MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2017

By: Senator(s) Horhn, Simmons (13th), To: Rules Carmichael, Jackson (11th), Polk, Witherspoon, Burton, Hudson, Barnett, Blackwell, Chassaniol, Dearing, Frazier, Jackson (32nd), McMahan, Norwood

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 581

1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE 2 MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE TO VASTI JACKSON AS RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 3 GOVERNOR'S ARTS AWARD FOR SERVING AS ARTS AMBASSADOR FOR THE STATE 4 OF MISSISSIPPI. 5 WHEREAS, the Governor's Arts Awards Program has announced its 6 2017 recipients, which includes Vasti Jackson for serving as Arts 7 Ambassador for the State of Mississippi; and 8 WHEREAS, Hattiesburg's Vasti Jackson is Mississippi's modern 9 version of a Renaissance Man. His titles include: singer, 10 performer, writer, composer, arranger, filmmaker, producer and 11 educator, but he is best known for his showmanship and virtuosic

12 guitar playing; and 13 WHEREAS, born in McComb, Vasti has been studying 14 Mississippi's contributions to the music world since childhood. 15 He has also been a working musician for four decades. In the 16 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Jackson was a prolific Session Musician 17 working for in Jackson and in

18 Chicago. He developed his crowd-pleasing performance skills while

S. C. R. No. 581 *SS01/R744.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ N1/2 17/SS01/R744.1 PAGE 1 (tb\rc) 19 working as Musical Director and Guitarist to numerous performers, 20 including ZZ Hill, Bobby Bland, and Swamp Queen Katie Webster; and 21 WHEREAS, before long, Vasti Jackson was releasing his own 22 music and bringing his high energy concerts to audiences around 23 the world. Since 2012, he has been associated with the group

24 "Playing For Change," a movement created to inspire and connect 25 the world through music. Vasti was named a Mississippi Cultural 26 Ambassador in 2014, which promotes his mission of teaching people 27 around the globe about the rich heritage of African-American music 28 that comes from Mississippi and the United States; and 29 WHEREAS, Vasti Jackson's solo releases include "No Borders to

30 ," "Bourbon Street Blues" and "New Orleans: Rhythm Soul 31 Blues"; and 32 WHEREAS, Mr. Jackson has received numerous honors and awards. 33 He was selected as a Mississippi Living Blues Legend in 2011 and 34 was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame the 35 following year. Vasti recently received his biggest nod yet

36 as a 2017 Grammy Award nominee for Best Traditional Blues Album 37 for "The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers"; and 38 WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we pay tribute and 39 express appreciation for the talent of a world-class Mississippi 40 Musician who has made Mississippi a better place and exemplifies 41 the musical traditions of our great state:

42 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF 43 MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That

S. C. R. No. 581 *SS01/R744.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 17/SS01/R744.1 PAGE 2 (tb\rc) 44 we do hereby extend the recognition of the Mississippi Legislature 45 to Vasti Jackson as recipient of the 2017 Governor's Arts Award 46 for serving as Arts Ambassador for the State of Mississippi, and 47 extend our congratulations to a world-class musician on this 48 auspicious occasion.

49 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to 50 Vasti Jackson as part of the Governor's Arts Awards presentation 51 on Thursday, February 16, 2017, and made available to the Capitol 52 Press Corps.

S. C. R. No. 581 *SS01/R744.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 17/SS01/R744.1 ST: Recognize Vasti Jackson as recipient of the PAGE 3 (tb\rc) 2017 Governor's Arts Award for serving as Arts Ambassador for the State of Mississippi.