moore and Dave Prater through interviews with Moore himself (Prater was killed in a 1988 car crash), former Stax Records chief Al Bell, and bandleader Paul Shaffer, who notes, "Sam and Dave were two preachers on stage, preaching the gospel of soul."

The heart of the set, however, is the performance clips, which capture Sam & Dave in all their sweaty, gospel-fired glory on hits like "Soul Man," "You Don't Know Like I Know," and the magnificent ballad "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby." The spectacular intensity of these performances is highlighted further by the relative tameness of a few lip-synched outings.
(There are also some oddities - a string-laden version of Bacharach-David's "Make It Easy on Yourself" and a teaming with TV host Mike Douglas (!) on an otherwise great, gospelized version of "Lucky Ol' Sun.")

Thanks, Nick.

STAX MUSIC ACADEMY SPRING CONCERT MAY 9TH WILL BE A VERY SPECIAL EVENT!

Kirk Whalum Cyrus Chestnut

Stax Music Academy Graduating Senniors

SOULed ON JAZZ!

Stax Music Academy Spring Concert on May 9, 2009 with Special Guest Jazz Pianist Cyrus Chestnut and Saxophonist Kirk Whalum

Special Salute to College-Bound Seniors

On May 9, 2009, the Stax Music Academy will welcome a very special guest artist, jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, to the SNAP! After School Spring Concert at Germantown Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Chestnut will join SMA student musicians as well as Artist-In-Residence and internationally renowned jazz/gospel saxophonist, Kirk Whalum. The concert, “SOULed on Jazz,” will also feature a very special sendoff, including a video presentation, to some of its most dedicated and talented students, the high school seniors who have completed their last year at the academy and who are all college bound.

This will be one of the coolest nights in the history of our organization because this is our mission coming to life. From the onset of the Stax Music Academy’s programming in 2000, our focus has been mentoring primarily at-risk, urban young people through music education and unique performance opportunities to make certain they move on to college, whatever field of study and profession they choose to pursue. As much as we hate to see them leave us, we couldn’t be more thrilled that every single one of our graduating seniors are going to college.

The 2009 Spring Concert is the culmination of the 2008-2009 Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School program for high school students from throughout the Mid-South, including the Soulsville, USA community surrounding the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy. All ensembles of the academy will perform: StreetCorner Harmonies, Premier Percussionists, Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section, and the Soulsville Swing Band (jazz). Students from The Soulsville Charter School’s Soulsville Symphony Orchestra will also perform.

Tickets are $10 each (reserved seating) and are on sale in the Satellite Records Gift Shop at the Stax Museum at 926 E. McLemore Avenue. Gift Shop hours are Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. All proceeds from the concert go directly back into programming at the Academy.

During the 2008-2009 SNAP! After School program, 51 students participated, with 44 of those students attending via need-based scholarships, scholarships made possible through generous donations from both individuals and organizations in the community. In addition to after-school music classes, the students also participated in workshops and/or performed with many music industry professionals, including world renowned violinist Augustin Hadelich, pianists Emanuel Ax and Yoko Nozaki, founding Stax Records” Bar-Kay trumpet player Ben Cauley, former Stax Records’ producer and keyboardist Lester Snell, Grammy winning gospel singer Smokie Norful, former BLACKstreet vocalist Dave Hollister, and many others. Two of the academy’s students – Amber Robinson and Ashton Riker – were also chosen to sing backup for Faith Hill in October 2008 at the National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award Dinner and Ceremony. Riker also signed a major record deal with Vision Records/EMI and is scheduled to tour this summer with Rare Earth and Con Funk Shun.

The colleges to which the graduating seniors have been accepted include Tennessee State University, Murray State University (Kentucky), The Art Institute of Tennessee – Nashville, Berklee College of Music in Boston, Rhodes College, University of Memphis, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign, and University of Memphis.

We hope you'll all come out to not only enjoy the great music that the concert will provide from our students and special guests, but also to stand and cheer for these young people for all of their hard work and dedication in preparing for and applying to these colleges and universities. They stand as role models for our other students as they eventually become seniors . They deserve a big, city-wide congratulations and this concert is everyone’s opportunity to express that to them.

STAX MUSEUM NOW OPEN ON MONDAYS AGAIN!

Spring has sprung and all things Stax and Soul are back on Mondays at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music! Hours are 10 a.m.- 5.m. Monday-Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.

If you haven't seen the incredible exhibit "OTIS REDDING: From Macon to Memphis," now is your chance! Also, check out new merchandise in the museum's Satellite Record & Gift Shop.