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.

STAX MUSEUM & MOTOWN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!

What a great time to wish MOTOWN a big Happy 50th Anniversary, with The New York Times reporting today on both that label and the Motown Museum, as well as its gritty cousin Stax and the Stax Museum. Check it out here on line (which includes an audio slide show) at the link below or in today's print edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/arts/artsspecial/19ROCK.html

OWN IT TODAY: "SWEET SOUL: STAX/VOLT REVUE LIVE IN EUROPE 1967," AS SEEN ON PBS!

Every now and then, a rare treasure surfaces that adds yet another layer to the unique and incredible Stax Records story. Now, after being locked in a vault in an Oslo, Norway televsion station for some 40 years, one of the greatest live Stax concerts of all time is available on DVD.

As an edited version "Sweet Soul: Stax/Volt Revue Live in Europe 1967" begins airing nationally on PBS this month, underwritten by the Stax Museum and the Soulsville Foundation, be sure to support the Stax Museum by purchasing your own full-length copy of the documentary by clicking HERE to visit our newly designed online web store. You'll find hundreds of other Stax and soul related items, including a wide variety of other DVDs, CDs, clothing, books, gifts, and much, much more. And remember that a portion of the proceeds from all sales benefits the work we do with primarily at-risk, urban young people at the STAX MUSIC ACADEMY!

Click HERE to read a review of

"Sweet Soul: Stax/Volt Revue Live in Europe 1967" in

The New York Times!

Stax Museum Closing Early Saturday, February 21st

In order to prepare the Stax Museum for Staxtacular '09 Presented by SunTrust, the largest fund-raiser of the year for the Stax Music Academy, the museum will close for tours at 1 p.m. and close at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 21st. But then at 7 p.m. the party starts, so if you haven't purchased your tickets yet please do so by calling 901-261-6385 or visit www.staxtacular.com!

See you at the shindig!

STAXTACULAR: HAVE A PARTY, CHANGE A LIFE!

It's time again for the Stax Music Academy's largest fund-raiser of the year, Staxtacular 09 Presented by SunTrust! The party is Saturday, February 21st, at the Stax Museum and is hosted by the Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, and OJ Mayo. There will be great good and cocktails, a silent auction of fantastic items you won't find anywhere else, and tunes spun by DJ Buck Wilders.

Tickets to the event are $150, and while we're all feeling the crunch of the economic downturn, maybe this is a good opportunity to just have a great time and give back to the children of the community who need your help.

If you aren't familiar with what goes on from day to day at the Stax Music Academy, we encourage you to learn more. While we work primarily with at-risk inner-city teenagers, the Stax Music Academy now offers mentoring, music education, and unique performance opportunities to a wide range of students from throughout the community. We are fortunate in that we are here on a daily basis and get to see first-hand how the kids grow and develop, how their self esteem improves dramatically, how they grow more and more anxious to attend college, and how the camaraderie among the diverse group of young people is so much like the family that was Stax Records. It's young people learning to respect themselves and others. It's learning to get along with others. It's learning that hard work and dedication pays off. It is nothing short of life-changing for most of the "kids." All of this presents its own set of challenges to us both in terms of expense and quality of service, but we know from our daily experiences that we are helping create strong character among the youth we serve and we know it has to continue.

It has a lot more to do than just helping a teenager learn to play an instrument or sing. When you see a young person from Memphis fly on a plane for the first time, see the ocean for the first time, play in front of dignitaries from around the world for the first time, or, in some cases, just finally have a safe place to be among responsible adults and good friends for the first time, it is an experience that can't be measured in any really rational way. It is very emotional and very fulfilling.

So please know that by attending this year's Staxtacular fund-raiser, you'll not only have a great time but you will also be helping us with this tremendously necessary work. Stax has a glorious, fascinating past. This is the way we ensure it continues into the future forever.

Click here for more information on Staxtacular 09 Presented by SunTrust and/or to purchase tickets online.