Memory Builds the Monument

Musical legends Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin often performed at the hottest nightclub in Houston’s 5th Ward. Club Matinee was known as “the Cotton Club of the south” by musical legends and area residents alike. Now a short new documentary, Memory Builds the Monument, taps the recollections of current and former 5th Ward residents who remember those magical years.

The film is directed by award winning filmmaker Isaac Yowman and produced with 5th Ward native and renowned artist Mel Chin, filmmaker Greg Carter and producer Miriam Heads. The primary people interviewed for the film are 5th Ward natives and well-known in their own rights. They include Archie Bell, Founding Member of the R&B group Archie Bell & the Drells; Algenita Davis, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Houston; Rev. Harvey Clemons, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church; and Jesse Lott, who was recently named the Texas state three-dimensional artist of 2022.