Bassist Christian Underwood and drummer Christopher Underwood seemed to shake the rafters of LaFayette’s Tuesday night as Bluff City Soul Collective entertained the mixed array of an Overton audience.
On the top floor- clusters of UofM Music Industry students mingled, ordered fries, and met the sound engineer. On the ground middle-aged Memphians and tourists gathered in tables and loosened up with hearty responses to female vocalist Kyndle McMahan’s boomy, angelic voice.
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| Rech Tech Major Keynan Harden (pictured right) records the performance. |
Thanks to the band comprised of capable UofM students, The University of Memphis Music Industry department has earned a regular slot for student artists at Lafayette’s Music Room on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. The first of ongoing shows is set for Oct.6
Though young and old were mostly separated by steel staircases Tuesday night, opinions of Soul Collective’s performance from both demographics were greatly in favor of the group.
“This is what Memphis needs,” 21-year-old Recording Technology major Ali Abu-khraybeh said. “As far as altogether sound ...incredible.”
58-year-old Project Manager Stan McGroom enjoyed Bluff City Soul as much as the college students a above him.
“It’s great to see young people do good for themselves,” McGroom said, “Couldn’t have been any better. Great stuff.”
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| UofM Student Cedric Taylor's Keyboard |
Gerard and Julie Skibinski, an architect and surgical technologist were visiting Memphis from Indianapolis, Indiana. Though the couple had yet to visit any of the city’s museums the two definitely enjoyed hearing “a lot of good soulful, blues music” at La Fayette’s.
“They were awesome,” Gerard Skibinski, said. “If you wouldn’t have told me that they were in school I would have thought they were professionals.”
Ben Yonas, a Music Business head of the Rudi E. Scheidt school of Music at UofM was in attendance and was happy to explain the origins of Bluff City Soul. According to Yonas, the dean called upon him to organize a musical tribute to James Alexander, bassplayer of the Bar Kays. Yonas called “some of the best musicians at our school” and the result payed off in full.
“They played and they got a standing ovation,” Yonas said. “Music industry leaders were on their feet. People were bowing down at how awesome of a job they did.”
Synth/keys player and one of the many vocalists of Bluff City Soul, Jason Rodgers, recalled what it felt like after performing Bar Kays classics with his classmates.
“We were all kind of like ‘This is a lot of fun; all of us coming together. We should try to turn it into something” Rodgers said. “From there we kinda kept adding people and letting it happen organically. We’ve gotten a pretty cool sound out of it.”
Rodgers was actually ecstatic about the age differences in the crowd at Lafayette’s music room on Tuesday night.
“We take some old, soul classics and put our twist on them,” Rodgers said. “I think
there’s a little bit for everybody in what we do.”
Not only are “The Collective” inclusive about their different sets of audiences, but the band constantly allowed for various members to have a turn on the microphone, often to sing original material. Crowd favorite and also singer of local-band Mason Jar Fireflies performed an original tune, but also explicitly made sure that Bluff City Soul vocalist/Conga player was well represented.
“T.K., This girl can play anything!” Kyndle McMahan said.
Tikyra Khamiir Jackson was as soft and pleasing to hear as a singer as she was groovy and dynamic as a drummer when she sat behind the kit supporting usual skinsman Christopher Underwood during his own original track.
However, no act of “musical chairs” was more inspirational than when suav guitarplayer Ben Callicott approached the mic during a funk-esque rendition of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” and followed it with his jazzy, original tune “I want U.”
As Callicott sung “I want You….here” middle-aged women on the first floor of Lafayette’s music room answered with loud, enthusiastic “Wooo!”s
Bluff City Soul Collective hopes to earn more of those “Wooo!”s at The Levitt Shell on Oct.11 as they are set to close out the second annual “This is Memphis” festival.
“La Fayette’s is a brand new room,” Ben Yonas said. “I think it’s one of the best rooms to feature original music or any kind of music. It’s ten minutes from campus, but that show - October 11th, is gonna be epic.”
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