Voices of Mississippi at Midwest Trust Center JCCC, Overland Park, KS (11 Feb 2023) concert review

Even hundreds of miles away from the Delta, the Voices were heard, the Voices were strong–

One of the more unique and immersive concert experiences, Voices of Mississippi came to the Midwest Trust Center on the campus of JCCC in Overland Park, KS for an informative and entertaining evening in celebration of the music, art, and storytelling traditions of the Blues originators in Mississippi.

Based on the recent double Grammy Award–winning Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris 3CD/1DVD box set (available here from Amazon), the live program featured musical performances integrated with film, audio recordings, and rare photographs by folklorist Bill Ferris, who hosted the evening via several video segments.

This rare outing was only one of five shows on this leg, after debuting at the University of Mississippi in 2021 and with an impressive multi-show run at NYC’s Lincoln Center last year, so it was fortunate that the ensemble made a local stop. 

Featured musicians included Ruthie Foster, fife and drum duo Shardé Thomas and Chris Mallory, brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, and bassist Marcus Machado to all form an exceptional and unique all-star blues, folk, and gospel collective.

The show was anchored by Ferris’ video interludes- his created and curated archive of footage, photos, and interviews done from the 1960s to the 1990s that took the audience into the middle of a Ken Burns-style documentary about all of the storytelling creativity borne along the east banks of the mighty river in Hill Country, as it’s called.

Mississippi native Ferris was born in Vicksburg and became fascinated at a very early age by the surrounding culture and the musical roots around him, to begin archiving that heritage, later in academia also connecting together its origins and its overall larger place in the fabric that is distinctively American.

Most of the performers have personal roots in Mississippi including the fife and drum duo of Thomas and Mallory, she being the granddaughter of the late Otha Turner, credited with the keeping that musicianship in blues alive (not that we’ve really heard of it much before) and she also took over his Rising Stars Fife & Drum Band, helping insure the tradition will continue.

Texas-born (shhh!) singer-guitarist Ruthie Foster hit the stage like a lightning bolt, her voice immediately soaring to the highest corners of the hall on “Richland Woman Blues” and her own “Runaway Soul”. Foster is a 4x Grammy nominee and 10x Blues Music Award winner, and has always felt a strong connection to Mississippi blues since her musical beginnings with the late Mississippi legend Jessie Mae Hemphill serving as an early mentor.

Guitarist Luther and drummer Cody Dickinson form the foundation of respected band North Mississippi Allstars.and the pair are also the sons of well-known piano player Jim Dickinson, who was in bands like The Dixie Flyers and would go on to produce Big Star, Toots and the Maytalls, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and many more.

Thomas took lead for BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone” and the tribute continued with “Why I Sing the Blues” before Foster completely awestruck the audience with an acapella version of a Son House classic, accented by the usually impeccable acoustics inside the revered hall.

Because, like good barbecue, every region has its own flavored nuance that reflects the local culture, the spicy of Mississippi was mixed with the sweet of Kansas City, as popular area blues singer and guitarist Danielle Nicole surprised the audience, by joining the band onstage for one mid-set song.

Music was not the only subject for the video segments as one centered on the literary works of famous Southern writers Eudora Welty and Alice Walker, in rare archival interview footage and the influence of the gospel church on blues music was also notated

Mississippi Fred McDowell was honored as an originator with two covers and the show peaked towards the end, moving more into that traditional gospel territory with hymns “Glory Glory Hallelujah” and “When the Saints Go Marching In” which found a marching Thomas and Mallory parading into the audience before rejoining everyone back on stage, for a finish with flourish.

A concert in tandem with a multimedia time-capsule that fed the brain, warmed the heart, and brought forward the soul, Voices of Mississippi was that kind of rare live event, that satisfied on multi-levels and shouldn’t be missed, if additional dates are announced.

“All people have a story, and they’re waiting for someone to listen,” Ferris recently said. These Voices are very much worth that listen.