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Vasti Jackson & Friends christen the Institute For Southern Storytelling at Mississippi College

By Brinda Fuller Willis

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September 11, 2023

It takes a special person to help assemble a group of master musicians at the same time and place. The challenge is daunting even when the planned concert is in the “Birthplace of America’s Music” – Mississippi.

Sponsored by The Institute For Southern Storytelling, the “Vasti Jackson & Friends Live in Mississippi” event accomplished this task on Aug. 31. This event was a free concert, and was held in the Entergy Theater at the Gore Arts Complex of Mississippi College. It was a joyous night of musical entertainment interspersed with humorous storytelling through a Southern lens by Vasti Jackson, a native Mississippian.

The Institute was co-founded by Robert St. John and Anthony Thaxton. Along with its executive director Amy Bryant Thaxton, the Institute works to help tell Southern stories worldwide.

Vasti Jackson is a multi-Grammy nominated, world-renowned guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer. His passionate for providing music education is being used to help develop 15 music schools in 12 countries that serve more than 2,000 students.

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During the event, Vasti Jackson was joined by fellow master musicians: Tom “Bones” Malone (trombonist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, and musical director); Jerry “The Groovemaster” Jemmott (two-time Grammy Award-winning bassist); Donald Harrison (virtuoso saxophonist and the recipient of the 2022 National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master Award); Frank Greene (lead trumpet for many orchestras); Derrick “D’MAR” Martin (a drummer from Jackson, MS and a producer, composer, recording artist, and educator); Keith Johnson “Prince of the Delta Blues” (the great nephew of legendary Mississippi blues icon Muddy Waters and a composer and novelist); and Keiko Komaki (internationally recognized pianist from Japan).

For additional information on the Institute, visit: http://www.mc.edu/storytelling.

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Author

Brinda Fuller Willis

Dr. Brinda Fuller Willis was raised on a large farm in Attala County, just outside of Kosciusko, Mississippi. She is what some would call a “Double Identical” twin amongst a family of sixteen siblings. She is a life-long member of the Palestine Missionary Baptist Church where she recited a many long and protracted Easter speeches because her speeches had to match her height; she has been 5’9” inches tall since grammar school.

Brinda graduated from McAdams High School and went on to Holmes Jr. College in Goodman, Mississippi graduating with a Social Science degree. Afterwards she graduated from Mississippi State University with degrees in Social Work and Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling. In 2007, she received a (Ph.D.) in Theology from New Foundations Seminary in Terry, Mississippi.

Once she made the move from Chicago, Milwaukee and Atlanta then back to Mississippi she began writing the “Ask the Twins” advice column with her twin sister, Linda that appeared inside the historic Jackson Advocate Newspaper for several years garnering numerous faithful readers who sought to get answers for questions regarding love, faith, career, disability and education. Her audience ranged from young adults to sage seniors. Eventually, she took a break from the advice column to pursue other interests and obligations with the onset of becoming a grandparent, managing a blues singer and world traveler.

Presently, she is a freelance writer for the Jackson Advocate Newspaper (2001-Present) and the Jackson Free Press (2012-2019). She is a member of the Speakers Bureau with the Mississippi Humanities Council and is the recipient of the Council’s 2019 Educator’s Award. Additionally, she has written for BOOM Jackson Magazine, Our Mississippi Magazine and Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine.

Previously, she was married to Chick Willis, an internationally renowned blues singer with whom she had one daughter, Savannah. Dr. Willis is huge blues music fan and will travel anywhere to hear blues music at festivals, honky tonks and hole-in-the-wall jook joints. She and her twin sister are the owners of Twice As Nice Entertainment, LLC and are the managing agents for Keith Johnson “Prince of the Delta Blues” who is the great nephew of Muddy Waters.

Presently, she lives in Richland, Mississippi and is the proud grandmother of 5-year old, Charlotte Lucille Gray and 18-month old Liam Moberg.

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