MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Ferris

Senate Concurrent Resolution 555

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING JAZZ BASSIST MILT HINTON OF VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, UPON RECEIVING THE ARTIST'S ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AS PART OF THE 1998 GOVERNOR'S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS. 

WHEREAS, Milt Hinton of Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the recipient of the Artist's Achievement Award as part of this year's Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts; and

WHEREAS, Milt is master of the jazz bass, a composer, educator and photographer, who has played his famous walking bass line with all the greats, from Al Capone's Cotton Club Orchestra in Chicago to Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Bobby Darin, and numerous other top names in jazz and popular music; and

WHEREAS, Milt was a pioneer in jazz recording, working with top session orchestras, exploring and developing new techniques and new music for the jazz bass, including the beginnings of what later became known as Bebop; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Hinton is a self-taught musician who went on to study music at Northwest University, and began a music career spanning seven decades earning him the title "The Judge" because of his longevity in the field; and

WHEREAS, in 1936, he became the bass player for the Cab Calloway orchestra, and was a sought-after session and club musician throughout the 1940's and 1950's, playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and Ben Webster. He appeared regularly at international festivals and clubs in the 1970's and 1980's, and appeared in his home state for the Mississippi Roots of American Popular Music exhibit at the Old Capitol Museum in 1990; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, Mr. Hinton has published two volumes of his own photographs of jazz greats, and continues to serve as an ambassador for jazz in his worldwide travels and in jazz books and television documentaries; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize this famous Mississippian who has contributed so much to the arts:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate master jazz bassist Milt Hinton of Vicksburg, Mississippi, upon his receipt of the Artist's Achievement Award as part of the 1998 Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this Resolution be presented to Mr. Hinton and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.