National Entertainment – Page 34 – The Mississippi Link

Jenni Rivera, soulful, troubled Mexican music star dies

December 14, 2012 Kermit 0

Jenni Rivera launched her career hawking cassette recordings of her songs at flea markets, but a powerful voice, soulful singing style and frank discussion of personal troubles powered her to the heights of a male-dominated industry, transforming her into the one of the biggest stars of the genre known as grupero.

Her life was cut short at its peak on Sunday by an airplane crash in northern Mexico that also killed six friends and co-workers. […]

Holmes County honored with blues marker in Tchula

December 12, 2012 Kermit 0

On Wednesday, Dec. 12, the Mississippi Blues Trail will unveil the latest marker in recognition of Holmes County and Tchula, Miss. The 167th marker unveiling is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Memorial Park at 15387 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in Tchula.

Many blues performers who gained fame in the Mississippi Delta, Jackson, Miss., Chicago and on the southern soul circuit have lived in or near Tchula, including Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, Jimmy Dawkins, Jesse Robinson, Lewis “Love Doctor” Clark, Little Smokey Smothers, Arelean Brown and Lester Davenport. Even long after most of its famous sons and daughters had departed, Tchula remained a center of juke joint revelry along Highway 49. […]

Lupus forces singer Toni Braxton into LA hospital

December 12, 2012 Kermit Comments Off

Singer Toni Braxton has been hospitalized in Los Angeles.

The R&B performer says in a Tweet on Friday that she’s been hospitalized because of “minor health issues” related to Lupus. A spokeswoman confirmed the hospitalization but had no other details. “ But no worries!,” Braxton wrote to fans. “I will be out any day now.”
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Dave Brubeck, legend who helped define jazz, dies

December 11, 2012 Kermit 0

You don’t have to be a jazz aficionado to recognize “Take Five,” the smoky instrumental by the Dave Brubeck Quartet that instantly evokes swinging bachelor pads, hi-fi systems and cool nightclubs of the 1950s and `60s.

“Take Five” was a musical milestone – a deceptively complex jazz composition that managed to crack the Billboard singles chart and introduce a new, adventurous sound to millions of listeners.
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Mississippi Blues Trail honored by Southeast Tourism Society

November 28, 2012 Kermit 0

The Mississippi Blues Trail was recently presented an award by the Southeast Tourism Society at the society’s Annual Fall Conference in Virginia Beach, Va.

The Mississippi Blues Trail received a “Tourism for Tomorrow” award, which recognizes the accomplishments of a destination, company or organization in the realm of sustainable tourism with a project that promotes tourism development while safeguarding local culture and/or protecting the environment.
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Mississippi Blues Trail honors Otis Spann and Little Johnnie Jones

November 21, 2012 Kermit 0

Otis Spann and Little Johnnie Jones were the latest musicians honored with a marker on Mississippi Blues Trail. The marker unveiling was at 547 South Roach Street in Jackson.

Otis Spann and Little Johnnie Jones, two of the acknowledged masters of Chicago blues piano, were cousins who lived in Jackson in the 1930s and ’40s. On the vibrant post-World War II Chicago scene they both played with blues king Muddy Waters and other luminaries and were hailed for their stellar work both as accompanists and as featured recording artists. Spann and his family lived on this block of Roach Street.
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Teri Shields, Brooke's mom and manager, dead at 79

November 20, 2012 Kermit Comments Off

Teri Shields raised eyebrows when she allowed her 11-year-old daughter, Brooke, to be cast as a prostitute in 1978’s “Pretty Baby.” A few years later, she permitted a teenage Brooke Shields to famously star in a series of commercials for Calvin Klein jeans, provocatively professing that nothing comes between “me and my Calvins.”

Teri Shields died earlier this month in New York City, according to Jill Fritzo, a spokeswoman for Brooke Shields. She was 79. The New York Times reported the elder Shields died following a long illness related to dementia. […]

Mississippi Country Music Trail honors Chris Ledoux

November 19, 2012 Kermit Comments Off

Country music star Chris Ledoux was recently honored with a marker on the Mississippi Country Music Trail. The marker unveiling took place at the at the Biloxi Town Green at 710 Beach Blvd., in Biloxi.

Born on Oct. 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Chris Lee LeDoux was the son of an Air Force major stationed at Keesler Air Force Base. Young Chris lived in Biloxi for the first year and a half of his life and for another year at the age of 12, which yielded the boyhood memories of fishing holes and black-eyed peas reflected in his song, “Born in Mississippi.” […]

Spielberg to speak at 'Gettysburg Address' event

November 16, 2012 Kermit 1

Director Steven Spielberg will deliver the keynote address at an observance commemorating the 149th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.”

Park officials in central Pennsylvania noted that Spielberg’s remarks will come days after the release of his film “Lincoln,” which stars Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role. […]

Winfrey, Huffington launch new HuffPost section

November 15, 2012 Kermit Comments Off

Two of the most powerful women in U.S. media – Oprah Winfrey and Arianna Huffing ton – are joining forces.

On Nov. 1, the two launched “HuffPost OWN,” a new section on the Huffington Post website that will feature material from the Oprah Winfrey Network and Oprah.com. The new online destination will focus on lifestyle advice and personal inspiration. […]