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PAST CONCERTS BILL MIZE     Check out Bill's web site. Saturday, November 20, 2004    8:00 PM    Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 S. Cooper. Fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Bill Mize, who lives in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, brings his art to Memphis, TN, and he even claims some Memphis influences. Early inspirations, according to Mize, were Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack. Mize picked up the guitar at about age 10. His first electric guitar gigs gave way to flat-picking in the early 1980s, which later led to his present fingerstyle acoustic. In 1985, Mize won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Critics today compare him to acoustic masters John Fahey and Leo Kottke. Mize has four CDs to his credit, including Joyful Noise, his 2002 release. Flawless execution and beautifully communicated emotion characterize Mize’s performances. He offers surprising interpretations of old standards as well as his own compositions. According to Dale Miller of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, “Mize’s tone is lovely and his technique is state-of-the-art. He combines form and substance to create music so sublime and accessible I was almost sighing out loud.” Mize’s own assessment of his music is a bit more practical: “I feel pretty blessed to be doing my own thing for the last twenty years,” he says, “—and getting away with it.” Tickets are $10, available at Otherlands and Davis-Kidd Bookseller. Bryan Bowers Friday October 15, 2004     8:00 PM Otherlands Coffee Bar 641 South Cooper Memphis TN Credited with resurrecting and redefining the autoharp and widely regarded as its leading virtuoso, Bryan Bowers has enchanted audiences for over thirty years. He grew up hearing and singing the songs of the field hands and railroad workers in rural Virginia, and those songs took deep root. They found an outlet when he picked up first the guitar and then the autoharp while in college. The Dillards introduced him to the bluegrass community, and the rest is history. Not content with merely strumming the autoharp like most players, Bowers picks individual notes with all five fingers of his right hand. Rhythm, melody, and three harmony lines interplay simultaneously, creating a celestial sound unlike any ever heard from the instrument before. A talented songwriter as well as instrumentalist, he wrote John Denver’s hit, “Berkley Woman.” His composition, “The Prison Song,” is widely lauded as his most painfully honest and powerful. A Bryan Bowers performance, however, consists of more than just sad songs. He can progress seamlessly from the sublime to the ridiculous, his magnetic stage presence leading the audience effortlessly from tears to musical silliness. Indeed, Bowers’ power and charisma on stage may be his greatest gifts, and he never fails to reach his audience. “I feel like every night when I step out, it’s not a given,” he says. “It’s not like I’m the Yankees. I gotta earn it every night.” Tickets are $10.00 at Otherlands and Davis-Kidd Booksellers. Sid Selvidge 8:00 PM    Saturday September 11, 2004 Otherlands Coffee Bar    641 South Cooper Memphis TN Photo By Mark Loft Sid Selvidge favors MAMA once again with a late summer concert. He’ll be performing songs from his 2003 CD, A Little Bit of Rain, as well as all the old ones you’ve come to know and love. Born in Greenville, Mississippi, educated at Rhodes College, Sid has spent his life in the South soaking up the sounds of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen. He understands the songs he sings, which is why listeners love to hear them. He has fascinated audiences at Carnegie Hall as well as the smoky bars of Memphis. Sid is also known for his work with Mud Boy and the Neutrons, along with Jim Dickinson, Jimmy Crosthwait, and the late Lee Baker. His voice has been called “an astonishing instrument” by music critic Robert Palmer. Whether you’ve never heard Sid in concert or you’re one of the many who never miss an opportunity to hear him, don’t wait. Buy your ticket now for what always proves to be a memorable Memphis event. Tickets are $12.00 at Otherlands Coffee Bar and Davis-Kidd Book Sellers. MAMA would like to thank Midtown Yoga for sponsoring Sid's concert. CORY BRANAN 8:00 PM    Saturday August 21, 2004 Otherlands Coffee Bar    641 South Cooper    Memphis TN Rolling Stone pronounced him “Hot Singer-Songwriter.” His debut CD, The Hell You Say, made Billboard’s “Top 10 Releases of the Year” and many more “notable” lists in 2002. Last spring he was on the Late Show with David Letterman. He went to LA and did a pilot for VH-1. Young women want to take him home. You get the picture: Cory Branan is a hot item, nationally as well as locally. Growing up in Southaven, Mississippi, Cory played in a Black Sabbath cover band before moving to Memphis and discovering John Prine. “I realized that lyrics are the only thing I know how to do decently,” he says. And it is indeed as a songwriter that Cory has received his highest accolades. He takes familiar subjects such as teenage infatuation, sets them against familiar Memphis landscapes, avoids all the standard clichés, and makes you laugh and then cry with the power of his phrasing. Listen particularly for “Pale Moon on Paper Town,” “Crush,” and “Miss Ferguson.” Cory Branan meshes lyrical genius with hometown boy charm. You’ll love him. Tickets are $12.00 at Otherlands and Davis-Kidd Bookseller. The Richard Leo Johnson Trio 8:00 PM    Friday July 30, 2004 Otherlands Coffee Bar    641 South Cooper Memphis TN It’s not exactly jazz, and it’s not exactly blues or folk or rock — a concert by Richard Leo Johnson is an intense musical excursion unlike any you’ve ever taken before. Essentially self-taught, Johnson started his career after winning an Arkansas “Hot Licks” contest for guitarists, bassists, drummers, and keyboard players. Since then an ever-widening audience has come under the spell of his improvisational acoustic performances. He has been referred to as a “one-man guitar orchestra,” “an intuitive genius,” and “Paganini in blue jeans.” He numbers among his few guitar influences Leo Kottke and John McLaughlin; jazz lovers will also hear jarring chords reminiscent of Thelonius Monk and improvisational excursions influenced by pianist Keith Jarrett. But don’t think that with knowledge of these artists, you’ve pegged Richard Leo Johnson, for he is a true original. Having devised approximately thirty alternate guitar tunings, Johnson creates sounds on the guitar that leave even the most knowledgeable musician wondering, “How’d he do that?” “I have almost no theoretical knowledge of chords and scales,” he says. “Having chosen the scenic route over the expedient route, I’ve spent millions of hours practicing, and found something I think of as my own.” Johnson explains his experimental sound as “blocks of chords moving parallel to one another.” He adds, “I like the idea of things moving in waves of sound,” because “a linear melody is not a real interesting thing to me.” Chances are you’ve heard Richard Leo Johnson, improvisational genius, if you’ve attended MAMA concerts for a few years. Essentially self-taught, Richard has been referred to as a “one-man guitar orchestra” and “Paganini in blue jeans.” Among his few influences are guitarists Leo Kottke and John McLaughlin, and jazz lovers may hear Thelonius Monk or Keith Jarrett in his chords and improvisational excursions, but his compositions can be neither fully categorized nor deconstructed. His invented guitar tunings leave even the most knowledgeable musicians scratching their heads. With “almost no theoretical knowledge of chords and scales,” he refers to his music as “waves of sound” rather than “a linear melody,” which he says does not interest him. With improvisation as a key element in music and in life, you can expect Richard to do the unexpected – and he has, teaming up with two classically trained musicians to create the Richard Leo Johnson Trio. Andrew Ripley, a skilled multi-instrumentalist on wind synthesizer, melodica, oboe, and English horn, attended Juilliard and arrived in Savannah, Georgia with the intention of playing a purely symphonic repertoire. Violinist Ricardo Ochoa came to Savannah to join the Savannah Symphony Orchestra in 2000. Both found themselves in search of broader musical horizons; thus the intersection with Richard Leo Johnson was in the stars. How can two highly trained, classical musicians possibly collaborate with a self-taught experimentalist? What kind of music results from such a collaboration? The only way to know for sure is to attend the next MAMA show. Tickets are $12.00 at Otherlands and Davis Kidd Book Seller. This concert is underwritten by Ardent Studios. Peter Hyrka and the Gypsy Hombres 8:00 PM    Saturday June 26, 2004 Strings and Things Music Store 1555 Madison, Memphis. Growing up in Memphis, Peter Hyrka was exposed to a steady diet of rock, blues, and soul. While in high school, however, he discovered such jazz string players as Stephane Grappelli, Joe Venuti, and Jean Luc Ponty. Formal instruction on the accordion, clarinet, guitar, and piano then led him to the violin, and these influences stayed with him through several years of bluegrass, reggae, and rock bands. You may remember him from the 80s rock group Human Radio. In 1995, Peter formed the Gypsy Hombres, an acoustic trio featuring violin, guitar, and string bass, the realization of his early jazz influences. The Hombres, consisting of Peter on violin, David Sebring on guitar, and Dan Immel on bass, “play by the rules, but are totally irreverent in their scorching delivery.” The group’s music has been described as “hot jazz,” encompassing “classical, swing, Latin, jazz, and gypsy elements.” No matter how you categorize it, Peter believes, along with the great Duke Ellington, that there are only two types of music – good and bad. After you hear the Gypsy Hombres in concert, decide for yourself which category they belong in. Check out their website at Gypsy Hombres for more info, photos, and music clips. Tickets are $12.00 at Otherlands, Strings and Things and Davis Kidd Book Store. MAMA would like to thank The Henry Turley Company and Miss Cordelia's Grocery Store for underwriting this concert. Alvin Youngblood Hart The concert is at Otherlands Coffee Bar 641 S. Cooper Saturday, Jan 24 at 8 pm. Tickets are $12 and are at Davis-Kidd Booksellers and at Otherlands. MAMA thanks Bill Schosser and Kim Halyak for underwriting this concert. Alvin Youngblood Hart burst upon the musical scene and firmly established his career with his 1996 debut album, Big Mama’s Door, which netted him five W. C. Handy nominations and the Handy Award for Best New Artist. In 1999, he teamed with Memphis’ own Jim Dickinson on his third album, Start with the Soul, which was chosen in The New York Times’ top ten releases of 2000 as well as the BBC’s Blues Record of the Year. Down in the Alley, Hart’s fourth album, received a 2003 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Recording. Completely self-taught, Hart began playing at age 14. Even though his family moved throughout the country while he was growing up, his most powerful influence was their frequent trips to his grandmother’s house in northern Mississippi hill country. On these visits he found a lifestyle and a musical culture unlike any he experienced in big cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. He began collecting vintage stringed instruments, learned to play them, and ultimately to restore them. He has toured the world and won numerous accolades, but his goal, he says, is “just to get my hands on as many instruments as I can and get a song out of them.” CHRIS PROCTOR Friday May 7, 2004   8:00 PM   Otherlands Coffee Bar 641 South Cooper, Memphis TN Tickets are $10.00 “I thought it was time for me to revisit the first 20 years of my repertoire. My ongoing musical evolution, the passing of the two-decade mark since the release of “Runoff,” and the sea change in recording technology all combined to make me want to give listeners an up-to-date view of my 25 years of explorations of instrumental guitar and Americana.” Chris Proctor’s stunning new release, The Chris Proctor Collection, is a blockbuster- a compositional and aural treat for all fans of the acoustic guitar. Chris has advanced the arts of fingerstyle guitar technique, arranging and composition with each of his recordings, but with The Chris Proctor Collection, he’s revisited his own musical past, chosen 16 stellar pieces from his first six recordings, and has rerecorded their current versions to today's audiophile standards. It’s a 74-minute monument to the depth of his original repertoire, and a perfect bookend and companion to his genre-bending 2000 recording of arrangements from across the musical landscape Under the Influence. Chris has always been known for his remarkable body of original works for six- and twelve-string guitar with their trademark counterpoint and inner voices, his technical wizardry and his pioneering use of the E-bow and guitar mutes. Hearing him re-interpret original songs which span 25 years of compositional and musical growth makes for especially satisfying listening, for the neophyte and established fan alike. Recorded with state-of-the-art analog and digital gear, and using the revolutionary new HDCD mastering process, The Chris Proctor Collection traverses a broad swath of the landscape of Americana, with Chris' altered tunings and original techniques taking flight on six different Taylor guitars. Twenty-five years of musical experimentation and growth leap to vibrant and satisfying life: Copyright January 2001, Memphis Acoustic Music Association. Contact the Web Master