Legends March/April 2012 by Shawn King

mississippilegends.com

THE ELIXIR OF LOVE

Saturday, April 21, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Thalia Mara Hall - Jackson, MS TICKETS 601.960.2300 or www.msopera.org

A T

F estival of Music

An Evening with the World Famous

University of Nor th Texas

One O eclock Lab Band

Saturday, May 5, 2012, 7:00 p.m. Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center - Natchez, MS TICKETS 601.446.8280 or www.natchezfestivalofmusic.com

CHORAL MASTERWORK

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH’S

MASS IN B MINOR

Saturday, May 5, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Main Street Baptist Church - Hattiesburg, MS TICKETS 800.844.8425 or www.southernmisstickets.com

FestivalSouth.ORG BANCORPSOUTH and BROWNSTONE’S present FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT

classical mystery tour Saturday, June 9, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Saenger Theatre - Hattiesburg, MS FESTIVALSOUTH FORREST GENERAL presents BEATLES and SANDI FESTIVALFINALE

sandi patty

Saturday, June 23, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Tenple Baptist Church - Hattiesburg, MS TICKETS 800.844.8425 or www.festivalsouth.org

Dramatic Presentations

Home, Garden and Church Tours Carriage Rides

Double Decker Bus Rides 10K Run

Tales from the Crypt

1910 legends magazine.indd 1

march. april 2012

2/17/12 2:57:41 PM

mississippilegends.com

Contents march / april 2012

Publisher �� Marianne Todd Executive Editor �� Jayne Cannon Creative Director ��Shawn T. King Designer ��Shawn T. King

Music

Advertising Sales Wayne Ammons - 601-613-7039 Wayne@MississippiLegends.com Heidi Hackbarth - 601-596-4955 Heidi@MississippiLegends.com Billy Howell - 601-313-9222 Billy@MississippiLegends.com Kay O’Shaughnnesy - 757-617-9592 Kaymayfield@comcast.net Ken Flynt, director - 601-479-3351 Ken@MississippiLegends.com Editorial - 601-604-2963 Editor@MississippiLegends.com Contributing writers: Stephen Corbett, Joe Lee, Billy Howell, Olga Wilhelmine, Jayne Cannon Contributing photographers: David Carlson, Joe Worthem, Michael Barrett, Dennis Head, Dave Vann Web calendar tech: James Sharp (www.MississippiLegends.com) Email calendar submissions to James@MississippiLegends.com LEGENDS would like to give a special shout-out to our fine printer, CJK Print Possibilities of Cincinnati, Ohio, and special thanks to Mark Wurm, Jamey Cullup and all the great pressmen at CJK for their outstanding excellence in service, consistent work quality and continued dedication to Blue South Publishing. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or reprinted without express permission of the publisher. The opinions and views expressed by our contributors, writers and editors are their own. Various views from other professionals may also be expressed. Neither LEGENDS nor Blue South Publishing Corporation is endorsing or guaranteeing the products or quality of services expressed in advertisements. All advertisers assume liability for all content (including text representation and illustration) of advertisements printed and assume responsibility for any resulting claims against LEGENDS or its affiliates. Materials, photographs and written pieces to be considered for inclusion in LEGENDS may be sent to P.O. Box 3663, Meridian, MS 39303. Unsolicited materials will not be returned. LEGENDS is free and distributed through tourism offices, welcome centers, restaurants, theaters, casinos, and institutions of higher education. If your business, agency or industry would like to offer LEGENDS, please contact us at Editor@MississippiLegends.com. For more information, write to Editor@MississippiLegends.com. More information, including a comprehensive, up-to-date calendar, may be found at www.MississippiLegends.com

About our cover Cat Cora is not only a world-renowned chef, she is an enthusiastic ambassador for her home state of Mississippi. Popular for her role as the only female chef on Iron Chef America, off the set Cora runs Chefs for Hummanity, an organization dedicated to helping end world hunger. Cover photo by David Carlson

march. april 2012

6 “Howlin’ for Hubert”

The Who’s Who of Rock and Blues Gathers to Pay Tribute to Hubert Sumlin’s Legacy

30 From Alan Lomax, with Love

His Beloved Music Recordings, Field Notes and Memories are Returned to Como

32 Clarksdale’s Juke Joint Faithful

They Come Each Year to Pay Homage to the Blues

40 Winds of Change

Malaco Rises Nearly a Year after a Devastating Tornado

Features 48 An Architect’s Delight

The Splendor of Meridian’s City Hall is Returned

54 A View From the Capitol

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves Shares His Hopes for the Future

64 What’s Shakin’ Around the State?

Culinary Arts 16 The Chef Who Would Feed the World Cat Cora is Determined to End World Hunger

20 Southern Cooking Made Easy at Viking

The Culinary Leader Shows How Fried Chicken Is Really Done

58 Dining with Robert St. John

The Popular Chef Returns from a Fabulous 17-Country European Taste Trip

letter from the publisher Dear Readers, I remember my musician husband oohing over the MSU Riley Center's announcement that Hubert Sumlin would be performing alongside David “Honeyboy” Edwards in Todd Mohr and Lightnin' Malcolm's Robert Johnson Centennial tour. He is, after all, a man who appreciates the great achievers. Sadly, neither Sumlin nor Edwards are here with us anymore, but their indelible mark on music certainly is. And this is something New Yorkers recognize without hesitation. As I write this, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards are gearing up to perform a tribute concert in Sumlin's honor – to the tune of $1,000 to $5,000 per ticket. And Clapton and Richards are only two performers in the lineup of Who's Who in the worlds of Rock and Blues. Can Mississippi draw that kind of dollar? Absolutely. When we begin to recognize that we are king of the hill on the nation's Top 50 list as a musical greatness, anything is possible ... just like a poor, black kid from 1930s rural Mississippi being heralded as the guitarist who taught the world to play. Mr. Sumlin, way to go.

Cheers,

Marianne

mississippilegends.com

Howlin’ for music feature

Hubert Musicians converge on NYC’s Apollo Theater to honor Greenwood’s legendary guitarist Editor’s note: At press time, musicians were gearing up for “Howlin’ for Hubert,” a concert honoring the life, legacy and lessons learned from Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin. Scheduled at the Apollo Theater in New York, the headliners were to be Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. Tickets - from $1,000 to $5,000 each – along with $50,000 group packages - were well on their way to being sold. LEGENDS also pays tribute to the musician from Greenwood, a natural talent who taught the world how to play guitar. By Stephen Corbett Photographs by Marianne Todd

“It’s a shame, but it seems like the only time a lot of us musicians are able to get together and jam is when somebody dies, because everybody’s always out there doing their own thing. We should do it more often.” As the only living member of Howlin’ Wolf ’s original Chicago-based band, Jody Williams knows exactly what he’s talking about. “I was in Paris when I got the call about Hubert passing. It was a Sunday morning. I flew back to the States the next day.” Ironically, “Howlin’ For Hubert,” the memorial concert celebrating the musical legacy of Hubert Sumlin at the Apollo Theater in mid-February, was originally planned to a be a 8

march. april 2012

celebration of his 80th birthday (Sumlin turned 80 on Nov. 16). “We started putting this together over a year ago,” said Steve Jordan, musical director and co-producer of the show, as well as drummer for the house band. “It took a while to put this together because we had to find a date that worked with everyone’s schedule. Hubert knew who had confirmed and was very excited. He had no plans of performing. I remember him saying, ‘I just want to sit back, watch and eat cake.’” The list of confirmed acts is a veritable Who’s Who of blues and rock: Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Todd Park Mohr, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, James Cotton, Shemekia Copeland,

“Howlin’ for Hubert” was intended to celebrate the musician’s birthday. Instead, musicians are celebrating his legacy. mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

Buddy Guy, David Johansen, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Randolph, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, among others. “These were all his friends. He knew everyone involved,” Jordan said. Hugh Southard, Sumlin’s agent for the last 14 years of his life, credits Jordan for putting it all together. “He organized it all, and everyone was excited to be a part of it,” he said. “Hubie really wanted Clapton to be there. This is the only confirmed appearance for Eric Clapton this year, and he’s flying out to do it on his own dime. That meant a lot to Hubie. He was telling Toni Ann (Sumlin’s manager), ‘I told you my boy would come through for me.’” The Hubert Sumlin story began in Greenwood, where Sumlin was born in 1931, and continued in Hughes, Ark., where he was raised. His mother scraped up the money to buy his first guitar when he was 8 years old; a chance meeting with James Cotton in the early ‘50s would change Sumlin’s life forever. “I was playing a show in Arkansas. And my guitar player didn’t show up,” Cotton said. “The club owner told me he knew someone who played guitar and introduced me to Hubert. Hubert already knew all of my songs from listening to my radio show, so he filled in.” Cotton, who was only 15 and didn’t have a driver’s license, was so impressed that he drove to Sumlin’s house a few weeks later and offered him a job playing full-time. “I knocked on the door and asked Hubert’s mother if he could come and play with me. Now, she was a sanctified lady and looked at the blues as devil’s music. She said he could go, but only if I brought him back every Wednesday so she could look at him and make sure he was OK. That was 61 years ago. Never did find out why she chose Wednesday.” Hubert played in Cotton’s band for three years before making the move that would make him a part of music history. “We opened for (Howlin’) Wolf at the Casablanca in Arkansas,” Cotton said. “Wolf knew Hubert could play, ‘cause he’d heard him on my radio show. But the

radio show was just 15 minutes; this was an hour-anda-half. Hubert was nervous because Wolf had the bigger band. I told him, ‘We really got to play tonight.’” Sumlin, no doubt, made an impression on Wolf, who asked Sumlin to join his band in 1954. “Hubert was shy and didn’t want to go, but we were poor. I told him he had to go, because Wolf could pay him more than I could,” he said. When Sumlin arrived in Chicago, he shared guitar duties with Jody Williams. “We lived together in an apartment on the corner of 46th and Greenwood,” Williams said. “One evening, we stopped at a liquor store so I could get some cigarettes. I got my cigarettes, and Hubert wanted a half-pint of something. The bartender came from behind the counter, grabbed Hubert by the arm and threw him out. Funny thing is, I was 19 at the time, and Hubert was three years older than me. He always looked younger than he was, though, even near the end.” After Williams left the band in 1955, Sumlin was Wolf ’s primary guitarist and an integral part of the creation of the legendary Howlin’ Wolf sound. Between 1954 and 1976, Sumlin played on a number of songs that would become blues standards, including “Wang Dang Doodle,” “Shake for Me,” “Goin’ Down Slow” and “Killing Floor,” which according to Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd & The Monsters), is the definitive Sumlin riff. “That’s the one. It had a profound impact on my playing,” Mohr said. “Listening to Hubert really helped me develop what I do with the fingers on my right hand a lot more.” Hubert began his solo career in 1980, touring regularly but only releasing a handful of albums. According to Williams, Sumlin had a harder time fronting his own band than some of his contemporaries because he wasn’t used to singing. While his quiet and somewhat whispered vocals are the antithesis of Howlin’ Wolf, his guitar playing remained strong and confident throughout. Robert Randolph met and played with Hubert for the first time on the Experience Hendrix tour in 2007.

TOP: Sumlin performs with David “Honeyboy” Edwards, center, and Lightnin’ Malcolm. LEFT: Edwards performs on Sumlin’s last concert tour in 2011 with Big Head Todd & The Monsters. Both Edwards and Sumlin have since passed away. RIGHT: Despite his battle with lung cancer, Sumlin played live performances and recorded during his last year. mississippilegends.com

“

I knocked on the door and asked Hubert’s mother if he could come and play with me. Now, she was a sanctified lady and looked at the blues as devil’s music. She said he could go, but only if I brought him back every Wednesday so she could look at him and make sure he was OK. That was 61 years ago. Never did find out why she chose Wednesday.”

march. april 2012

Sumlin plays with Todd Park Mohr and Lightninâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Malcolm on the Robert Johnson Centennial tour. mississippilegends.com

“I really appreciated his soulful playing, which is something a lot of people forget,” he said. “Some people get caught up in learning this lick or that, but he wasn’t concerned on playing fast or fancy like some of us younger players. He just played from the soul, and the crowd loved it.” Sumlin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002 and underwent lung removal surgery in 2004. Despite this, he continued to record and perform. He released “About Them Shoes” in 2004 and recorded an album with Jordan in 2006 that has yet to be released. In addition to making his rounds at blues festivals, he spent a portion of 2011 on tour with Big Head Todd & the Monsters as part of its Big Head Blues Club/Robert Johnson Centennial Tour. “The last time I saw him was on the last day of the tour,” Mohr said. “We were planning on making a record together. I was already getting arrangements together for it.” “He played with me at Yoshi’s in Oakland last year,” Cotton said. “It was for my birthday. Fourth of July weekend. He was real sick, and he was self-conscious about going out there on the bandstand with his oxygen tank. I told him people wouldn’t care. He went out there and played with his heart and soul. Two sets.” Randolph remembers similar moments on the bus with Sumlin after shows on the Experience Hendrix tour. “He would run and jump around and play and sing, and then afterward, he would be sitting there with his oxygen tank on. One time, he looks at me and says, ‘Robert, one day you gonna be old like me. Just enjoy yourself and keep on playing.’ And he did. He played until he left the earth. Not many people can do what they love to do most until they die.” Sumlin died Dec. 4, in a hospital in Wayne, N.J., of heart failure,

Sumlin on tour with Mohr. (Photograph by Dave Vann)

march. april 2012

mere months before his birthday celebration was to take place. As a testament to his influence, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards paid Sumlin’s funeral costs. Regarding their donation, manager Southard said, “We had money coming in from the Blues Foundation and from MusiCares, but once Mick and Keith got involved, we sent all of the money back. That’s how much Hubie meant to people. He was one of my favorite people on the planet.” The last time Cotton saw him was in Helena, Ark. “We were both playing the King Biscuit Festival. We had breakfast together the next morning. He was my best friend. We were brothers. I put a harp in his casket before they buried him.” Mohr performed a song he wrote about Sumlin’s life at his funeral called “Hubert Sumlin Memorial Tribute.” The song can be found on YouTube. Howlin’ For Hubert took place on Feb. 24, as a tribute to the life and legacy of Hubert Sumlin. Money raised from the show will go to the Jazz Foundation of America. The JFA provides financial assistance to elderly jazz and blues musicians, with a particular focus on medical, housing and legal matters. Despite his contributions and influence, Sumlin was broke when he died. The JFA will use the money raised to create a fund in Hubert’s honor. L

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

SYMPHONY DOO-DAH

Fri., March 23, 2012 � 7:00 p.m. Pre-concert event at 6:00 p.m. $10 Students & Military

2012 Spring/Summer Series msu riley center’s

March 9, 2012 (Fri.)

Josh Turner 7:30 p.m.

March 25, 2012 (Sun.)

An Evening with Wilson Phillips 6:00 p.m.

April 7, 2012 (Sat.)

American Legacies: The Del McCoury Band and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band 7:30 p.m.

April 14, 2012 (Sat.)

Lee Ann Womack 7:30 p.m.

May 5, 2012 (Sat.)

“Soul Salvation featuring Ruthie Foster & Paul Thorn” 7:30 p.m.

May 8, 2012 (Tues.)

Bonnie Raitt 7:30 p.m.

May 17, 2012 (Thurs.)

House at Pooh Corner 7:30 p.m.

May 19, 2012 (Sat.)

Wynonna and The Big Noise 7:30 p.m.

June 7, 2012 (Thurs.)

Eddie Levert of The O’Jays 7:30 p.m.

June 21, 2012 (Thurs.)

Jars of Clay 7:30 p.m.

July 17, 2012 (Tues.)

Alice Tan Ridley 7:30 p.m.

August 10, 2012 (Fri.)

Robert Randolph and The Family Band 7:30 p.m.

$20 Adults

There’s something for everyone at this family concert featuring music from favorite animated film classics. At 6 p.m. before the show begins, your young music lovers can meet and pose with some of your favorite characters plus explore our interactive music zoo. At the concert, you will get an idea of what John Strickler Guest Conductor happens at a Link Up Performance, our popular program designed for elementary students as an introduction to the workings of a symphony orchestra. MSO will perform a few selections from the morning’s earlier Link Up program. Our Guest Conductor for the morning’s Link Up Performances and the evening’s Family Concert is Maestro John Strickler of the Gulf Coast (Mississippi) Symphony.

DO YOU WANT TO DANCE? Sat., April 21, 2012 � 7:30 p.m.

$10 Students & Military

$25 & $30 Adults

In days gone by, the music of Mendelssohn, Borodin, Marquez, and Dvorak was often the music of celebration and dance. Come join the MSO for an evening of music that will make you feel like dancing to the melodies of these Robert Treviño renowned composers. Guest Conductor Under the direction of Guest Conductor, Robert Trevino, Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony, the evening’s performance will feature Meridian Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster, Jenny Grégoire as featured violin soloist. Jenny Grégoire Featured Soloist

at the MSU Riley Center www.msurileycenter.com www.facebook.com/rileycenter 2200 5th Street | Meridian, Mississippi | 601-696-2200

TICKETS: (601) 696-2200 MSO: (601) 693-2224

meridiansymphonyorchestra.com mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

Cover Story

Mississippi’s

Cat Cora The chef who aspires to feed the world Words by Marianne Todd Photographs by David Carlson

he sun hasn’t been up long in Santa Barbara, Calif., and 1,500 miles from her native Mississippi home, Cat Cora has just packed her four children off to school. With two at age 2, a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old, she has her hands full. “Full hands, full heart,” she says of caring for her children. “They eat well, but I do it the old-fashioned way. I say, ‘This is dinner. Better eat because this is it.’” Her next task could be strategic planning for Chefs for Humanity, the global charity she founded and spearheads. Or, it could be revamping menus for any of her three restaurants ... or researching dishes for her next stint as the only female chef on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America competition.

As a celebrity who works out seven days a week to maintain her svelte figure (she tastes food throughout the day), Cora got into the industry at a time when the public’s awareness of nutrition wasn’t so acute. Coming from a foodloving Greek family, she had prepared a business model for a restaurant when she was a teenager. But when the Jackson native graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1990, she had instead earned a degree in exercise physiology. From there, she returned to her first love – food - and decided to further her education at New York’s Culinary Institute of America. “It was a contradiction in a lot of ways because health and wellness hadn’t really caught on,” she said. From there, she began her quest to create health-conscious and appealing

dishes. In Europe, she apprenticed with two of France’s three-star Michelin chefs. She made her television debut in 1999 as a Food Network co-host on “Melting Pot.” After a string of hosting Food Network shows and a documentary called “Cat’s in the Kitchen,” she earned the title of Iron Chef. World-renowned, Cora says her Greek family history, coupled with a Mississippi upbringing, inspired her to create her own nouvelle Southern fare – lobster and macaroni and cheese, low and slow barbecue with a Mediterranean flavors, broccoli slaw with a hot, sweet mustard, cinnamon-spiced barbecue and cornbread made in the style of a French Madeleine with scallions, white cheddar cheese, blue corn and jalapeno. When competing on the Iron Chef America series, however, Cora says she

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

likes to keep her competitors on their toes. “I may do Greek or Southern, but I also may come up with an African cuisine, throw something off the wall with Ethiopian. It’s fun for me to throw off my competitors and be strategic about it,” she says. What’s not viewed on TV is the strategic planning that goes into the menus. Once the “secret ingredient” is revealed, Cora says she huddles with her sous chefs to decide who will do specific tasks. “I delegate to each person what they’re going to do, and I take over the secret ingredient. It’s a real-time problem because it is one hour of cooking in real time, but it takes six hours to produce. It has to be edited to 45 minutes.” Cora says she returns to Mississippi several times a year and almost always visits her share of favorite restaurants – Nagoya, Hal & Mal’s, Keifer’s Restaurant, Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q and the Mayflower in Jackson; the Crystal Grill and the Alluvian in Greenwood; and City Grocery in Oxford.

“I love the ribs at Hal & Mal’s, and the pies at the Crystal Grill – all the restaurants in Oxford, tried and true places like Keifer’s, the Alluvian. The Mayflower, I ate there when my dad was passing away, and they perked us up. They were awesome. And Sonny’s, my dad loved going there.” she says. “Jackson has some phenomenal food. Mississippi has some really great places.” People are often surprised to hear she is from Mississippi, she says. “They don’t realize it until I start talking about it, but I’m really proud to be from Mississippi,” she says. “I’m always proud of it. I speak very highly of Mississippi. People know they better not say anything negative when I’m around because I’ll get on to them. They know they better not talk trash about Mississippi. “I tell them they better get familiar with the South before they make a judgment because we’ve got the blues, the food, the history. Of course we have some negative, but there’s a lot of positive, too. I tell people to go there. It’s so beautiful. It’s

where the blues was born.” As for the future, Cora says she’ll continue the legacy she began with the founding of Chefs for Humanity, a coalition of chefs dedicated to nutrition education, hunger relief and emergency and humanitarian aid to reduce hunger worldwide. Cora founded the organization in 2004 in response to the Tsunami disaster, and she serves as president still. Modeled after Doctors without Borders, the not-forprofit gathered along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina to provide relief from hunger. She will be in Haiti in April to continue campaigning for safe, energy efficient stoves. The organization recently raised $100,000 to provide safe stoves to earthquake victims, “which is feeding thousands of children,” she says. “This is the work I want to do. This is my legacy – to be far reaching, to help millions of people and to be part of the movement to end hunger around the world.” L

Cat ’s books: “Cat Cora’s Classics with a Twist,” featuring healthy recipe twists and lighter cooking methods “Cooking from the Hip,” a how-to guide for improvising exciting dishes “Cat Cora’s Kitchen,” with inspiration from Cora’s Greek heritage and Southern roots

Cat ’s restaurants: Kouzzina by Cat Cora, Walt Disney World Cat Cora’s Kitchen at San Francisco’s Terminal 2 and Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport, Terminal E

What’s next for Cat? Cat Cora, already famous as an Iron Chef on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America series, will launch “Around the World in 80 Plates” on Bravo in May. Want to know more about Chefs for Humanity? Visit www.chefsforhumanity.org

mississippilegends.com

cuisine

From the kitchen of Celia Foote to yours Meal made famous in “The Help” is shared at

Greenwood’s Viking By Billy Howell Photographs by Joe Worthem

“Food always brings people together.” — Beth Purifoy, Viking Cooking School Instructor

ood lovers, aspiring chefs or folks just wanting a different night on the town need look no further than the Viking Cooking School for a shared, culinary experience proven to engender new friendships while tantalizing palettes and teaching new skills. The hands-on, skill-based cooking school is an integral component in appliance manufacturer Viking Range’s educational outreach. Instructing more than 70,000 students a year in 17 cities throughout the U.S., including two in Mississippi (Greenwood and Ridgeland), the workshops feature seasonal, ethnic, traditional and trendy classes designed for all ages and experience levels. Founded by Greenwood native Fred Carl, Jr., Viking Range is a

worldwide leader in the premium culinary appliance market and a significant factor in Greenwood’s socioeconomic vibrancy. Viking’s downtown presence includes the upscale Alluvian Hotel, Alluvian Spa, Giardina’s finedining restaurant and the Viking Cooking School and retail store. Located beneath the Alluvian Spa on historic Howard Street, Greenwood’s state-of-the-art cooking school and retail store—a potpourri of chrome, glass, and mirrorsharp white tiles—entices visitors to leave the beautifully, amber-lit Rockwellian downtown and enter a pristine, cosmopolitan world promising a fun-filled, multi-sensory culinary experience. Recently, Viking in Greenwood hosted a culinary workshop

TOP: Macaroni and cheese and Southern friend chicken are on Viking’s “The Help” menu. • Nancy Dean and Diantha Williamson prepare chicken for frying. CENTER: Viking Range Corp. offers two cooking schools, one in Greenwood and Ridgeland.

march. april 2012

Chef instructor Beth Purifoy and Chef Assistant Debra Shaw in the kitchen at Greenwoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cooking school. mississippilegends.com

TOP: Shaw shows students the proper way to prepare chicken for frying.

BOTTOM LEFT: Purifoy instructs students in Southern cooking techniques.

BOTTOM MIDDLE: Elizabeth Nearn works on her macaroni and cheese dish while enjoying a glass of wine.

march. april 2012

BOTTOM RIGHT: Jennifer Orr turns down the heat on her cornbread.

inspired by “The Help,” the New York Times bestselling book written by Mississippi native Kathryn Stockett, turned into a DreamWorks-produced hit movie, filmed in Greenwood, Jackson and Clarksdale. The three-hour workshop, “Southern Specialties from the Hit Movie ‘The Help’,” is also being offered in several Viking locations. A dozen culinary enthusiasts from four states and four Mississippi towns, descended upon Greenwood on a hazy, late-January evening seeking expertise in Southern cooking, while extending their understanding of basic cooking skills such as marinating, seasoning, breading, sautéing, braising and dicing. Six-year veteran Viking instructor Beth Purifoy and her assistant, Deborah Shaw, divided the students into three teams. Wearing a Viking apron while sipping sweet tea or wine, attendees were apprised about the night’s agenda: five traditional Southern dishes were to be prepared - Southern fried chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, slow-cooked Southern greens, skillet cornbread and feather-light biscuits. Purifoy and Shaw’s preparation, culinary knowledge and affability immediately put participants at ease, establishing a light-hearted training environment conducive to relationship-

building. “It is amazing how during a class people find some commonality or someone they know from somewhere,” Purifoy told the class as students introduced themselves. “By the end of the night we have exchanged email addresses, phone numbers and shared pictures on Facebook.” The most asked question of the evening: “What’s the key to Southern fried chicken?” “Frying chicken is an art and this is the artist,” Purifoy said pointing to her assistant Deborah Shaw. “She knows more about frying chicken than I’ll ever know.” Both chefs agreed that keeping the oil at a nearly constant temperature and not crowding the skillet with too many pieces are keys to frying great chicken. Well, that and a lot of practice. All participants were encouraged to collaborate and contribute to each dish being prepared. “You need to make sure you know where your biscuits are,” Purifoy said with a grin. “It is very important that you get to eat the food you cook.” The trainees were told the reward for preparing the five Southern dishes inspired by “The Help”: “We all finish together and we sit down as a family when we get through cooking to eat together.” Two groups of ladies were attending the class

“The desserts were Minny’s infamous chocolate pie, minus the ‘secret ingredient,’ and her vanilla butter cake with Never Fail Creamy Caramel icing.”

TOP: Purifoy tells students what to expect before they begin class. mississippilegends.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is amazing how during a class people find some commonality or someone they know from somewhere. By the end of the night we have exchanged email addresses, phone numbers and shared pictures on Facebook.â&#x20AC;? 26

march. april 2012

mississippilegends.com

on a “girl’s weekend,” while three married couples wanted to enjoy an evening together while learning how to better cook Southern dishes. Not a person was disappointed. Eddie Doss, the 1998 Illinois State rib champion, and his wife Nancy, frequent visitors to the Magnolia state, said the evening’s highlight was the greens, biscuits and the reasonably priced $89 registration fee, plus a discount on in-store purchases. Each team worked at its own island from a recipe lesson plan with pre-measured ingredients, spices and Viking utensils and cookware. The only non-Viking product used was a cast-iron Lodge Dutch oven for frying chicken, though it can be purchased in the Viking retail store attached to the cooking school. While slow-cooked mustard greens were simmering in their own “pot likker” atop gas-burning Viking ranges, the teams began preparing an American favorite—Mac n’ Cheese—macaroni noodles tossed with a homemade cheese sauce made from butter, flour, whole milk, and cheddar cheese. Friday night’s hands-down selection for the hardest-to-get-just-right dish on the menu was the Southern fried chicken, also known as “yard bird” in the Deep South. Viking thought of everything. Previously segmented chicken pieces had been marinated in seasoned, buttermilk brine for up to 24 hours. In order to prepare, cook, and eat student-produced dishes, some preparation had been done ahead of time by the instructional team. While the greens were simmering and the Mac ‘N Cheese was baking, the much-lauded, quintessential Southern dish, fried chicken, was being

prepared. “You don’t want to fry more than a couple pieces of chicken at a time,” Purifoy said. “Always start with the dark meat first, legs and thighs, as it takes longer.” Thanks to the Viking instructors, well-tested recipes, seven-ply stainless steel Viking cookware and a learning environment fostering instant team chemistry, every piece of chicken was moist, crispy and cooked to perfection. Even Minny from “The Help” might approve. The last two dishes prepared were Southern cornbread and biscuits— both accompanied by butter or jam, or used to sop up juices produced from Southern dishes. In order to complete all student-prepared dishes on time, two sample desserts were prepared in advance by the Viking instructors. The desserts were Minny’s infamous chocolate pie, minus the “secret ingredient,” and her vanilla butter cake with Never Fail Creamy Caramel icing. The butter cake recipe was borrowed by Stockett for “The Help” from an entry submitted by Mrs. Phil “Honey” Thornton for the 1952 edition of The Junior League of Memphis Cookbook. Good friends and Ackerman residents Marina Loper and Leighanne Horne attended the class on a girl’s night out. Both ladies have read “The Help” and seen the movie. Loper, the mother of three children, has attended several Viking classes and said she plans on attending many more. “If I get to do something for myself, I am going to be here.” Horne said her reason for attending the class based on dishes noted in the bestselling novel and movie was simply to “learn how to fry chicken.” Hattiesburg resident Diantha Williamson previously attended a

Cornbread and slow cooked greens are also on the menu created from the movie “The Help.”

march. april 2012

Viking cooking class in Jackson where the focus was preparing healthy luncheons. She and her husband, Nathan, were in Greenwood to celebrate Valentine’s early, combing an evening colaboring over a range with an anticipated stay at the luxurious Alluvian Hotel. Jennifer Wilkinson said her favorite part of the school was the fellowship and having fun. Meeting new friends, being with old friends, and learning new things summed up the Hattiesburg lawyer’s experience. Her longtime friend and college roommate, Elizabeth Nearn, agreed. “The fellowship is the best part, and it is fun. Everybody contributing, tasting and deciding as a group what we thought was the best, and then getting to eat it at the end. Really, there was nothing we didn’t like about the experience.” All 12 students shared during the post-dessert reflection that the fellowship was the highlight of the evening. Pine Bluff resident David Bridgforth seemed to sum up the group’s collective feelings: “The best part of the class was getting to meet a lot of nice people and learning to cook something new.” L

You do the cooking. We’ll make the beds.

Get Away. THE VIKING COOKING SCHOOL & ALLUVIAN HOTEL

A cosmopolitan boutique hotel deep in the Delta 318 Howard Street Greenwood, Mississippi 866.600.5201 thealluvian.com

mississippilegends.com

Dining should be an experience where you are entertained from first course to last course. All of your senses should be awakened by everything you’re fed. If your sights are pleased, your senses are pleased and your palate’s pleased, I think you’ve had a great time.” – Chef

Joseph Hebert

From mouthwatering entrees to sinful sweets, The culinary experience that is The Rustler

march. april 2012

MERIDIAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER presents... TRIP L TON E Y

AWA WIN RD NER

June 29 - July 1

The Temple Theatre, Meridian, MS For online tickets: Stage 2 (MPAC)

Call 601.604.2129

Discover what

you can learn

University Transfer Career & Technical Continuing Education Workforce Training Eagle Sports

GED

NAS Classes Fitness Center Arts & Letters

910 Highway 19 North Meridian, Mississippi

1-800-MCC-THE-1 www.meridiancc.edu

Meridian Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion or age in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and activities. Compliance with Section 504 and Title IX is coordinated by Soraya Welden, dean of student services, 910 Highway 19 North, Meridian, Mississippi 39307. 1.601.484.8628 Fax: 1.601.484.8635. Email: swelden@meridiancc.edu.

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

music feature

Original Alan Lomax music recordings, photos, videos, field notes and books returned to north Mississippi town By Olga Wilhelmine

In early February, a very special and magical

recordings. Many of us had never heard these

recorded them. Once again, Como was the

event happened in a little town called Como in

recordings before. In fact, most of us had never

pioneer, with many more to come.

north Mississippi.

heard the recordings of Bob and Miles Pratcher,

I am only one of many in the world who

Music makers, artisans, professors, children,

or Ed and Lonnie Young, or likewise watched

have experienced this pure soul and source of

blues fans and family converged on Como,

Napoleon Strickland play diddly bow, or Jessie

blues, but on this day I got to experience it with

population 1,310, to celebrate the return of

Mae Hemphill beat the hell out of a bass drum

kindred spirits, with relatives of its originators

the town’s musical heritage and legacy. The

(and the fellow who got in her way!).

and with new friends and old who were also

Alan Lomax Archive was repatriating all of

Blues is the truth. McDowell once said that.

called home by the music. We were moved and

the recordings, photos, videos, field notes and

The blues is not just a style of music or a way of

we were bonded.

books that Alan Lomax had made during his

singing; it is an expression of one’s heart. If you

It’s been nearly six years since Jessie Mae

two visits to the Hill Country. We were there to

speak from your heart, then you will know the

Hemphill passed away. In those years, as much

welcome it all home.

blues. The blues is a feeling that resonates deep

as I miss her, her presence has never been more

Among those recorded was one very special

in the soul. It is the good and the bad, the yin

powerful and profound in my life than it is

fellow named Fred McDowell. The night

and yang, the pure and the wicked. It is what

now. She has gotten even stronger in her spirit

this recording took place changed the lives of

life is, that is, what is in all of us, and we learn

and she is still very much here with us. What a

Lomax and McDowell, the course of Como

how to balance and live with the two.

blessing it was to remember her with her friends

history and the lives of blues music lovers

And in this little library somehow, more

and family and to keep her memory alive.

and makers around the world. These were the

than 150 of us squeezed in to experience the

I’m grateful for those who were there in

very first recordings of Fred in their truest and

beautiful indigenous music of Como’s Hill

person and those who were there in spirit. I’m

purest form. In fact, the Mississippi recordings

Country and to give thanks and praise to God

grateful for those who keep the music alive.

were some of the first obtained by Lomax, a

for its return. We had opened our hearts and

The list is long, but you know who you are. I

man who would spend his life gathering and

minds to let the spirit in, and we laughed and

look forward to our next meeting somewhere,

documenting American folk music and who

we cried … we felt the blues.

perhaps in Como, even if it is only in our

dreamed of one day returning it to its origins.

The Alan Lomax Archive of Como music

dreams.

In return, his work fueled the nation on folk

will forever be at the Emily J. Pointer library

music, which led us into the pop culture of the

for everyone to experience and learn, to find

Olga Wilhelmine is an actress/singer/songwriter,

‘60s.

inspiration, to cherish and to be proud of.

Blues Foundation board member and president and

On this night, we listened to McDowell

Anna Lomax Wood, Alan’s daughter, told me

founder of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation.

again, in his native Como, playing his music

it was Alan’s wish to bring the recordings back

in one of Lomax’s legendary and enduring

to the towns and communities from where he

Who was Alan Lomax? Alan Lomax was the foremost music folklorist of the United States. He was the first to record such greats as Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie. His documentation of folk music educated the nation on this important music, which fueled its advance in the United States and Britain and pop music’s rise to fame in the ‘60s. His archive contains 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of film, 3,000 videotapes, 5,000 photographs and countless manuscripts, books and notes. Lomax began his adventure in the American South in the 1930s... what an appropriate place to begin such a legacy. OPPOSITE: TOP: Sharde Thomas, granddaughter of the legendary Otha Turner, leads a musical processional at an event to welcome Alan Lomax's recordings of Como back to the north Mississippi town. (Photograph by Dennis Head) BOTTOM LEFT: Fred McDowell with Annie Mae McDowell. BOTTOM RIGHT: Ed and Lonnie Young.

mississippilegends.com

July. August 2011

Blues legend Big George Brock, who turns 80 in May, blows his harp on the floor at Redâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lounge in downtown Clarksdale. (MMH)

music feature

The

Juke Joint faithful Blues enthusiasts descend on Clarksdale for speak-to-the-soul music words by

billy howell

ken flynt/legends and madge marley howell,

photographs by

courtesy the delta Bohemian mississippilegends.com

ABOVE: Native Mississippi musician and Grammy winner Jimbo Mathus performs with the North Mississippi String Band during Juke Joint Festival 2011 in Clarksdale’s Delta Cinema. (MMH) TOP LEFT: Photographer/musician Bill Steber, right, holds the tin type he made of “Little” Joe Ayers. (KF) TOP RIGHT: Jeff Konkel, Lou Bopp and Roger Stolle, autograph “Hidden History of the Mississippi Blues,” written by Stolle, with forward by Konkel and photographs by Bopp. (MMH) BOTTOM LEFT: Blues performance inside the Roxy Theater. (KF) BOTTOM RIGHT: Keeping warm at the fire pit at the New Roxy. (KF) OPPOSITE: Blues enthusiasts file into Ground Zero, the quintessential juke joint owned by actor Morgan Freeman. (KF)

march. april 2012

Toddy Cameron

may be a New Orleans resident, but he’s been faithful to his first love – Clarksdale – since he graduated from its high school in 1967. He is one of thousands who will descend on the small Delta Mississippi town April 12-15 for the ninth Annual Juke Joint Festival. “For me it has the feeling of a 1960s era parade in downtown Clarksdale,” said Cameron, who comes from New Orleans each year for the festival. “The feel for me has evolved into an annual reunion of music and friends who are becoming more like family. It’s always fun to see those familiar faces who make it back year to year.” Cameron wistfully remembers roaming downtown Clarksdale streets as a child. “During Juke Joint Festival that feeling comes back around,” he said. “Clarksdale fits my hand like an old, well-worn glove. It might be me just getting old and reverting to that second childhood - but I like it. “You have that kind, Southern hospitality from the locals who work hard as gracious hosts. You have the artists out there visiting and partying with their fans between gigs. And then you have the

frequent out-of-towners, like me, along with the ‘newbies’ who might be from anywhere in the world.” Clarksdale, once home to bluesmen Son House, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner and the late blues pianist Pinetop Perkins among other artists, comes alive each year with blueslovers dressed in wild hats, anything-almost-goes attire and T-shirts with the names and nicknames of blues greats, past and present. Festival goers are wooed by the familiar downtown smells of Delta barbeque and spicy boiled crawfish. Family events and activities are held during the day and into the early evening. Blues music can be heard almost around the clock, and Clarksdale’s nighttime venues offer blues enthusiasts roots music and cold beer in what one Southern author has referred to as “the most southern place on earth.” “I go for the music and the people; the weather is usually mild, too,” said St. Louis native Robert McDonald, who has been to every Juke Joint Festival since 2005. Like most folks in the Delta and the blues world, McDonald has a nickname; friends call him Unc. Few festival goers “roll” as hard as Unc, who can be seen mississippilegends.com

ABOVE: Hungry patrons relax while waiting for a table at Madidi’s Restaurant. (KF) LEFT: Becky Bobo Williams relaxes street side on a Saturday afternoon. (KF) RIGHT: Waiting for customers at Little Hogg Jr.’s The Pit Bar-B-Que. (KF) OPPOSITE: Pat Thomas plays outside Cat Head Blues and Folk Art (KF)

march. april 2012

imbibing, laughing and “living the blues life” in downtown Clarksdale, at The Shack Up Inn and all points in between. Saturday is his favorite day, said Unc. “I like that one wristband gets you in all the different juke joints to see your favorite artists. Clarksdale is the crossroads and the home of Delta blues. It’s where it all started. Many of the greats have come from Clarksdale. When I am there, I am living the life.” Juke Joint Festival’s 2012 edition will feature 100 blues acts over the long weekend. It is a blues-lovers smorgasbord, which began its celebration last year in honor of the 100th birthday of Clarksdale “Crossroads” blues legend Robert Johnson. “One of my favorite things about Juke Joint Festival is that we get a whole big group of folks who come back year after year,” said award-winning author, Juke Joint Festival co-organizer and blues documentarian Roger Stolle. “Many of them also bring new friends with them, often bragging about how many years they’ve been attending. “It really becomes something of a Delta homecoming for fans of blues music and the state of Mississippi. Last year, we had Juke Joint Festival attendees from at least 21 foreign countries and 45 U.S. states. That kind of tells you all you need to know.” Stolle’s second blues film, “We Juke Up In Here: Mississippi Juke Joint Culture at the

“The hardcore, die-hard, blues-loving faithful can be found in the chapel or on the grounds drinking beer, throwing a football, debating what blues artist has the best technique or dancing beneath the stage, trying to decide what time they need to leave to catch the Blues Jam at Red’s Lounge three miles back in Clarksdale.” Crossroads,” premieres opening day at the Delta Cinema. “The only downside is that the ‘regulars’ will book up about half of the hotel rooms for the next year on the day they check out,” he said. As the new year dawned on the Delta, there were no hotel rooms left in Clarksdale for Juke Joint Festival 2012. However, its largest sponsor, the Isle of Capri Casino, opened up a couple hundred hotel rooms in February at a special rate for the fest (booking code JUKE12). The casino plans to run a continuous bus shuttle from the Lula casino to downtown Clarksdale on Friday and Saturday. Rooms can still be secured in Tunica, Bateseville and Cleveland—all locations approximately 45 minutes from Clarksdale. Sure to be missed during this year’s festival are two men whose passing will impact Delta blues. Shaw native and blues guitar legend David “Honeyboy” Edwards played mississippilegends.com

his final note in August. The 96-year-old was a regular performer at Juke Joint Festival, making his last appearance in April 2011. Gary Miller, owner and publisher of the Blues Source record store in Clarksdale, passed away in December. Blues Source was a music lover’s retail and online gem. Sunday’s festivities culminate with three afternoon and evening events well-attended by frequent out-of-towners. The last hour of the Cat Head Mini Blues Fest—a festival within a festival— begins at 3 p.m. in front of Cat Head Blues and Folk Art on Delta Avenue. The next event begins as the Cat Head Fest ends. At 4 p.m. in the Juke Joint Chapel at the world-renowned Shack Up Inn at Hopson--an eclectic smattering of old sharecropper shacks with corrugated tin roofs and cypress sideboards--Sunday afternoon Shack favorites Lightnin’ Malcolm and Cameron Kimbrough’s two-man blues duo will hypnotize the Delta flatlands with rhythmic, Hill Country-style blues. The hardcore, diehard, blues-loving faithful can be found in the chapel or on the grounds drinking beer, throwing a football, debating what blues artist has the best technique or dancing beneath the stage, trying to decide what time they need to leave

TOP LEFT: The festival features about 100 blues acts each year. (KF) TOP RIGHT: David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who has since died, plays at the 2011 Juke Joint Festival. (KF) BOTTOM RIGHT: David Kimbrough, Jr. plays outside Delta Amusement Cafe. (KF)

march. april 2012

to catch the Blues Jam at Red’s Lounge three miles back in Clarksdale. Frequent Juke Joint attendee and California resident Ed Shackeroff, who spent most weekends as a child at his grandparents third-floor apartment in Clarksdale’s famed Alcazar Hotel, said Clarksdale is rich in an honest history that can be felt. “Clarksdale is a sapling of regrowth in a previously fallow field. People want to nurture it, lest it wither forever,” he said. “The locals have achieved a bohemian artistic flavor, and visitors can easily see and feel this. The locals genuinely want to share their experience with visitors. Fortunately, in the past 10 years, economic and cultural seeds were planted, and they are sprouting. The Juke Joint Festival has played a major part in the emerging regrowth.” L

Want to go? Clarksdale’s Juke Joint Festival is scheduled for April 12-15. Rooms are still available in Tunica, Batesville and Cleveland – all within 45 minutes. For more information, visit www.jukejointfestival.com.

Home to blues legends like Kenny Brown, Joe Callicott, Memphis Minnie, Don McMinn and more, the blues have deep roots here in DeSoto County. Come catch a live show or travel back in time along our historic Blues Trail. For a free vacation guide, call 662-393-8770 or visit SoDeSoto.com.

Blues Trail

Museum

Great Venues

Shopping

Minutes from Memphis and Tunica in Northwest Mississippi. With 36 hotels, 8 B+B’s, 250+ restaurants and lots of fun activities, a great time is just a phone call away.

SOULFUL!

DeSoto County, Mississippi H e r n a n d o · H o r n L a k e · oLive BrancH · SoutHaven · WaLLS

“The locals have achieved a bohemian artistic flavor, and visitors can easily see and feel this.”

mississippilegends.com

O WINDS THE

Gerald Wolf Stephenson explores the shelves in the Malaco warehouse to find a CD recording of Little Milton, a major Malaco recording artist.

march. april 2012

music feature

OF CHANGE

Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legendary recording studio rises from the rubble Words by Joe Lee Photographs by Michael Barrett

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

On the afternoon of April 15, 2011, Gerald “Wolf ” Stephenson was in the recording studio at Malaco Records, the legendary independent label in West Jackson with its own permanent marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Stephenson, the chief engineer and part owner of the company, knew rough weather was in the area but had no idea the facility where he’d worked for the past 45 years was about to endure 45 seconds of sheer hell. The company has about 35 employees, including part-timers, Stephenson said. About 18 of them were in the building. Stephenson and Kent Bruce, another Malaco engineer, were working in post-production. “We heard the sirens go off,” Stephenson said. “Kent said, ‘I’m going in your office and watch the TV coverage.’ We’d heard there were touchdowns in Clinton, and my grandson attends Magnolia Speech School. I’m thinking, ‘This is right nearby.’” Bruce, along with fellow employees Cherry Carter and Nicole Williams, hurried into the vault, which Stephenson didn’t realize at the time. The vault contains Malaco master tapes dating back to the 1960s. “I looked out the building to the west and saw stuff flying through the air,” Stephenson said. “To the south I saw trees bent and coming apart. I heard the roar of the train they talk about. “I didn’t make it back to the vault where they were. I heard a noise that made me think of being right next to a huge Shop-Vac picking up shards of glass, nails and bricks. Water pipes burst, and air was rushing out through the cracks in the building. It sounded like an Indiana Jones movie. I heard what I realized later was the roof of the studio being picked up and set back down.” Malaco President Tommy Couch Sr. had met Stephenson in pharmacy school at Ole Miss and were fraternity brothers there. He was across town that afternoon when the tornado that caused substantial damage in nearby Clinton ripped through the Malaco property with winds exceeding 125 miles per hour. The tornado was later categorized as an F2 on the Fujita scale. (See box for details.) “We had four buildings. Three were destroyed,” Couch Sr. said. “The tornado tore out the walls of our warehouse, but somehow it didn’t disturb boxes of orders and CDs sitting on a table. Absolutely amazing.” What was known as the middle building housed the accounting and royalty departments. Tommy Couch Jr., who handles A&R (artists and repertoire) among many duties with the company, was on the premises and deeply concerned about the fate of several co-workers. “I knew everyone was safe in my building,” he said. “But when we opened the door to go out—it was still raining at that point—I looked at the middle building and knew Rosetta and Nathan and Jane were in there. The walls were down and the roof was off, and

What is a F2 tornado? The F-scale, or Fujita scale, number is given to a tornado after it hits. It refers to the damage done to humanbuilt structures and vegetation. There are six categories, from F0 toF5. The April 2011 tornado was an F2, with: • Wind speeds of 113 to 157 mph • Significant damage, such as roofs torn from frame houses, mobile homes demolished, large trees snapped or uprooted, high-rise windows broken. OPPOSITE: Construction continues on the new offices of Malaco studios at 3023 West Northside Drive, Jackson. • A historical marker announces Malaco’s status on the Mississippi Blues Trail. RIGHT: Original master tapes reside on shelves in the vault that survived last year’s tornado damage. The vault holds a treasure of history of Mississippi’s greatest musical artists. • CDs of Dorothy Moore and Little Milton, both major Malaco recording artists, are stacked on shelves awaiting delivery.

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

“The realization immediately set in that not only could this very well be the end of an era in musical history, but I could be unemployed.” I didn’t know how anybody could be alive. I was yelling for them, and nobody was answering. That was an emotional time.” Stephenson managed to dig his way through the debris in the recording studio and reach the vault. After confirming that Bruce, Carter, and Williams were okay, he headed to the middle building. “I had a key and got in,” he said. “They (Rosetta Anderson, Nathan Nichols and Jane Galloway) were covered with debris and the ceiling had collapsed. But they were OK. Other than a couple of bruises, no one was hurt at all.” The studio, however—a state-of-the-art facility where legends like Dorothy Moore, Z.Z. Hill, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton and Johnnie Taylor made timeless rhythm and blues and gospel music for almost 50 years—was reduced to rubble. Equipment that wasn’t beaten to pieces was soaked from the driving rains that poured through gaping holes in the ceiling. “The total loss, which includes structural damage, rebuilding costs and loss of business, is between four and five million,” Couch Sr. said, adding that he had “great” insurance coverage. “I guess I looked at it as something we had to work through. My wife told people, ‘I’ve been telling him to clean up.’ One of our recording artists, the Rev. Benjamin Cone Jr., said, ‘I know y’all were wiped out by a tornado. God was ready for you to have a new studio.’” The junior Couch and a couple of friends immediately got to work, bringing in trucks and backhoes that afternoon to haul off the debris. The staff grabbed up filing cabinets loaded with master files and saved them from further damage. They did the best they could with the vintage recording equipment: Plastic sheeting was placed over the Hammond B3 organ, which dates back to 1967, but Stephenson isn’t sure it will be the same. “Our old Wurlitzer electric piano—manufactured back in the 1950s and with a great unique sound—was destroyed,” he said. “So was our Yamaha C7 grand piano. We bought that in 1974 for probably $5,000. Today it would cost between $55,000 and $60,000. We covered the console and the multi-track tape machines and think they might be salvageable—good electronic equipment can be saved if it’s dried quickly. We had three Studer tape machines—the Rolls Royce of tape machines—and they’re OK.” Moving quickly, Malaco set up a temporary mastering room to complete recording projects that were underway at the time of the storm

and were able to limp along a month later. Because of the damage to the warehouse, though, their lucrative mail-order business was completely shut down for more than four months (Malaco has distribution agreements with larger record labels and fills orders for recordings from superstars like Al Green, James Brown, Michael Jackson and many others). But construction crews are at the property on West Northside Drive each day, and progress is being made. “The office building should be complete by the end of March. Work on the new studio will begin in March and should take eight months,” Stephenson said. “Because of the original layout of the buildings we bought, there was always a beehive of activity near the recording studio. Now we can do it the right way: the executive offices will be offices, and the studio will be a studio.” D.A. Johnson, the company’s executive director for the gospel division, is from New York. For him, the notion of being affected by a tornado in any capacity was a surreal experience. “The realization immediately set in that not only could this very well be the end of an era in musical history, but I could be unemployed,” he said. “I’m blessed and very appreciative that the owners were committed to rebuild not only the physical buildings, but to aggressively continue operations in this recorded music industry that has so rapidly changed because of technology and is in the worst economic conditions that we have ever seen.” As for what lies ahead in his division, Johnson sees lots of sunlight peeking through the clouds. “Maurette Brown Clark was an artist we inherited in the acquisition of Atlanta International Records (AIR Gospel),” he said. “She is affectionately referred to as ‘The Princess of Praise and Worship’ because of her signature style, and is our most downloaded and probably our most highly-visible artist. “Alexis Allen, also known as ‘Lexi,’ is a television host on The Word Network as well as a radio correspondent for the syndicated radio show, ‘The Yolanda Adams Morning Show.’ Her upcoming release ‘Phenomenal,’ has the potential to become an instant classic. “Daniel Johnson was a part of Israel Houghton’s New Breed group. His style is what I would call ‘Inspirational Neo Soul.’ His release, ‘You Make Me,’ promises to have multi-formatted radio and sales success in Urban Adult Contemporary and Gospel.” cont'd

OPPOSITE, TOP: Gerald “Wolf” Stephenson, vice president of Malaco Music Group, recalls the horrific day last April when the Malaco studios building was destroyed with him and others in it. No employees were injured. • BOTTOM: Tommy Couch, Sr., president of Malaco Music Group, enjoys memories of old times and past artists that have recorded at Malaco studios.

mississippilegends.com

january. february 2012

“One of the most touching moments for me was Dorothy Moore coming out here and consoling us the day after the tornado.” Stephenson has big plans for when the rebuild is complete. “I was pretty down for a long time, and some days I still am,” he said. “One of the most touching moments for me was Dorothy Moore coming out here and consoling us the day after the tornado. We’ve had people from all over the world stop by when they’re in town to check on us, and people have called from everywhere. “I didn’t want the tornado to be my retirement party, and I feel better about leaving something here when I do retire. When the studio is ready, we’re going to bring back all the legends for a big party and get in the studio and have some fun.” L Robert “Short Dog” Cotton, a long-time employee of Malaco, retrieves CDs and even some cassette tapes to fill orders.

March 3 through

july 22, 2012 F

eaturing nearly eighty original drawings of the world’s most delightful monkey and other characters, this exhibition tells the dramatic story of their creators’ escape and survival. the annie laurie SwaiM hearin MeMorial exhibition SerieS

MiSSiSSiPPi MUSEUM of ART

Like us on Facebook

380 SoUTH LAMAR JACkSoN, MiSSiSSiPPi 601-960-1515 1-866-ViEWART

H. A. Rey, final illustration for “This is George. He lived in Africa,” published in The Original Curious George (1998), France, 1939–40, watercolor, charcoal, and color pencil on paper. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.

Local presentation of this exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation. Additional support is provided by Trustmark Bank, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger Media Group, and the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau. Support is also provided in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Curious George, and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. © 2012 by HMH. Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey is organized by The Jewish Museum, New York, and is supported through a bequest from the Estate of Lore Ross.

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

feature

Architect’s

Delight Splendor is returned to Meridian’s City Hall By Jayne Cannon Photographs by Marianne Todd

As facelifts go, it was a pricey one. And it took

longer than anyone expected.

showcase buildings constructed in the Beaux-Arts classic style. These white, well-lit buildings, known

But most would agree that the operation was a

as The White City, were said to have influenced the

success. In fact, three years shy of its 100th birthday,

imaginations of L. Frank Baum as he created “The

you might say Meridian City Hall has never looked

Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and Walt Disney as he

better.

designed Disneyland. And in 1914, architect P.J.

Krouse designed Meridian City Hall in that same

In January, the city invited the public to take

a look at the finished product of the five-year

style.

renovation project. Some 1,500 people attended the

open house, but city officials hope that the building

of Historic Places in 1979 and was designated a

will continue to draw visitors.

Mississippi Landmark in 1988.

“This is the people’s building,” Mayor Cheri

The first floor of the 30,000-square-foot

Barry said. “We want people to come and use this

building originally held the police department,

building. We want them in and out of here all day.”

holding cells and city court. The second floor

Old buildings are often renovated and restored,

was for the mayor’s office, the city engineers and

but usually they’re re-purposed, said B.B. Archer,

administrative and support staff. The third floor

The building was added to the National Register

the Meridian architect who worked on the project.

consisted of an auditorium and a few offices.

But not only has Meridian City Hall been brought

As the years passed, changes were necessary.

back to its original look, it’s being used for the

Telephone systems and air-conditioning were

purpose for which it was built.

installed, so ceilings were dropped to hide the new

Influence for Meridian City Hall can be traced

wires, covering the original decorative molding. The

back to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. For that

auditorium was sacrificed to make way for office

event, a purposely temporary “city” was built to

cubicles. Coats of paints were applied everywhere,

TOP: Meridian City Hall was styled in the Beaux-Arts classic style, said to have influenced “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and Disneyland. LEFT TO RIGHT: Mayor Cheri Barry moved into her new office in February • The third floor occupies office space and an auditorium with a council meeting chamber • Barry’s office view is of the building’s sprawling lawn and downtown Meridian • Architect B.B. Archer restored the original décor of the building which had been hidden by paneling

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

“

These white, well-lit buildings, known as The White City, were said to have influenced the imaginations of L. Frank Baum as he created “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and Walt Disney as he designed Disneyland. And in 1914, architect P.J. Krouse designed Meridian City Hall in that same style.”

many times. Sheets of paneling were used to create new office spaces. The

throughout the building.

original mahogany windows were replaced with aluminum ones.

not a wood one, Archer said.

By the beginning of the 21st century, time was taking its toll. Heating and

City Hall was one of the few buildings of its time to have a concrete frame,

air-conditioning systems needed to be replaced and there were worries with the

roof. The decision was made to renovate the building, but as Ed Skipper, the

Final costs have yet to be determined, but will exceed $15 million. But, Archer

city’s head of finance said, “We didn’t know how much damage was done.”

said, an expert on historical architecture who served as a consultant on the

project, said that constructing a building with the features of Meridian City

Archer agrees. “We didn’t know what was there until we started.”

In the beginning, the cost of the project was estimated at around $7 million.

Columns in the building were done with the Scagliola technique, an

Hall today would cost upwards of $60 million.

intricate process that uses stucco to replicate marble. That craftsmanship had

The building recalls the time when Meridian was the largest city in

been covered by layers of paint. Now revealed and restored, Archer said, “You

Mississippi, a unique mercantile and commercial community, Archer said.

would swear they are marble.”

keep those pieces … hopefully this will help spur more growth in Meridian.”

The building’s exterior was made of terra cotta tiles. Those tiles had been

“This building is part of our historical fabric,” Archer said. “Being able to

painted over, were trapping moisture and needed to be replaced. Block by block,

the tiles were removed, numbered and shipped to a company in New York to be

the idea of people walking around outside, chatting with friends on benches and

redone. Walls were scraped, layer by layer, to reveal original paint colors. Interior

coming inside to admire their gleaming City Hall.

walls now reflect those original colors and finishes.

It’s been a long time coming.

“It was exciting to see it full of people,” said Archer of the open house. “It

The auditorium on the third floor has been restored and will be used as

council chambers and, the mayor hopes, for private meetings and events as well.

“Everyone agreed that building had strong bones,” Archer said. “Just because

something is old doesn’t mean it’s good. But this one was worth the work.”

was nice to see people in there instead of construction workers.”

Even though it took longer than anticipated, Archer and Barry agree they

never considered abandoning the project.

Some landscaping work remains, and Barry gets excited when she talks about

Those who worked on the project worked in a style much like investigators

The “new” City Hall First floor: Human Resources, Civil Service, Information Technology and employee lounge. Second floor: Mayor’s Suite, Finance, Records Third floor: Auditorium for council meetings, offices for Clerk of Council, Risk Manager, Equal Opportunity Officer.

on TV’s “CSI” shows, Archer said, painstakingly recreating individual touches OPPOSITE: Layers of paint were removed to reveal a Scagliola technique, which replicates marble. TOP LEFT: Residents come to new clerk’s windows to pay their city water bill or conduct other business. TOP RIGHT: Columns and brass railings greet residents at the front of the building.

mississippilegends.com

*AD 3-FOOT LEGENDS MAG 2-12:Layout 1

2/9/12

10:38 AM

Saturday • April 7, 2012 Meridian, Mississippi Affordable Art Live Entertainment Children’s Activities Don’t miss a minute of the fun at this day-long event in historic downtown Meridian!!

www.artsmeridian.org 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

march. april 2012

Great food & Famous Threefoot Bloody Marys

Page 1

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

Tate’s take “Tourism is something we need to be serious about.”

Words and Photographs by Marianne Todd Just a little more than a month into his

play them in terms of creating jobs makes all

will help our numbers improve drastically 10

administration, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is knee-

the sense in the world.”

and 20 years from now. My mindset is a little

deep in sorting through the 52-member

License plates this year will read ‘The

more long-term in nature than what many

Senate, getting viewpoints and input into

Birthplace of America’s Music,’ Reeves said.

folks in politics think of.”

Mississippi’s current state of affairs.

It’s a fitting them when Mississippi tourism

“I’ve been extremely busy, meeting

is working harder than ever to attract tourists

as an example.

with every senator and getting their views.

to the state.

“Six years ago, our fourth-grade reading

Surprisingly, many of them say this has

“The success of Mississippians never ceases

comprehension was listed as No. 50,” he

never happened before,” said the former

to amaze me,” Reeves said. “I have spoken

said. “In a more recent report, it’s listed as

state treasurer, who took his new office in

with so many people around the country,

forty-third. That’s not good enough, but it’s

early January. “But they’re all interested in

former colleagues, current colleagues, and

a drastic improvement from where we were

the same goal and that’s making Mississippi

what I have found that repeats over and over

six years ago, and in fact improving at a year-

a better place to live and a better place to

is that if we can ever convince someone to

to-year rate, it’s among the five fastest in the

raise a family. The general consensus is that

visit Mississippi once, they’ll love what they

country. Clearly if we’re going to improve

job creation has to be the No. 1 priority

see. Our challenge is to convince them to

our dropout rate it will lead to more kids

in Mississippi. But the government does

come here that one time.

going to college, more kids obtaining skilled

not create jobs, so it’s our job to create an

“We have the Blues Trail and Civil Rights

jobs, more kids obtaining college degrees

environment that encourages the private

Trail and other opportunities that exist out

- the best way to ensure that occurs is by

sector.”

there. When you look at our Mississippi

improving these reading stats at a young age.

To achieve that environment, Reeves,

Museum of Art and our Children’s Museum

We are seeing marked improvement in this

37, said a fiscally sound government and

of Art, our symphony, our ballet competition

area.”

an improved educational system are musts.

… we have tremendous resources that people

Mississippians, he said, are in a habit of

And although bringing large business to

need to know about. Tourism is something

underestimating the state’s strength. Instead

Mississippi’s industrial parks is the goal, he is

we need to be serious about.”

of paying attention to weaknesses, residents

mindful of the creative value of Mississippians

The improvement process – getting

should be playing up its finer points.

and their push to raise dollars through art.

Mississippi off the bottom of Top 50 lists - is

“In terms of relocating to Jackson – or

“I’m extremely encouraged by the fact

ongoing, he said, noting that four years builds

anywhere in Mississippi – people don’t realize

that the Mississippi Arts Commission, the

a strong foundation, but it’s not enough time

we have as strong as an arts community as we

Mississippi Development Authority and

to climb significantly in each list.

do,” he said. “But we’ve got the facilities and

others are having conversations along these

“Most people define long-term as the next

we’ve got the artists – something we should

lines,” said Reeves, who said he and his wife,

election cycle,” he said. “I don’t think like

be proud of, something we should work at

Elee, have been supporters of the Mississippi

that. Many of the challenges we face in our

to convey to others just how impressive of a

Symphony for years. “I think the concept

state are not going to be solved in a four-year

situation we have here.”

that we need to play to our strengths and to

term. But the foundation we’re laying today

Reeves cites fourth-grade reading statistics

mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012

April 21, 2012

601 Court Street- Hattiesburg

GREAT FOOD, GREAT MUSIC, GOOD TIMES! Headiner: Soul Rebels Brass Band and many more.... visit our website for more details www.hattiesburghistoricneighborhood.com

Hattiesburg Historic Neighborhood

“A Great Neighborhood in America 2011”

Presented by the Hattiesburg Zoo and the ADP

Downtown Hattiesburg March 31, 2012 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Four stages of entertainment 250+ arts/crafts booths Special Juried Arts section Two sections of delectable food Children’s Village + Art Show A whole lot of fun!

www.hubfestMS.com facebook.com/hubfestMS mississippilegends.com

} a culinary trio

} Words and photographs by Marianne Todd

march. april 2012

cuisine

Robert St. John delivers with The Purple Parrot Cafe, Crescent City Grill and the Mahogany Bar Neither Robert St. John nor Dusty Frierson were culinary geniuses when they embarked on careers in the food-service industry. St. John, creator of the Hattiesburg restaurants The Purple Parrot Cafe, Crescent City Grill, the Mahogany Bar and Tabella, had gone through hospitality management school at the University of Southern Mississippi before embarking on his first restaurant venture. When the chef he hired at The Purple Parrot got loaded on opening night, St. John had no choice but to step in. “We had a soft opening and hoped business would trickle in and we could get our sea legs,” St. John said. “Well, we got slammed and the chef drank a case of beer. I learned two very important lessons that night. No. 1, lock the beer in the cooler. No. 2, know every position in the restaurant. “I fired him and put on an apron. Until that point my cooking expertise had come from an Easy-Bake Oven. It was one of the worst nights of my life and one of the best.” Refusing to succumb to defeat, St. John spent the next four months replicating and creating dishes on his own. That was in 1987. Twenty-five years later, St. John is fresh off a 17-country, twocontinent culinary trip through Europe, the basis of his sixth cookbook. At the Purple Parrot (the three restaurants occupy the same building) St. John, 50, beams over his dishes as they’re placed on the table: Steak Lafayette with tender beef tournedos and blackened shrimp over fried green tomatoes, Lamb Trio with rack of lamb, house-made merguez sausage and rice pilaf, Pork Belly, surprisingly tasty with house-made kimchi, Country Girl Creamery yogurt, Granny Smith apples, crispy shallots and cilantro. Sunday brunch is as appetizing featuring Greek Chicken with shiitake mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese; Steak Bernaise with

beef tournedos over fried eggplant, shiitake mushrooms and roasted asparagus; and Grilled Cobia with jumbo lump crab meat, ragout of spinach, corn and tomato. Fish is shipped overnight daily. “So what was swimming in New Zealand or Hawaii yesterday is on your plate today,” he said. Frierson, St. John’s general manager, said he started out with a degree in history from Mississippi College in Clinton in 2002. When he moved to Hattiesburg to work on his master’s degree at USM, he inadvertently fell in love with the food at The Purple Parrot. “I took a journalism course and did a story on Wyatt Waters, a Mississippi painter,” Frierson said. “He started showing me these paintings for this cookbook he was doing for this guy, Robert St. John. Well, food wasn’t really on my radar as a career, but I wanted to eat at the restaurant. I fell in love with the place and before long I came here to get a job.” Frierson said he easily absorbed information from St. John and St.

OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Mahogany Bar offers classics and home-made cocktails • Lunch time at Crescent City Grill • Lemon basil martini next to the Aviation • Steak Bernaise with beef tournedos over fried eggplant • Chef Jeremy Noffke with homemade sausages • The foyer of The Purple Parrot • The Mahogany Bar’s Evan Williams’ bourbon labeled specifically for the restaurant. ABOVE: Chef Robert St. John has recently returned from a 17-country, two-continent tour for material for his next cookbook. mississippilegends.com

John’s business partner, Clint Taylor. “Both of them were huge influences and mentors for me. I couldn’t ask for a better working relationship. Clint works at Tabella. Robert is very energetic and very creative, which inspires me to pursue the same.” Frierson said guests particularly enjoy the chef ’s menu, created weekly by 34-year-old Chef Jeremy Noffke. “It’s a five-course chef ’s tasting menu and a culinary showcase for us,” Frierson said. “It features things we’re currently working on with fresh ingredients and seasonal foods like fiddle head ferns, ramps and produce that we won’t get for an extended period of time.” There’s no argument the restaurants lead the culinary industry in South Mississippi, having shucked 88,000 oysters, prepared 77,000 crab meat wontons, 6.5 tons of fish and 16 tons of shrimp, Frierson said. The restaurant also is a leader of wine and spirits, featuring more than 900 labels (of which Frierson can recite). The team works to come up with new cocktails and perfect classics. Frierson said he went to Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky to select a single-barrel bourbon to be bottled specifically for the restaurants. “We got to taste from a number of different rickhouse barrels. We chose one on the sixth floor and they bottled it with our label on it and shipped it to us with the barrel,” he said. “We chose a 10 year old Evan Williams bourbon.” The restaurants feature barrel-aged cocktails, Manhattans aged for six weeks in three-gallon white oak barrels, and carbonated cocktails such as a Smoked Coke Bourbon made with smoked syrup, bourbon and soda water. The bacon fat-infused bourbon sounds odd, but Frierson said it’s a best seller. “I take bourbon and infuse it with bacon fat. We strain it all off, but it’s infused with a nice, smoky flavor,” he said. “We can hardly keep up with infusing the bottles. It’s made with maple syrup, orange zest, bitters and the bourbon infused with bacon.” Frierson said he’s proud of the commitment the team has made to fresh, creative food and impeccable service. Much of the food brought in is farmed locally. “We have made a lot of relationships with local farmers, dairies and suppliers of quail, pastured poultry, organic eggs and artisanal cheeses,”

1. Maple leaf farms duck breast with duck confit in risotto 2. Lamb trio with rack of lamb, house-made merguez sausage, wild rice pilaf with lamb breast and granny smith apples 3. Steak Lafayette with tender beef tournedos and blackened shrimp over fried green tomatoes 4. Beet salad with crab 5. Six layer hurricane 6. Salad wedge 7. Crab stuffed fried shrimp with vegetables

march. april 2012

1. 2.

4. 7.

St. John said. “We also have a two-acre organic garden where we grow vegetables and herbs for the restaurants. We also have several bee hives and this spring we are installing a fruit orchard.” St. John also has plans to have his latest cookbook finished by fall, 2013. “During the 10 weeks I spent in Italy, Wyatt Waters, the renowned watercolor artist, joined me and we collaborated on our third book, “An Italian Palate,” he said. He’ll also continue work with the charity he

march. april 2012

began two years ago – Extra Table – which helps supply soup kitchens with needed food and supplies. Frierson said he also looks forward to the future. “I realized a bit into it that this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” he said. “It’s what I love. It’s what I’m passionate about it. Our staff, our managers and our guests – every day it’s rewarding and exciting - seeing guests leave here happy and enjoying themselves is a reward for all of us.” L

What’s the Difference? The Purple Parrot is a white tablecloth dining experience, with a menu featuring fish, veal, beef tenderloin, duck breast, beef brisket, lamb, pork and chicken. Each week, a Chef’s Tasting Menu offers seasonal items in a five-course menu. Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and Sunday, 6 p.m. To 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Crescent City Grill is a bit more relaxed with specialty sandwiches, pastas, fish and Creole-inspired cuisine. Be sure to save room for dessert – white chocolate bread pudding is a standard. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Mahogany Bar features beer, whiskey, cocktails and a late-night menu. Highlights are barrel-aged cocktails, the single-barrel bourbon, beer cocktails and whiskey flights. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The Purple Parrot, Crescent City Grill and The Mahogany Bar are located at 3810 Hardy St., Hattiesburg. For more information, call (601) 264-0657 or visit www.robertstjohn.com.

OPPOSITE: Dusty Frierson, general manager, said the restaurants wine menu has 900 labels RIGHT TOP: Fried oyster salad RIGHT MIDDLE: The foyer at Crescent City Grill leads to the Mahogany Bar and The Purple Parrot RIGHT BOTTOM: The Atticus Finch and Port Side Outward, both created with a specialty Kentucky bourbon.

mississippilegends.com

What’s shakin’ around the state? aberdeen Mar 30-Apr 1 - 36th Annual Aberdeen Southern Heritage Pilgrimage - www.aberdeenpilgrimage.com – (800) 634-3538

belzoni Apr 14-37th Annual World Catfish Festival - www.catfishcapitalonline.com – (662) 247-4838

biloxi Mar 2 - Vince Gill - Beau Rivage - www.beaurivage.com - (228) 386.7444 Mar 2 - Goo Goo Dolls - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000 Mar 3 - REO Speedwagon - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000 Mar 9 - Blackberry Smoke - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Mar 10 – Josh Turner - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Mar 10 - Cheech & Chong - Beau Rivage - www.beaurivage.com - 228.386.7444 Mar 16 – The Peking Acrobats - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Mar 16 - Chrisette Michele - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000 Mar 23 - The Doobie Brothers - Beau Rivage - www.beaurivage.com – (228) 386.7444 Mar 23 – Blue October - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Mar 24 – Billy Currington - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Mar 30 - Gretchen Wilson - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000 Mar 30 – Jamey Johnson - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Apr 6 – LeAnn Rimes - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Apr 7 – Pop Evil - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Apr 12 – Chevelle - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Apr 13 – KC & The Sunshine Band - Hard Rock Casino - www.hardrockbiloxi.com - (228) 374-7625 Apr 13 - Gladys Knight - Beau Rivage - www.beaurivage.com – (228) 386.7444 Apr 13 - Boys II Men - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000 Apr 14 - Roots and Boots Tour - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000 Apr 19 - 20th Annual MS Coast Coliseum Crawfish Festival - Mississippi Coast Coliseum - www.mscoastcoliseum.com - (228) 594-3700 Apr 20 - The Frontmen of Country - Beau Rivage - www.beaurivage.com – (228) 386.7444 Apr 20 - The Oak Ridge Boys - IP Casino Resort - www.ipbiloxi.com - (800) 436-3000

clarksdale Mar 15 - “Wearin’ the Green, Singin’ the Blues” with Stan Street’s Hambone Band and friends - Ground Zero Blues Club - www.groundzerobluesclub.com - (662) 358-4335 Mar 29 - Heavy Suga and The Sweet Tones - Ground Zero Blues Club - www.groundzerobluesclub.com - (662) 358-4335 Apr 11-15 - Juke Joint Festival - Downtown Clarksdale - www.jukejointfestival.com – (662) 624-5992 Apr 15 - Cat Head Mini FestivalI - Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Inc. - www.cathead.biz/fest.html – (662) 624.5992 Apr 13 - World premiere of “We Juke up in Here!” - Delta Cinema - www.wejukeupinhere.com - (662) 627-6733

cleveland Mar 28-30 - Delta International Film and Video Festival - Bologna Performing Arts Center - www.difvf.com - (662) 846-4626 Apr 21 - 43rd Annual Crosstie Arts and Jazz Festival - Downtown Cleveland – www.crosstie-arts.org/site/ - www.facebook.com/crosstiefestival - (662) 402-5451

columbus Mar 26-Apr 7 - Columbus Annual Spring Pilgrimage - www.columbus-ms.info/ - (800) 327.2686

greenville Mar 29 - Blues Trail Dedication for Tyrone Davis - Downtown Greenville - www.msbluestrail.org

greenwood Mar 3 - Mississippi Blues Fest - Leflore County Civic Center - www.mississippibluesfest.com/news – (662) 453-4065 Apr 13-14 - River to the Rails - www.mainstreetgreenwood.com

jackson Every Mon. - Central Mississippi Blues Society - Hal and Mal’s - www.halandmals.com - (601) 948-0888 Mar 9 - Mississippi Sweetheart Square Dancing Festival - Wahabi Shrine Temple - www.mssquaredance.com – (601) 833-6027 Mar 13 - Tyrese Gibson and Friends Live in Concert - Jackson Convention Complex – www.jacksonconventioncomplex.com – (601) 961-4000 Mar 17 - Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade and Festival - Hal and Mal’s - www.halandmals.com - (601) 948-0888 Mar 30 - Webb Wilder - Duling Hall - www.ardenland.net Apr 9 - Township Jazz Festival - The Township at Colony Park - www.townshipjazzfestival.com – (601) 856-6001 Apr 13-15 - Crossroads Film Festival - Downtown Jackson - www.crossroadsfilmfestival.com

march. april 2012

Apr 7 - The Legendary House Rockers - F. Jones Corner - www.fjonescorner.com - (601) 983-1148 Apr 28-29 - Lynch Street Heritage Festival - Lynch Street – www.westjacksoncdc.org

kosciusko Apr 28 - 43nd Annual Natchez Trace Festival - Downtown Kosciusko - www.kadcorp.org/NTF.asp – (662) 289-2981

leakesville Apr 10 - Two Rivers Bluegrass Festival – Green County Rural Events Center – Find on Facebook (601) 758-4976

long beach Apr 21 – Southern Mississippi Jazz and Blues Festival - www.usm.edu/gc/jazz-n-blues – (228) 214-3260

meridian Mar 2 & Apr 6 - The Sucarnochee Revue - Temple Theater - www.jackyjack.com - (601) 693-5353 Mar 9 - Josh Turner - MSU Riley Center - www.msurileycenter.com - (601) 696-2200 Mar 25 - Wilson Phillips - MSU Riley Center - www.msurileycenter.com - (601) 696-2200 Apr 7 - The Del McCoury Band and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MSU Riley Center - www.msurileycenter.com - (601) 696-2200 Apr 14 - Lee Ann Womack - MSU Riley Center - www.msurileycenter.com - (601) 696-2200 Apr 22 – How I Became a Pirate – Jefferson Performing Arts Society – The Temple Theater – www.meridiantempletheater.com – (601) 693-5353 Apr 29 – “Freedom 63” Meridian Community College Gospel Choir – The Temple Theater – www.meridiantempletheater.com – (601) 693-5353

natchez Mar 10-Apr 14 - Natchez Spring Pilgrimage - www.natchezpilgrimage.com – (800) 647-6742

ocean springs Mar 24 - 19th Annual Ocean Springs Herb, Garden & Arts Festival - www.oceanspringschamber.com (228) 875-4424

oxford Every Thu. - Thacker Mountain Radio - Off Square Books – www.thackermountain.com - (662) 236-2262 Mar 2 - Vienna Boys Choir - Gertrude Ford Center - www.olemiss.edu/depts/fordcenter/events.html – (662) 915-2787 Mar 10 - Black Oak Arkansas - Rooster’s Blues House – www.roostersblueshouse.com - (662) 236-7970 Mar 13 - The Avett Brothers - Lyric Theatre - www.thelyricoxford.com - (662) 234-5333 Mar 16 - “Hill Country Legend” Kenny Brown - Rooster’s Blues House – www.roostersblueshouse.com - (662) 236-7970 Mar 31 - Blind Mississippi Morris - Rooster’s Blues House – www.roostersblueshouse.com - (662) 236-7970 Apr 27-28 - 17th Annual Double Decker Arts Festival - www.oxfordcvb.com – (662) 232-2477

pascagoula Mar 24 - 3rd Annual Live Oak Arts Festival - Downtown Pascagoula - www.visitmississippi.org

philadelphia Apr 20-21 - 11th Annual Ham Jam Arts Festival - Downtown Philadelphia - www.hamjamartsfestival.com

southaven Apr 27 – Hank Williams Jr., Jamey Johnson - Landers Center - www.desotociviccenter.com - (662) 470.2131

starkville Apr 21 - Cotton District Arts Festival - Historic Cotton District - www.starkvillearts.org

tunica Mar 3 - Aretha Franklin - Harrah’s - Tunica - www.harrahstunica.com – (800) WIN-4-WIN Mar 16 &17 - Loretta Lynn - Gold Strike Casino - www.goldstrikemississippi.com - (888) 245-7529 Apr 21 - The Frontmen of Country - Gold Strike Casino - www.goldstrikemississippi.com - (888) 245-7529

tupelo Apr 12 - Eric Church - BancorpSouth Arena - www.bcsarena.com - (662) 841-6573 Apr 14 - The Avett Brothers - BancorpSouth Arena - www.bcsarena.com - (662) 841-6573

vicksburg Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday - Central Mississippi Blues Society - LD’s Kitchen – (601) 218-1115 Apr 1-30 - Tapestry: The Pilgrimage to Vicksburg - www.visitvicksburg.com (601) 638-2000 Apr 20-21 - 25th Annual RiverFest Music and Arts Festival - www.riverfestms.com Apr 21 - Alcorn State University Jazz Festival - Vicksburg Convention Center - www.alcorn.edu/jazzfest - (866) 822-6998

water valley Mar 23 – Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Dedication: Casey Jones - www.msbluestrail.org mississippilegends.com

march. april 2012