Stax Music Academy

Last updated
Stax Tower at Stax Music Academy Stax Tower at Stax Music Academy, Soulsville Foundation.jpg
Stax Tower at Stax Music Academy

Stax Music Academy is an after school [1] and summer music school in South Memphis, Tennessee. The program has included instruction from many prominent musicians. [2] Alumni include Kris Thomas, a top ten contender on The Voice and Kirby Lauryen, a Roc Nation songwriter and performing artist who was a winner of the 2017 "ASCAP Women Behind the Music" Award and is the first graduate to serve on the board of directors of the Soulsville Foundation.

Contents

Stax Music Academy Stax Music Academy, Soulsville Foundation.jpg
Stax Music Academy

The Soulsville Foundation operates Stax Music Academy and the adjacent Stax Museum at 926 McLemore Avenue in the former location of Stax Records. [3] [4] The original building, a converted movie theatre where artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the MGs, Sam & Dave, and many others [5] recorded in the '60s and '70s, [6] was torn down. It was reconstructed along with a reconstructed Satellite Record Shop and is the only museum in the United States to be devoted entirely to soul music. The foundation also operate The Soulsville Charter School. All three distinct but connected entities share the same campus.

At Stax Music Academy, a registered 501 (c) (3), a group of professional musicians/instructors instill soul in the next generation of Memphis artists. Stax Music Academy students take classes in music theory, preparing them to read music with proficiency, read and perform all twelve major and minor scales, and apply harmonic analysis to a musical selection. Students are required to participate in moderated juries at the end of each semester that tests both their performance acumen and their western theoretical grasp of music. Students learn the art of storytelling and composition to create their own music plus music business to assure each young artist understands how to make a living in music. Success is defined individually for each student,

Stax Music Academy programs teach more than notes, however. It helps students enhance their character by teaching skills in leadership, teamwork, and discipline. The end goal is to prepare graduates for post-primary success regardless of path, whether it be attending college or entering the music workforce.

Since its founding, Stax Music Academy has graduated more than 4,000 students. Since 2008, every high school senior has been accepted to a college or university, many on full scholarships. Academy alumni can be heard around the world, teaching, performing, recording, and more at the highest levels of the music industry.

As it prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2020, Stax Music continues to contribute to the new Memphis sound through the music from current students and alumni.

HISTORY

The Stax Music Academy began programming on June 1, 2000 in a nearby elementary school while its permanent facility was under construction. On July 24, 2002, the ribbon was cut during the grand opening ceremonies for the newly constructed Stax Music Academy building, even before the opening of the Stax Museum (opened in May 2003) because the need for positive youth programming in Soulsville USA was more urgent than even the need for the Stax Museum.

In 2004, the Stax Music Academy hosted its Summer Music Camp Grand Finale concert at Memphis’ Orpheum Theater with special guest Mavis Staples of Stax Records icons the Staple Singers. In 2006, the Stax Music Academy embarked on its first-ever Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx, opening the festivities at the prestigious Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme, Italy and toured the country with visits to Rome, Florence, and other cities. It was the first international trip for the academy. The following year, the Stax Music Academy traveled on its first domestic Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx performing at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and other venues in Pittsburg and Philadelphia. The 2008 Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx took students on a concert and cultural tour of Australia with stops in Melbourne, the capital city of Canberra, and Sydney. Students performed public and private concerts, engaged in workshops with Aboriginal students and patients at Royal Children's Hospitals, performed for consulate general and staff, and were treated to tea at the embassy residence of then United States Ambassador to Australia The Honorable Robert McCallum.

In 2008, all Stax Music Academy seniors are accepted to college, which happens every year from to then to present.

Students of the Stax Music Academy went on to open for B.B. King at his annual King Homecoming Festival in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi; performed at the national AARP convention in Orlando with Stax legend William Bell and at Disney World (other AARP entertainers included Gladys Knight, B.B. King, Gloria Gaynor, Los Lobos, and Judy Collins; and were featured artists at the nationally televised 19th Annual Trumpet Awards in Atlanta, GA.

In June 2011, Stax Music Academy performed for five days to a collective audience over 1 million people at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. during the festival's first ever salute to R&B music. That same year students performed at Lincoln Center in New York City as part of their Summer Soul Tour and were featured

for the first time on NBC Today show in a segment with former First Daughter Jenna Bush Hager.

In 2012, the Stax Music Academy performed two concerts in Berlin, Germany during the opening of “Memphis Exhibition Berlin” and perform for then-United States Ambassador The Honorable Philip D. Murphy, his wife Tammy Snyder Murphy, staff, media, and the general public. That same year performances included shows at Berklee College of Music in Boston and Levitt Pavilion in Westport, Connecticut with special guests Grammy Award-winning artist Kirk Whalum and Vaneese Thomas, daughter of legendary Rufus Thomas. The following year the academy embarked on a tour with performances at Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. B.B. King's Club Ebony in Indianola, Mississippi, and a concert in conjunction with the Tipatina Foundation in New Orleans at famed Tipitina's Nightclub.

The following year, the Stax Music Academy forms its first alumni band as a way to keep its former students in the ‘Stax Music Academy family,’ provide them with paid summer employment, further hone their musical performance skills, and offer tourists and locals alike a unique music experience, with summer performances in the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and B.B King's Blues Club on Beale Street. Band is formed each year after through present and is one of the most sought-after acts in Memphis.

In 2016, the Stax Music Academy was invited to perform on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for three days at the grand opening festival of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. SMA is again featured on NBC's Today show to millions of viewers, as well as in print and video in USA Today. The following year students went on a concert tour through the UK and France, performing all Stax music to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Stax/Volt European Tour with shows in Cahors and Bordeaux, France, and Hitchin, Manchester, London, Milton Keynes, and Gateshead/Newcastle, England. Tour includes live performances on the BBC, major European and American press articles, and garners more than 400 million traditional media and social media impressions. Shares festival stages with Stax icons Mavis Staples, William Bell, and others.

During its almost 20 years of teaching music and mentoring young people, Stax Music Academy students have participated in workshops and performances with a wide variety of GRAMMY©-winning artists, former Stax Records artists, and other music industry professionals including Huey Lewis, Steve Miller, George Clinton, Lalah Hathaway, Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, the Bar-Kays, R&B violinist Damien Escobar, Steve Jordon, Bootsy Collins, John Legend, cast of Motown the Musical, cast of MEMPHIS the musical, Marcus Miller, Charles Lloyd, Branford Marsalis, PJ Morton, Kanye West, The Roots, former First Lady Laura Bush, BBC television/radio host Jools Holland, British soul sensation Beverly Knight, Elvis Costello, Candi Staton, George Duke,  members of Janet Jackson's band, former Stax Records owner Al Bell, Stax Records founder Jim Stewart, and numerous others.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. B. King</span> American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter (1925–2015)

Riley B. King, known professionally as B. B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccato picking that influenced many later blues electric guitar players. AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Booker T. & the M.G.'s</span> American R&B/funk band

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam & Dave</span> American soul and R&B duo

Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Booker T. Jones</span> American musician

Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufus Thomas</span> American singer (1917–2001)

Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. His dance records, including "Walking the Dog" (1963), "Do the Funky Chicken" (1969), and "(Do the) Push and Pull" (1970), were some of his most successful songs. According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, "Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . occupied many important roles in the local scene."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carla Thomas</span> American singer (born 1942)

Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz " (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Cropper</span> American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer

Steven Lee Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, while he has won two Grammy Awards from his seven nominations.

<i>Wattstax</i> 1973 benefit concert and film in Watts, Los Angeles, California

Wattstax was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 riots in the African-American community of Watts, Los Angeles. The concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, 1972. The concert's performers included all of Stax's prominent artists at the time. The genres of the songs performed included soul, gospel, R&B, blues, funk, and jazz. Months after the festival, Stax released a double LP of the concert's highlights, Wattstax: The Living Word. The concert was filmed by David L. Wolper's film crew and was made into the 1973 film titled Wattstax. The film was directed by Mel Stuart and nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary Film in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bell (singer)</span> American soul singer and songwriter

William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter. As a performer, he is probably best known for his debut single, 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water"; 1968's top 10 hit in the UK "Private Number", a duet with Judy Clay; and his only US top 40 hit, 1976's "Tryin' to Love Two", which also hit No. 1 on the R&B chart. Upon the death of Otis Redding, Bell released the well-received memorial song "A Tribute to a King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Moore</span> American singer (born 1935)

Samuel David Moore is an American singer who was best known as a member of the soul and R&B duo Sam & Dave from 1961 to 1981. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Porter (musician)</span> American record producer, songwriter and singer

David Porter is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mavis Staples</span> American singer (born 1939)

Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member. During her time in the group, she recorded the hit singles "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again". In 1969, Staples released her self-titled debut solo album.

<i>Shaft</i> (Isaac Hayes album) 1971 soundtrack album by Isaac Hayes

Shaft is a double album by Isaac Hayes, recorded for Stax Records' Enterprise label as the soundtrack LP for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. The album mostly consists of instrumentals composed by Hayes as score for the film. Three vocal selections are included: "Soulsville", "Do Your Thing", and "Theme from Shaft". A commercial and critical success, Shaft is Hayes' best-known work and the best-selling LP ever released on a Stax label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stax Museum of American Soul Music</span> Soul music museum in Tennessee, United States

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is a museum located in Memphis, Tennessee, at 926 East McLemore Avenue, the original location of Stax Records. Stax launched and supported the careers of artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Sam & Dave, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Albert King, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Jean Knight, Mable John, and countless others including spoken word and comedy by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Moms Mabley, and Richard Pryor.

Al Bell is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the label's 19-year existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porretta Soul Festival</span> Soul music festival

The Porretta Soul Festival is a soul music festival that takes place on the third week of July in the Rufus Thomas Park in Porretta Terme, province of Bologna.

The Soulsville Charter School (TSCS) is a charter school in South Memphis, Tennessee. It is located at 1115 College Street. The entire 2014 graduating class was accepted at 4-year colleges. Soulsville Charter School serves about 600 students in grades 6–12. It opened in 2005. The official nickname is The Soulsville Revolution, the school's teams compete as the Tornadoes, and the school colors are Royal Purple and Silver.

Robert Gordon is an American writer and filmmaker from Memphis, Tennessee. His work has focused on the American south—its music, art, and politics—to create an insider's portrait of his home, both nuanced and ribald.

Southern Avenue is an American five-piece blues and soul blues band from Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Formed in 2015, they took their name from a street in Memphis running from the easternmost part of the city limits to "Soulsville", which was the original home of Stax Records. Rock 103 described them as "the most talked about band in Memphis." Southern Avenue reached the finals of the International Blues Challenge in 2016.

References

  1. ↑ Collins, Michael (September 24, 2016). "Stax Music Academy wows crowd at Smithsonian event". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  2. ↑ "Performer: Stax Music Academy Alumni Band". Lowell Sun. July 27, 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  3. ↑ Wilmer, Tom (January 31, 2018). "Memphis Motown--Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Sun Records Rock & Roll". KCBX, Central Coast Public Radio. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  4. ↑ "Stax Music Academy's European Tour: 50 years after a historic jaunt, students bring American Soul back overseas". WGN Radio - 720 AM. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  5. ↑ Ruggiero, Bob (2017-06-13). "Massive Reissue Campaign Helps Stax Revive Soulsville U.S.A." Houston Press. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  6. ↑ Jennings, K Denise (December 23, 2017). "Memphis Sound at 60". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved 2018-02-04.

35°06′57″N90°01′55″W / 35.1157°N 90.0319°W / 35.1157; -90.0319

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.