IT WAS A BIG WEEKEND FOR THE SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION

Left to Right: Andria Lisle, Karla Redding-Andrews, Wayne Jackson, Ben Cauley.

This past weekend was filled with activity for the Soulsville Foundation, the nonprofit parent company that operates the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School.





Friday morning, as I posted earlier, we held a press conference with AT&T to unveil the new AT&T Real White Pages with the museum on the front cover. I can't wait to see what happens when the 580,000 of them printed are distributed in the coming weeks.





The following night, we had our Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School Spring Concert, which sold out the 900-plus seat Michael D. Rose Theater at the University of Memphis. Three of the academy's ensembles performed, as well as The Soulsville Charter School Soulsville Symphony Orchestra. Special featured guests were our academy's Artist in Residence, internationally acclaimed saxophonist and composer Kirk Whalum, along with Otis Redding's sons, Otis III and Dexter Redding, who finished the concert by performing "(Sitting On The) Dock of the Bay" with the students' Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section.





During the concert, 3 Stax Music Academy students - Ricardo Canaday, Ashton Riker, and Terrell Sharkey - were presented with scholarships to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for their upcoming five-week Summer Music Performance Program, and twelve academy students took the stage to announce that they will be traveling to Australia this summer during the Stax Music Academy Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx.





On Sunday, the museum hosted "Conversations with the Reddings," a panel discussion/Q&A moderated by music writer Andria Lisle. While Otis Redding's wife, Mrs. Zelma Redding, had to cancel because of personal issues and his sons Otis Redding III and Dexter Redding didn't participate in the actual panel, the family was represented well by Otis and Zelma's daughter, Karla Redding-Andrews, as well as stax legend Wayne Jackson of the Mar-Keys and Memphis Horns, and Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley, the only surviving member aboard the plane that crashed on December 10, 1967, killing Otis Redding and all of the other Bar-Kays except James Alexander, who had taken a commercial flight. The discussion was full of information, anecdotes, insight into what Redding was like as both an entertainer and family man, and there were some very emotional moments as Cauley described the crash and trying to save his drowning friends.





For an objective account of the evening, check out http://www.mymidtownmemphis.blogspot.com/.





Thanks to all of you who attended any or all of these events. A good time was had by all and we couldn't do this without the support of not only the Memphis public, but also the national and international community that has such great love for Stax!

Stax Museum Graces Cover of New AT&T Real White Pages Delivered to 580,000 Area Homes and Businesses

At a press conference this past Friday, May 16th, at the Stax Museum, representatives from the Soulsville Foundation and AT&T unveiled the new 2008-2009 AT&T Real White Pages phone directory with a photo of the museum on the front cover. This is part of a new partnership between the Soulsville Foundation and AT&T, which includes a sponsorship of the museum's changing gallery and other opportunities. AT&T vice president of external affairs Bill Ray said in his comments that he had been in an integrated band in high school and was drawn to the Soulsville Foundation because of the rich Stax legacy of racial harmony, as well as the work the foundation is doing with at-risk children through the Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School, citing specifically the upcoming SMA Summer Soul Tour Presented By FedEx, which will take 16 students on a concert tour/cultural enrichment trip through Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra, Australia on June 22, 2008.

We at the museum are very grateful to AT&T for this collaboration and hope that with 580,000 copies of the directory soon delivered in Memphis, Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville, Arlington, Rosemark, West Memphis, and DeSoto County, the museum will get even more exposure and visitors. So the next time you look for a phone number, know that we have it covered!

Cover photo by Terry Sweeney of Sweeney Photography South.

STAX MUSEUM OFFERS SPECIAL $5 ADMISSION TO CELEBRTATE NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK and THE MUSEUM'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY!!!

Come help the Stax Museum of American Soul Music celebrate National Tourism Week and the Stax Museum's Fifth Birthday with our special admission price of just $5 for everyone Sunday, May 11 - Sunday, May 18!! This is for regular museum hours: Monday - Saturday 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Sundays 1-4 p.m.

The Stax Museum opened on May 2, 2003. We've come a long way since then and are happy to offer this special admission price to help celebrate!

If you haven't seen our special exhibit in Studio A - "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS - An Exhibit from the Private Collection of Zelma Redding" - this is the perfect time!

Also see our special exhibit in conjunction with Memphis In May's salute to Turkey, "“Turkish Music Through Musicians – A Photographic Essay,” a collection of large-format color photos by Turkish photograher Atilla Durak.

For more information, please visit http://www.staxmuseum.com/.

OTIS REDDING'S FAMILY COMING TO STAX MUSEUM FOR PUBLIC EVENTS!

Left to right: Otis Redding III, Demetria Redding, Zelma Redding, Karla Redding-Andrews, & Dexter Redding.

STAX MUSEUM & STAX MUSIC ACADEMY PRESENT:

"A WEEKEND WITH THE REDDINGS!"

On Saturday and Sunday, May 17 & 18, 2008 the Soulsville Foundation will once again make history when Otis Redding's family will be our special guests and events participants on two very exciting evenings. The family includes Otis Redding's widow, Mrs. Zelma Redding, along with his three children, Otis III and Dexter Redding and Karla Redding-Andrews.


All will be special guests on Saturday, May 17th at the Stax Music Academy SNAP! After School Spring Concert at the University of Memphis' Michael D. Rose Theater. Otis III and Dexter will perform with the students. All ensembles will be featured during the concert - Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section, StreetCorner Harmonies, Premier Percussionists, and the Soulsville Swing Band, as well as The Soulsville Charter School's Soulsville Symphony Orchestra. Also starring as a speical guest is the academy's Artist in Residence, internationally acclaimed saxophonist Kirk Whalum.


The concert is at 7 p.m. and admission is just $5!


On Sunday, May 18th, the entire Redding family will be our guests for our "Conversations With The Reddings" panel discussion/Q&A, along with others who knew Otis Redding well, including Ben Cauley, the only Bar-Kay band member on board the plane to survive the tragic crash on December 10, 1967 near Madison, Wisconsin, which took the life of Redding at the age of 26. This event will take place in the Stax Museum's intimate Studio A. The discussion will not only focus on Otis Redding the phenomenal entertainer, but also Otis Redding the loving father and husband.


"Conversations With the Reddings" will take place from 5 - 7 p.m. $10 general admission and free to Stax Museum members.


This will be Zelma Redding's and Karla Redding-Andrews' first visit to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.


THE STAX MUSEUM'S SPECIAL EXHIBIT IN STUDIO A, "OTIS REDDING: FROM MACON TO MEMPHIS - AN EXHIBIT FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF ZELMA REDDING," HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 31ST.

For more information, please call 901-946-2535 or visit www.staxmuseum.com.

STAX MUSEUM EXHIBITS AVAILABLE FOR TRAVEL

As the Stax Museum celebrates its 5th anniversary in 2008, we are pleased to announce that we now have several Stax Museum-curated exhibits available for lease and travel to other museums, galleries, colleges and univerisities, festivals, and other venues. All are photographic collections that cannot be found anywhere else in the world and all respresesent a unique aspect of American culture that has worldwide influence.

Please note that exhibits can be leased in total or partial collections, and that the photographs are already framed. For more information and pricing details on these exhibits, please contact the Stax Museum's curator Carol Drake 901-946-2535 or carol.drake@staxmuseum.com.

Exhibits Available for Travel:

"THE ART OF STAX: Essential Album Cover Photographs by Stax Photographer Joel Brodsky"

An amazing collection of iconic soul music photography, including original Stax and other soul lablels album cover photos and outtakes from those photo shoots, by one of America's most influential music photographers. This is the only exhibit of Mr. Brodsky's soul music photography. Includes such artists as Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Jean Knight, Gladys Knight & The Pips, the Staple Singers, and many others. For more details click here.

"WATTSTAX: I Am Somebody"

This collection of some 60 large-format photographs from the famed 1972 Wattstax Concert and the making of the 1973 "Wattstax: The Living Word" documentary capture the excitement, importance, and magnitude of the famed concert during which 112,000 people filled the Los Angeles Coliseum for an all day concert featuring Stax Records entire roster of artists at the time, along with original press releases and other memorabilia from the second-largest gathering of African-Americans in American history. For more details please click here.

"HOOKS BROTHERS PHOTOGRAPHY: 75 Years of African-American Life in Memphis"

A collection of some 80 black-and-white photographs depicting virtually every aspect of African-American life in Memphis during the 20th century, including weddings, funerals, graduations, portraits, social gatherings, and more. Located for many years on Memphis' historic Beale Street, the Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was operated by the family of former national NAACP President Benjamin Hooks, who worked at the studio as a young man. For more details please click here.

"STAX HERE AND NOW: Current Images of the Stars of Stax Records"

Stax music fans will love this collection of new photographs of Stax icons and some who worked behind the scenes, which depicts them as they are today. The photos are accompanied by detailed text panel information about their days at Stax as well as the path they are on in life now. The collection also contains a few surprises from other legendary Memphis soul music labels. For more details please click here.

"FROM THE SOUL: An Intimate Portrait of Soulsville, USA"

The exhibit consists of some 40 recently taken black-and-white photographs from the community surrounding the Stax Museum at the original site of Stax records, including such landmarks as the former homes of Aretha Franklin, Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs), Memphis Slim, Memphis Minnie, and others. The exhibit also includes portraits of longtime Soulsville, USA residents along with text panels that share their memories of growing up in the community - from what it was like to learn of Otis Redding’s and members of the Bar Kay’s deaths on the radio in 1967, to the energy in the air when Stax Records was in full swing. For more details please click here.

MUSIC & THE MOVEMENT: STAX MUSEUM AND NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

As Memphis honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and commemorates the 40th anniversary of his tragic death here on April 4, 1968, we hope you will visit the National Civil Rights Museum, as well as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, where the Civil Rights movement is also highlighted because of the integral role Stax Records played in the Movement.

Year round, the Stax Museum and National Civil Rights Museum offer a special MUSIC & THE MOVEMENT ticket package, with admission to both museums for the discounted price of $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and students with proper ID, and $14 for children age 4- 17.
Tickets may be purchased at both museums.

For more information about the National Civil Rights Museum and the many special events it is hosting, please visit http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/.

WAY TO GO, WKNO! STAX MUSIC ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY WINS NATIONAL TELLY AWARD!

WKNO, Memphis’ television station for public programming, was recently honored with two 2008 National Telly Awards for two locally produced documentaries highlighting the Mid-South community. One of those was our own Stax Music Academy: From Soulsville to Italy.

Stax Music Academy, produced by Pierre Kimsey, follows fourteen of our young students from the Academy on tour in Italy in 2006 as they follow in the footsteps of legendary Stax musicians. This was our first ever Summer Soul Tour Presented by FedEx and it was the first time any of the students had traveled abroad and was a life-changing experience for them all. The documentary - which follows the students through Rome, Verona, Peisa, Venice, and Porretta Terme, where they opened the festivitites for the prestigious Porretta Soul Festiva - premiered on Channel 10 in August, 2007 and has aired on many public television stations across the country. WKNO and the Soulsville Foundation also hosted a private screening at the Stax Museum for the students and their families before the documentary aired.

The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. Since 1978, their mission has been to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The 29th Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Fewer than 10% of those entries received honors.