The first part of the Live at the Clifton Center 2013-2014 concert season has just been announced! Click here for information. And check back later this summer for additional concert announcements.

Mini of Louisville Live at the Clifton Center is pleased to present the 21st annual Taste of Frankfort Avenue. Featuring food from more than two dozen of Louisville’s finest restaurants, live music, a cash bar and silent auction, the Taste has become a summertime favorite on Frankfort Avenue.

Best of all, proceeds from the Taste supports the Clifton Center’s programming throughout the year, so please join us Sunday, June 23rd from 5:00 to 8:00 for the Taste of Frankfort Avenue!

Join Cheyenne and her special guests, Scott Carney (Wax Fang), Another 7 Astronauts, and the Moving Collective for the release of her latest recording, Among The Grey. A free pre-concert reception will be held from 7:00 to 8:00, featuring appetizers from Eiderdown Restaurant and a cash bar.

Among The Grey, the latest release from Cheyenne Mize, fulfills the promise that has been evident in the two previous releases from this Louisville, KY native.  Whereas Before Lately (2010) was a slow-burning, introspective, meditative affair, and We Don’t Need (2012) offered an expansion of her sonic palette that left listeners wanting more, Among The Greystands strong as a cohesive artistic statement, once again showcasing Mize’s considerable skills as a songwriter and arranger.

Sonically Among The Grey is finely polished, and flows naturally between soft and intimate, laid back and lilting, stormy and intense. Mize is equally at ease winding melodies around almost ambient shimmering atmospherics as she is belting out lines over a locked and loaded rhythm section.  Lyrically, the album moves between buoyant positivity, wistful melancholy, and proud, almost angry defiance; yet all of the songs share a particular intensity of emotion. The album was recorded with Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird) in Louisville on the grounds of a church, which provided unique venues for capturing a variety of sounds and moods – they recorded in the gymnasium for soaring guitar tones, the sanctuary for choir-like backing vocals and huge drum sounds, and even in the basement, where they found the random items used for the unsettling percussion on tracks such as “Give It All.”

Mize first introduced herself internationally on the 10″ release Among the Gold with Bonnie “Prince” Billy – an inventive take on a variety of late 19th century American parlor music. After the release of her debut Before Lately (which The New York Times described as “sweet without being cloying, weary without hopelessness”), and subsequent performances at South By Southwest, Mize was chosen by NPR as one of their ten “Discoveries at SXSW 2011.”  We Don’t Need followed in 2012 and served as Cheyenne’s debut on Yep Roc Records.  With Among The Grey, Mize continues to solidify herself as an artist to watch in 2013 and beyond.

Louisville jazz great Dick Sisto and pianist Steve Allee are back by popular demand for a pair of concerts that sprang from the appearance of their quartet at the Clifton Center in May. These concerts will be the prelude to a regular series of quartet performance next year.

It’s been an amazing year at the Clifton Center! We’ve accomplished a lot, and the Friends of the Clifton Center helped to make it all possible, including

·       A dizzying array of concerts featuring everything from the world’s greatest classical guitar duo and the internationally renowned Afro-Cuban All Stars to our four-concert collaboration with WFPK, Winter Wednesdays, as well as performances by several of Louisville’s finest local artists

·       Monthly film screenings as part of the Wild and Woolly Film Series, featuring fascinating documentaries and thought provoking feature films

·       The Clifton Fifty, which brought the public in close conversation with some of thecommunity’s most interesting people

·       An expanded education and outreach program that included in-school visits by African and Brazilian musicians, as well as master classes with the acclaimed Assad Brothers; and

·       New partnerships with the Louisville Visual Art Association, U of L CommunityMusic   program, the Coalition for the Homeless, the Flyover Film Festival and many others.

We’re already hard at work planning our next season, and you can be assured that the 2013/2014 season will include even more of the interesting mix of programming that our patrons are coming to expect from the Clifton Center. We ask you to join the Friends of the Clifton Center today so that we can make these programs a reality.  Don’t forget that members receive 10% off all Mini of Louisville Live at the Clifton Center concerts, free admission to Wild and Woolly Film Series screenings, as well as invitations to Friends of the Clifton Center pre-concert events, and much more!

Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,

 

John Harris
Executive Director

It’s commonplace these days to find musicians described as transcending boundaries; to find one who really does it is more unusual, and to find two at the same time is rarer still. That is the only way, though, to describe Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott. But how else can you characterize musicians who can write songs for the likes of Garth Brooks, top the Americana airplay chart, win the respect of bluegrass audiences and make albums that carry echoes of Celtic, reggae, blues, and rock’n'roll, all while recording with everyone from bluegrass patriarch Ralph Stanley to young country favorites like John Berry? If variety is the spice of musical life, then these two men are master chefs, and when they get together, the result is guaranteed to be a tasty stew indeed.

Tim O’Brien is widely known as a veteran roots music performer. With a background in bluegrass (his band, Hot Rize, won an International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year award) and recordings ranging from three Americana chart-topping solo albums to acclaimed projects with his sister Mollie to work with Dwight Yoakam, Robert Earl Keen, Robin and Linda Williams, Jerry Douglas, Charlie Sizemore, Ralph Stanley and even a Top 10 duet with Kathy Mattea, Tim puts his mastery of acoustic instruments to work in a variety of settings that reflect his love for blues, calypso and other styles. His bluegrass singing earned him a 1993 Male Vocalist of the Year award from the IBMA, while his interpretation of Bob Dylan songs (1996′s Red on Blonde) won him a Grammy nomination. As a vocalist and performer, Tim has an easy going manner that nevertheless has a streak of intensity running through it to guarantee that listeners will not only be entertained but moved.

Guitarist on “When No One’s Around” – as well as albums by Suzy Bogguss, Sam Bush, Pam Tillis, Jenny Simpson and Guy Clark, with whom he also toured – and co-writer of its title track, Darrell Scott won acclaim with his first solo album entitled Aloha From Nashville. With musical training in the honky tonks of California and Alaska, and award-winning pedal steel guitar experience as well – Canada’s Mercy Brothers won several Juno awards for songs he wrote during his tenure with them. The Kentucky native dropped out of the music field long enough to earn a poetry and literature degree in Boston, MA before giving in and moving to Nashville in 1992. Critics have compared his work to that of John Prine and Lyle Lovett and taken special note of his mastery of a variety of instruments – he plays guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin and more. These same critics call his singing “versatile, expressive and just plain great,” and they note his ability to “drift between the laces of mountain music or contemporary sounds without losing depth or influence over his listener.”

With talents like that, it’s not surprising that critics and, more importantly, audiences have been entranced when O’Brien and Scott team up on stage. Don’t miss one minute of their performances at this year’s Walnut Valley Festival!

Wednesday, June 12 7:00 PM THIS FILM IS SOLD OUT
The Potter’s Field(documentary – 30 min – dir. Edward Heavrin)

What happens to the homeless when they die? The Potter’s Field follows a group of high school students in Louisville, KY who volunteer to give funeral services for the unknown, homeless and otherwise indigent members of their community. The story of the students is juxtaposed by the stark realities of how other cities, specifically Chicago and New York, dispose of their less fortunate.

(World Premiere)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

EDWARD HEAVRIN (director) is a Louisville-based artist working in film, performing arts, and music. He recently spent several years in New York City working in theatre and film, and co-wrote an original play Letter’s From India, which received a staged-reading Off-Broadway at Urban Stages in 2008. The Potter’s Field is his first feature-length documentary film.

Wednesday, June 12 7:45 PM
Gatewood (documentary – 30 min – dir. Chris Iovenko)

Gatewood Galbraith a wildcat, pro-Hemp and pro-Marijuana Lexington lawyer began running for the Kentucky Governor’s office in 1991.  Gatewood ran for governor five times before his death in 2012 at the age of 64.  This documentary, which was began in the 1990′s follows him on the campaign trail through bingo halls and barbeques as he attempts to get his unique message out and influence voters.  Although he built up a considerable base of fans and support over the years, Gatewood never held public office. The film shows the challenges that face the outsider candidate in politics and illuminates the unconventional and controversial character of Gatewood Galbraith.

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

Chris Iovenko (director) grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and then attended Vassar College where he graduated with a BA in English. Iovenko is now a writer and filmmaker in Los Angeles with many feature documentary and narrative film credits. Iovenko’s award-winning dark comedy EASY SIX (Showtime) starred Jim Belushi, was produced by Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) and marked Iovenko’s feature writing and directing debut.

Iovenko has also published numerous short stories, essays and articles in newspapers, literary journals and magazines such as The New York Times, The Louisville Courier Journal, Open City, The American Voice, Spin and Details Magazine.  “Lucky Streak”, his book of collected short stories, was published by World Audience Publishing.

Wednesday, June 12 9:00 PM
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (narrative – 105 min – dir. David Lowery)

Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara), an impassioned young outlaw couple on an extended crime spree, are finally apprehended by lawmen after a shootout in the Texas hills. Although Ruth wounds a local officer, Bob takes the blame. But four years later, Bob escapes from prison and sets out to find Ruth and their daughter, born during his incarceration. Director David Lowery sets his poetic Western tale of loss and redemption in 1970’s Texas.

(Sundance 2013, Cannes Critic’s Week 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

DAVID LOWERY (Director) made his feature film debut with St. Nick (2009), which screened at festivals around the world, including SXSW. His short-film “Pioneer,” screened at Sundance, SXSW, and Flyover in 2011. Variety recently named the Texas filmmaker one of their “10 Directors to Watch” for 2013. His second feature, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, premiered in the US at Sundance and internationally at the prestigious Critic’s Week selection at Cannes.

Thursday, June 13 7:00 PM
12 O’Clock Boys (documentary – 76 min – dir. Lotfy Nathan)

Pug, a thirteen-year-old boy in Westside, Baltimore, wants nothing more than to join the 12 O’Clock Boys, a motorcycle gang named after the audacious wheelies they pull while riding illegally through neighborhood streets and sidewalks, chased by police cars and helicopters. Looking beyond the sensational and harrowing stunts of the riders, director Lotfy Nathan focuses on the pivotal adolescent moments of an impressionable and determined youth growing up amid family tragedy and community turmoil. Pug’s own narration, alternately swaggering and poetic, illustrates his consciousness forming within the constructive and destructive forces of the riding subculture.

(SXSW 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

LOFTY NATHAN (director), 26, is a filmmaker and visual artist based in New York. He has received the Grainger Marburg Travel grant, fellowships from the Garrett Scott foundation, Compound group, IFP Doc Lab, & IFP Spotlight. 12 O’Clock Boys is his first feature-length documentary.

Thursday, June 13 9:00 PM
Towheads (narrative – 86 min – dir. Shannon Plumb)

Video artist Shannon Plumb directs herself, her husband, and her two towheaded boys in a whip smart exploration of one woman’s search to define herself outside of marriage and motherhood. Replete with skillfully executed prat falls and visual gags recollecting an age of silent comedy, Plumb creates a world where the ridiculous blends seamlessly with the sincere as Penelope stumbles her way through a not quite midlife crisis.

(MoMA FSLC New Directors/New Films 2013)

Friday, June 14 7:00 PM
Our Nixon (documentary – 84 min – dir. Penny Lane)

Throughout Richard Nixon’s presidency, three of his top White House aides obsessively documented their experiences with Super-8 home movie cameras. Young, idealistic and dedicated, they had no idea that a few years later they’d all be in prison. This unique and personal visual record, created by H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Dwight Chapin, was seized by the FBI during the Watergate investigation, then filed away and forgotten for almost 40 years. Our Nixon is an all-archival documentary presenting those home movies for the first time, along with other rare footage, creating an intimate and complex portrait of the Nixon presidency as never seen before.

(SXSW 2013, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

BRIAN L. FRYE (producer) is a filmmaker, writer, and professor of law. His films explore relationships between history, society, and cinema through archival and amateur images. Brian’s experimental films have been shown by The Whitney Museum, New York Film Festival, Pacific Film Archive, New York Underground Film Festival, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Warhol Museum, Chicago Filmmakers, Pleasure Dome, Media City and Images Festival. His films are in the permanent collection of The Whitney Museum. He is a Creative Capital grantee and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2012

Friday, June 14 9:00 PM
I Use To Be Darker (narrative – 90 min – dir. Matt Porterfield)

When Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, finds herself in trouble in Ocean City, Maryland, she seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore. But Kim and Bill have problems of their own: they are trying to handle the end of their marriage gracefully for the sake of their daughter, Abby, just home from her first year of college. I Used to Be Darker is a story of people finding each other and letting each other go; of looking for love where they have found it before; and, when that does not work, figuring out where they might find it next.

(Berlin 2013, Sundance 2013)

 FILMMAKERS IN PERSON!

NED OLDHAM (actor, musician) formed the art-punk band Languid and Flaccid with Slint-to-be members Brian McMahon and Britt Walford in 1981. Since then he has performed and recorded with an amazing cast of musicians including David Grubbs, Jason Lowenstein, Mick Turner, Jim White, David Heumann, Matt Sweeney, and his two younger brothers, Paul and Will “Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy” Oldham. In 1994, he formed The Anomoanon with Aram Stith, Jack Carneal and Willy Maclean, and over more than a dozen releases explored psychedelic folk rock territory to critical acclaim in the US and abroad. 

JACK CARNEAL (actor, musician) is a writer, teacher and musician living in Baltimore with his family. He began playing drums in Richmond’s nascent punk and new wave scene in the late seventies while still in middle school. In the early nineties he formed a band with Ned Oldham and friends that became the Anomoanon. After a stint living in rural Mali, Carneal began a non-profit label called Yaala Yaala Records, focusing exclusively on the music of rural Mali. All profits are funneled back to the musicians. Jack’s writing has recently appeared in McSweeney’s Lucky Peach magazine and in the online arts journal Bluepenny Quarterly. He is a Lecturer in English at Towson University.

Friday, June 14 11:30 PM
Anomoanon (Live at Zanzabar)
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT DOES NOT TAKE PLACE AT THE CLIFTON CENTER

Ned Oldham, Jack Carneal, Willy Maclean and Aram and Jason Stith formed the Anomoanon in late 1994, therein cobbling together some of the first rumblings of a rambling, rocking psychedelic music richly rooted in traditional rhymes and balladry that set the stage but then veered away from the oncoming freak folk scene. Anomoanon recordings and performances often included brothers Will and Paul Oldham and other guests.  Over the course of a dozen releases, about half the time, the songs are the lyrics and music of Ned, and the other half using lyrics borrowed from old–ancient–texts: the earthy (and worldly) poems of the fifteenth-century poet Francois Villon and several evocative forays into the wildly beautiful and sweetly brutal rhymes of Mother Goose.  Live shows blend the material, uniting the threads in an electrified southernish rock band, tight in the way only long, slow-baked musical relationships can become knit. The Anomoanon has always been a bit out of step with the time–both visionary and deeply ancient.

Saturday, June 15 5:00 PM
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton (documentary – 82 min – dir. Eric Slade & Stephen Silha)

Years before the Beats arrived in San Francisco, the city exploded with artistic expressions – painting, theatre, film, poetry. At its center was the groundbreaking filmmaker and poet James Broughton. Big Joy explores Broughton’s passionate embrace of a life of pansexual transcendence and a fiercely independent mantra: ‘follow your own weird’. His remarkable story spans the post-war San Francisco Renaissance, his influence on the Beat generation, escape to Europe during the McCarthy years, a lifetime of acclaim for his joyous experimental films and poetry celebrating the human body, finding his soulmate at age 61, and finally, his ascendancy as a revered bard of sexual liberation.

(SxSw 2013, Tribecca 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

STEPHEN SILHA (director)
Stephen Silha is a freelance writer, filmmaker, facilitator, and futurist. Born in Minneapolis, he began writing for newspapers in the suburban fifth grade, and went on to report for The Minneapolis Star and The Christian Science Monitor. He has worked with several philanthropic foundations including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and with Children’s Express News Service, Libraries for the Future, the United Nations, Yes! Magazine, and Good News/Good Deeds: Citizen Effectiveness in the Age of Electronic Democracy.

Silha met James Broughton at a gathering in 1989, after James had moved to Port Townsend, WA with his lover, husband and soulmate Joel Singer. They became fast friends, and Broughton mentored Silha for many joyful communicative years.

Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton is his first feature documentary.

 

Saturday, June 15 7:00 PM
It Felt Like Love (narrative – 82 min – dir. Eliza Hittman)

During an uneventful summer on the outskirts of Brooklyn, Lila, a lonely 14-year-old from Gravesend, turns her attentions to Sammy, an older thug she sees at Rockaway beach. Wanting something to brag about, she weaves a story about him and becomes fixated on seeing it realized. When her attempts fail, she propels the lie even further, claiming they’ve had sex. During her sexual quest, Lila turns from predator to prey. It Felt Like Love captures the confusing emotions and developing identity of an adolescent girl that explores what could euphemistically be called love.

(Sundance 2013, Maryland Film Festival 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

LAURA WAGNER (producer) is the founder of Bay Bridge Productions. She produced the feature film Memorial Day by Josh Fox, which premiered at CineVegas Film Festival and had a run at the IFC Center. Wagner was Associate Producer of the documentary John Leguizamo: Tales from a Ghetto Klown, which premiered on PBS and Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey, the critically acclaimed Imax film directed by the creators of Stomp.

PRECEEDED BY

Cavalier (narrative – 21 min – dir. Steven Schardt)

While trying to drop off custody papers, Scotty instead decides to take kidnap his two-year-old son for an impromptu road-trip. Director Steven Schardt used locations in and around Louisville as backdrop for his story of desperate parenting.

(SXSW 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

Saturday, June 15 9:00 PM
The Rambler (narrative – 97 min – dir. Calvin Lee Reeder)

Upon release from prison, a solitary man known only as “the Rambler” (Dermot Mulroney) embarks on a mysterious journey en route to reconnecting with his long-lost brother. Traversing treacherous back roads, lost highways, and isolated small towns, he unearths a multitude of bizarre and wickedly depraved slices of Americana. Director Calvin Lee Reeder infuses his surreal narrative with as much degenerate humor and violent imagery as he can fit into 97 minutes of pure impurity.

(Sundance 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

CALVIN LEE REEDER (director) – A stark mix of underground horror shock with existentialist atmosphere, Calvin Reeder’s films, “Piledriver,” “Little Farm,” and “The Rambler,” put the art into lo-fi splatter pics. Originally from Portland, Ore., and living in Seattle up until 2007, Reeder played extensively with the art-punk bands the Popular Shapes and the Intelligence. He was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 Faces of Independent Film.”  His debut feature, The Oregonian, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Saturday, June 15 11:00 PM
RoboCop: As Performed by Ultra Pulverize (narrative/live musical accompaniment – 102 min – dir. Paul Verhoeven)

Deeply affected and inspired by Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film RoboCop as children, Ultra Pulverize has set out to pay tribute to the science fiction classic by providing a live, full-length, electronic re-score. Original instrumentation will be incorporated with dialogue and sound effect samples from the film, and as a statement against talking during movies; there will be no rapping.

Can you fly, Bobby?

LIVE PERFORMANCE!

ULTRA PULVERIZE is a futuristic electronic synth-punk rap three-piece from Louisville, KY.  A musical outfit with outfits, Ultra Pulverize is Ultra (vocals), Tony Robot (beat machine and sampler played by hand) and Korgenbütz (synthesizers and theremin).

Sunday, June 16 1:30 PM
City Strays (narrative – 71 min – dir. Mike Elsherif)

Childhood friends, Liza and Elliot, reunite and spend a day together with the mission of finding a lost golden retriever in their hometown. Along the way, the bumbling gumshoes discover unspoken feelings for each other, confront confusion about the current state of their lives, and rekindle a kinship that can only arise in quarter-life crisis commiseration. City Strays examines what it means to feel lost, and the many ways we avoid being found.

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!                        

MIKE ELSERIF (director) is a Palestinian-American living in Louisville, KY. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking. His short “Red Autumn” was selected in numerous festivals including the Method Film Fest, Indie Grits Film Fest, Next Reel International Film Festival and was the recipient of the prestigious ASC Heritage Award for Cinematography.

Sunday, June 16 3:00 PM
Kuichisan (narrative/documentary – 75 min – dir. Maiko Endo)

Based in the forgotten, cross-cultured town of Koza, in Okinawa, Japan, this film follows a 10-year-old boy who looks like a monk and drifts amidst his own beliefs.  As he searches for an outlet for his spirituality, he encounters the magical force of Nature and the history behind the creation of a place that is not quite American yet not Japanese

Sunday, June 16 5:00 PM
Maidentrip (documentary – 84 min – dir. Jillian Schlesinger)

14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out—camera in hand—on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. In the wake of a year-long battle with Dutch authorities that sparked a global storm of media scrutiny, Laura now finds herself far from land, family and unwanted attention, exploring the world in search of freedom, adventure, and distant dreams of her early youth at sea. Jillian Schlesinger’s debut feature amplifies Laura’s brave, defiant voice through a mix of Laura’s own video and voice recordings at sea and intimate vérité footage from locations including the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, Australia, and South Africa.

(SXSW 2013, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2013)

FILMMAKER IN PERSON!

JILLIAN SCHLESINGER (director) is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker making her directorial debut with Maidentrip. She has also written and produced numerous on-air promotional campaigns for TV networks including Sundance Channel, AMC, and BBC America. Jillian grew up in Santa Cruz, California and graduated from Brown University.

 

Oh, and there was that Order of the British Empire (OBE), bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth for service to music, summing up the whole artistic package.

 All the while he’s been expanding his roster of accomplishments into theater with his multi-media extravaganza Cabaret of Souls, scoring the gripping Werner Herzog documentary Grizzly Man and curating London’s prestigious Meltdown Festival. Not to mention that he’s an avid birder and hockey fan.

 On Thompson’s new album, pointedly titled Electric, all of that is boiled down to its intense essence. Well, maybe not the hockey part—though there is a decidedly full-contact quality to his music and words, as always.

Mozart Concert Aria with tenor Kenji Tashiro

• Beethoven Piano Sonata “Waldstein”

• Reinecke Sonata for flute and piano “Undine” with Kathy Karr (flute) from the Louisville Orchestra

Scroll to the bottom to watch the trailer.

Faced with their own mortality an improbable group of young people, many of them HIV-positive young men, broke the mold as radical warriors taking on Washington and the medical establishment.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE is the story of two coalitions—ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time. With unfettered access to a treasure trove of never-before-seen archival footage from the 1980s and ’90s, filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs of heroes in the making.