About MLL

History

The Memphis Listening Lab is made possible through the benevolence of Memphian John King. King’s donation of tens of thousands of records, CDs, and books, along with a rich assortment of music memorabilia, forms the basis of the Memphis Listening Lab collection.

John King’s lifelong involvement in Memphis music began in high school in 1959 when he partnered with John Fry and Fred Smith to form the Ardent Records label. King went on to work in radio at KCAT as well as radio promotions and published the Gideon B. Matthews radio programming guide for many years. In the 1970’s, King became head of promotions at Ardent and broke iconic Memphis rock band Big Star by organizing the now infamous National Association of Rock Writers’ Convention in Memphis in 1973.

Over the years, King amassed the incredibly vast and diverse collection of music that the Memphis Listening Lab houses for the public’s enjoyment and benefit. The Memphis Listening Lab exists today due to the lifelong vision, bona fide great taste, and utmost generosity of John King.

Board Members

Tonya Dyson

Tonya Dyson is at the forefront of today’s Memphis soul scene. Not only is she an accomplished singer and songwriter, but she is the founder of Neosoulville and the Soulsville USA Festival. She also serves as the Executive Director for the Memphis Slim House– providing local musicians with collaborative space, financial support, and help in navigating the business side of music.

Al “Kapone” Bailey

Al “Kapone” Bailey is a Memphis rap pioneer, multi-platinum songwriter, and the Music Consultant for the Memphis and Shelby County Film & TV Commission. He wrote and produced award-winning music for films like Hustle & Flow, including the iconic “Whoop That Trick,” which became a fan chant for the Grizzlies and other sports teams. Al was one of the first hip-hop Grammy Chapter President in Memphis and continues to innovate in music, blending blues and rap. He also mentors students in inner-city schools and colleges. More at: akmemphis.com

Kortland Whalum

Kortland Whalum is a singer-songwriter and actor, recording and touring with world-renowned artists including Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Kortland has also starred in stage productions of The Wiz, AIDA, and Raisin. From 2016-2020, Kortland was the Vocal Director of the Stax Music Academy, responsible for the day-to-day activities for vocalists of the Stax Music Academy. Kortland has ushered in a new generation of aspiring musicians with the help of Justin Timberlake and the Stax Music Academy songwriting cohort.

Matt Ross-Spang

Matt Ross-Spang is a Grammy-winning engineer and producer who has worked with John Prine, Jason Isbell, Al Green, Margo Price and a host of others. He was the chief engineer at Sun Studios and now operates his Southern Grooves Productions.

Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson is the owner and chief designer at EgglestonWorks loudspeakers. For over 25 years he has traveled the globe promoting his Memphis-based company. Locally, he has been instrumental in the musically-focused Central Station Hotel development. Jim helped to conceptualize the MLL and has designed a reference-level listening experience within the Lab called the SoundRoom.

Ryan Schell

Ryan Schell has a 30 year background in sales and client relations, having spent the last 18 years in Orthopedic sales in the Memphis area. He has served on numerous non-profit boards including 9 years with Shelby Farms Park Conservancy and is currently serving as a Trustee for his high school alma mater, Trinity-Pawling School in Pawling, NY. He and his wife Mary live in East Memphis and have three teenagers.

Lawrence Matthews, III

Lawrence Matthews is an artist from Memphis, TN working in music, photography, painting and filmmaking. Matthews has had many group and solo exhibitions spanning galleries and museums across the mid-south as well as the residency program at Crosstown Arts. His exploration of photography has focused on areas and moments within black communities in Memphis that have been greatly affected by gentrification, systematic disenfranchisement and city planning.

Jeff Kollath

Jeff Kollath is the Executive Director of the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, AR. Prior to heading across the river in 2024, Jeff was the Executive Director at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, where he still provides curatorial and archival support for the Bob Abrahamian Collection and other projects. A native of Waunakee, Wisconsin, Jeff earned his BA in History from UW-La Crosse and his MA in Public History from IU-Indianapolis, where he wrote his thesis on Indianapolis soul music and the Civil Rights Movement.

Ayana Contreras

Ayana Contreras is a cultural historian, memory worker, radio DJ and archivist.  An avid collector with over 10,000 vintage vinyl records, for over a decade, she hosted the Reclaimed Soul program on Vocalo Radio (and later, on WBEZ) in Chicago. She currently hosts Soulful Strut on KUVO Jazz in Denver, Colorado, where she serves as VP of Radio at Rocky Mountain Public Media. A 2014/15 University of Chicago Arts + Public Life Artist-In-Residence, she is also a columnist for DownBeat magazine and her writings have been published in The New York Times, Chicago Review, Oxford American and Bandcamp Daily among other publications. A contributor to the NPR Music New Music Friday Podcast, in 2025, she served as a judge for the NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest. Her book on Post-Civil Rights Era cultural history, titled Energy Never Dies: Afro-Optimism and Creativity in Chicago, was published December 2021 through University of Illinois Press.