Othar Turner, Mississippi Fife Legend, 1907-2003

Othar Turner was older than the blues when he died, and so was the musical tradition he carried with him. Turner played a cane fife cut from reeds growing on his farm, and his band was the last survivor of a form of music that merged sounds of a Civil War military band with African rhythms and pentatonic scales.

Turner (sometimes known as "Otha") was born to a family of Mississippi sharecroppers and grew up chopping cotton and plowing the fields. As a teen he played first the tin tub and then the drums. But his lasting contribution resulted from his learning how to make and play the fife. (He also was able to buy his Gravel Springs farm from the money he made playing the fife at local gatherings.)

Up until the time of his death he continued to play with the Rising Star Fife & Drum Corps, which consisted of his daughter, grandsons, granddaughter and nephew. He hosted a Labor Day barbecue at his farm each year, but travelers to his county tell of a man who would not only play for any interested visitor, but also give a lesson in how to cut a cane reed and use a hot poker to transform it into a fife.

According to his web biography, Turners lifetime collection of award and honors included a National Heritage Fellowship (the highest award for traditional American musicians given by the National Endowment for the Arts), the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival. He also was a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, and he opened each day of the annual Chicago Blues Festival. Turner made only two recordings, and only late in his life. "Everybody Hollerin' Goat" was released in 1998, followed by 1999's "From Senegal to Senatobia," a collaboration with several African musicians. Although not technically "the blues," "Everybody Hollerin' Goat" was named one of the top five blues albums of the 1990s by Rolling Stone magazine. His song "Shimmy She Wobble" appeared in the soundtrack of Martin Scorcese's recent film, "Gangs of New York."

Read a complete biography (and listen to music samples!)

Find out more about Turner's two recordings at Amazon.com

Read more about Othar Turner from a Starksville High School project, including a collection of other links.