« Back to Main

Stax Academy band tunes up for gigs in Italy, TV documentary

By Leslie Kelly
kelly@commercialappeal.com

The unmistakable sounds of "Soul Man" -- the classic was performed by a select group of students from Stax Music Academy -- filled the lobby Saturday at the Memphis Brooks Museum.

Proud parents zoomed in with video cameras as the group dazzled the crowd with one of their last local appearances before they take off Monday for a two-week tour of Europe that includes performing July 1-2 at the 19th Annual Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme, Italy.

Founded in 1988 by Porretta Terme native Graziano Uliani as a tribute to the late Stax Records legend Otis Redding, the Porretta Soul Festival takes place in the town's Rufus Thomas Park and features acts with Memphis connections, including appearances by Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, Charlie Wood, and James Govan & the Rum Boogie Band.

The summer tour, sponsored by FedEx, is the first such expedition for a group from Stax Music Academy, a learning center in South Memphis that offers year-round music education and tutoring to at-risk kids. This 14-member ensemble of rising 11th- and 12th-graders is under the direction of Ashley Davis, who predicted it would be a "life-changing" trip.

These students are also the subject of a documentary by WKNO-TV Channel 10 producer Pierre Kimsey.

The infectious energy of the performers is something Kimsey said he couldn't have scripted.

"After being in television for a while, one of the things you learn is that you don't get too excited until you see how the people involved in the project are going to act," Kimsey said. "But these kids are so bright; they have such great energy. It's exactly what you need when you're shooting a documentary."

The project started with a conversation with Tim Sampson, the media relations contact at Stax Museum.

"I've been very interested in the history of Stax, playing around with some ideas, and Tim told me that some students in the Stax Academy were going to the festival in Italy," Kimsey said. "The more he told me about the program, about the kind of kids in the program and their spirit and light, the more excited I got."

Kimsey pitched the idea to WKNO's director of television, Russ Abernathy, and got the green light.

For the past couple of months, Kimsey has been attending rehearsals, and interviewing the young musicians about what the trip means to them.

"I'm following them in their everyday lives in Memphis, and I'm going to talk to them about the kind of difference this has made in their lives, how it has made them feel," said Kimsey.

He and a photographer will travel with them to Italy, to Venice and Rome, and shoot footage of the concerts. He has also enlisted a couple of the students to shoot video.

"Let's face it, I'm a 53-year-old guy. They're very open, but it's not like I'm the first person they are going to want to hang with," Kimsey said. "This way, they can go off and have a good time, discover certain things and we'll get their perspective."

Already, Kimsey has more than 11 hours of footage. "The main drama we've had so far is the tension, the anticipation of what they're about to do, going abroad and representing Memphis."

These seasoned performers -- most have been playing together for a number of years -- are hardly camera shy.

"They're so excited, it's like watching people in love . . . in the sense that there's so much of that positive energy, but once they get down to the business of music, they become very serious," Kimsey said. "While they're playing, they forget the camera's there. I'll get some moments where they're just being themselves."

At least one band member said he already considers Kimsey an honorary part of the group.

"He laughs and jokes with us, he's kind of like a mature kid, but he doesn't get in your way," said Carl Catron, 17-year-old tenor saxophonist.

Kimsey said Catron has emerged as one of the stars.

"Carl has already taught himself Italian, and he's more than happy to practice it on you," Kimsey said. "Like everyone in the band, he's so excited, and so funny. Nothing gets by these kids."

Catron, who will be a junior at Central High School in August, said he plans on documenting his European experience with his own camera.

"I'm so nervous and excited, I'm going crazy. When we get there, I'm just going to sit in the airport and cry," he joked.

Fellow sax player Terrell Sharkey, who turns 15 while on the trip, said he can't think of a better way to remember the trip than having a program documenting the experience.

"It's perfect," said Sharkey, a student at the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering. "I can watch it with my friends when I get old."

When he returns from Europe, Kimsey will begin the editing process. He said he hopes to have the documentary finished by fall, and hopes the result will find a large audience.

"I might be a little prejudiced, but I think it has the potential to go national," Kimsey said. "I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen."

-- Leslie Kelly: 529-2594

Copyright 2006, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.