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Tune C With The Sanctuary Jazz Orchestra at Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, 2012

The Sanctuary Jazz Orchestra is one of Memphis’ longest-running jazz big bands in the city. Led by veteran trumpeter Johnny Yancey, the band plays a repertoire that includes works by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Oliver Nelson and Thad Jones, as well as occasional songs from Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye. At the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, the band collaborated with Memphis rap artist Tune C on a version of the Allen Toussaint classic “Get Out My Life Woman.” Like the Sanctuary Jazz Orchestra at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Yancey-And-The-Sanctuary-Jazz-Orchestra/142769415789222.

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MIAA Football: Westwood at BTW, Memphis

Memphis’ Booker T. Washington Stadium is arguably the second-oldest in the city after Crump Stadium, behind Central High School, although the latter has had a complete renovation in recent years. Much has changed in the surrounding neighborhood, including the demolition of Cleaborn Homes and Foote Homes, but crowds still turn out to support the Booker T. Washington Warriors, the oldest Black high school in Memphis. This year, BTW seems to have a decent marching band, with a first-rate drumline. Westwood, on the other hand, is a pathetic shadow of its former life, when, in the 80’s and early 90’s, it used to march over a hundred band members. Open enrollment, and outmigration from the neighborhood have devastated it. Still, the Longhorns have a small marching band that seems well-trained and which might become the foundation of a rebuilding. Only time will tell. 

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