Otha Turner, Blues Music, 94

Date: 2 Mar 2003 10:03:52 -0800
Newsgroups: alt.obituaries
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It was reported from Como, Mississippi, that Otha Turner, who created
his own niche in blues music with an ethereal mix of early American
colonial drums and West African flute, died Wednesday. He was 94.
Turner was a fixture at Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival,
where his Rising Star Fife and Drum Corps was the opening act. The
group included his daughter, grandchildren and nephew.
Turner's recording "Everybody Hollerin' Goat" was among the Top 10
blues releases in 1997 by Rolling Stone magazine. Members of a
Senegalese drum troupe performed with Turner on the album.
Turner was presented with a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage
Award, the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award and the Charlie
Patton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues and
Heritage Festival.