WAMA Releases an Exclusive Vinyl Album “Mississippi Murals” by singer-songwriter Luther Dickinson
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA) is proud to announce the release of Mississippi Murals, a 12” vinyl album from the acclaimed "Music Inspired by the Seven Climates" concert series. Released by Spaceflight Records, this special edition album will debut on Sunday, September 22, in conjunction with the eighth annual concert led by Grammy-nominated musician Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars.
Mississippi Murals captures the live recording of the second concert in the series, which Dickinson has headlined since 2016. The album features seven original musical compositions inspired by Walter Inglis Anderson’s iconic mural panels, created in 1951, which chronicle the natural beauty of the Southern landscape. Each track on the album corresponds to a specific mural panel, bringing to life Anderson’s vision of flora, fauna, and celestial bodies through Dickinson’s distinctive musical style.
Produced by Dickinson and recorded by Alex Diaz, Mississippi Murals features post-production by Kevin Houston, mixing by Ryan Saavedra at Primary Color Sound Studio, and mastering by Brett Orrison. The album includes original liner notes by author Johnny Miles and contributions from an all-star lineup of Southern musicians. All songs are written by Luther Dickinson, Vibratone Music, BMG. BMI.
​​The album's original songs and musical interpretations are written by Luther Dickinson and performed by Luther Dickinson, John Medeski, Johnny Vidacovich and Dominic Davis. They include: "The Moon - Autumn Into Winter”, “Venus - Inherent 69”, “Saturn - Either/Or”, “Mars - Speaking in Tongues”, “Uranus (Herschel) - Demented Augminished”, “Mercury - Blues for Trees II”, and “Jupiter - Ying Yang”.
About the Concert Series
Luther Dickinson’s annual concert series at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, “Music Inspired by the Seven Climates,” interprets American Master Walter Inglis Anderson’s landmark murals in the Ocean Springs Community Center through collaborative rock, funk, blues, and musical experimentation.
Each year, Dickinson assembles a cast of professional musicians from across the region and country to pay homage to Walter Anderson’s coastal magnum opus, 3,000 square feet of murals c. 1951 that chronicle the dynamism of the Southern landscape. The music they perform is arranged by Dickinson, who first conceived of the concert series after having an experience with Walter Anderson’s murals.
Hear about the Vision
About the Artists
LUTHER DICKINSON
Luther Dickinson is the son of the producer Jim Dickinson, whose own list of collaborators included Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson, and Bob Dylan. Luther Dickinson was heavily influenced by the intergenerational Southern musical tradition; his relationship with the hill country blues families of Otha Turner, R.L. Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough inspired him to found the Grammy-nominated band, the North Mississippi Allstars, with his brother Cody in 1996. Dickinson has toured internationally, including as a guitarist with The Black Crowes. He continues to tour with the North Mississippi Allstars and as a member of the Southern Soul Assembly. After discovering the Walter Anderson’s murals in 2014, Dickinson conceived of an annual performance that combines his own compositions with improvisatory collaboration. The New York Times calls Dickinson “an impressive player in the Southern guitar-hero mold.”
JOHN MEDESKI
John Medeski, famed keyboardist, is a highly sought after improviser and band leader whose projects range from work with John Zorn, The Word (Robert Randolph, North Mississippi Allstars), Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and many more. Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL where as a teenager he played with Jaco Pastorius before heading north to attend the New England Conservatory. He released his first solo piano record, A Different Time, on Sony’s Okeh Records in 2013. He is credited on over 300 works to date, most notably as one third of the groundbreaking trio, Medeski Martin & Wood.
JOHNNY VIDACOVICH
Johnny Vidacovich, born in New Orleans in 1949, has brought his impeccable jazz drumming to countless collaborations over the course of his sixty-plus year career, with his own combos, as a side-man, and as a member of Astral Project, New Orleans’ venerable contemporary jazz powerhouse. He has been called “the quintessential New Orleans drummer,” carrying the city's inimitable rhythm in his blood and his drum kit.
DOMINIC DAVIS
Dominic Davis was born and raised in Southwest Detroit, Dominic is a product of Motown's rich musical history. Davis attended Cass Technical High where he took up studies in the Upright Bass. He continued his education in arts & music at Michigan State University earning a Bachelor in Fine Arts. Known for his tasteful playing, tone, and deep pocket, he is equal parts Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rock & Roll and Classic Blues. Styles that have all called Detroit home. A busy studio musician, Dominic has recorded with Wanda Jackson, Tom Jones, Jeff Daniels, Adele, Beyonce, Beck, Buddy Miller, Brian Setzer & Christina Aguilera but is best known for his work with Jack White. He has produced records with Willie Nelson, Gregory Stovetop, Jen Sygit, & Greensky Bluegrass. No stranger to the stage, Davis has been touring for 20 years and has backed many of his musical heroes including Don Henley, John Hiatt, Patti Griffin, Q Tip, Buddy Miller, Lee Ann Womack, Robert Plant, Pearl Jam, The North Mississippi Allstars & Lucinda Williams.
“Mississippi Murals” is organized by the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, produced by Luther Dickinson, recorded by Alex Diaz, post-produced by Kevin Houston, mixed by Ryan Saavedra at Primary Color Sound Studio, and mastered by Brett Orrison. The album included original liner notes written by author Jonathan Miles. The 2017 concert was produced by Angie Galle Ladner. All songs are written by Luther Dickinson, Vibratone Music, BMG. BMI.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Publishing support from Blossman Gas.
