01-29-2008
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Dallas, TX, USA
Posts: 6,247
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Uncle Jessie White Passes Away
I got this via email, was asked to post it here:
Quote:
Detroit Blues Legend Leaves us at 87
Uncle Jessie White, beloved family man and Detroit blues elder statesman, went home to be with the angels on January 29, 2008 at the age of 87.
Jessie left many adoring family and friends mourning his passing as he touched so many lives. Jessie moved to Detroit in 1950 after spending his youth picking cotton in the fields of Mississippi and playing in local juke joints in Jackson. During the riots of 1967, when many blues and jazz clubs closed in Detroit, Uncle Jessie White and his family hosted weekend blues sessions that lasted throughout the night. The jam sessions were held on the weekends from Friday evening after work, until Monday morning - only stopping for the weekdays so that the musicians could go back to the assembly lines in Detroit's auto factories. Blues musicians, students of blues and curious neighbors came from miles around to witness and dance at the weekend long house parties. The sessions continued through 1971 and are well-known for the local and national talent that passed through to play at the famous house.
Jessie taught many Detroit musicians during those jam sessions and became a mentor and father figure to many more. Jessie also traveled throughout Michigan, the United States and Germany, playing his music, leaving his warmth and charm wherever he went. He played at many Detroit blues clubs such as at the famous former Soup Kitchen where he ran the weekly jam sessions. His 20-year-tenure recently ended at the former Attic Bar in Hamtramck, where he led the famous Detroit 29th Street Blues band on the piano. Jessie’s fans will never forget his home made ‘rig,’ which held his harmonica and microphone. Blues Factory records helped to record his music on CD in 1991, and his fans can still listen to his sweet singing for many years to come.
Jessie was preceeded in death by his wife, Lillian White. He and his wife raised nine children: Jessie Lee White, Sherry White, Roselyn White, Danita Denham (Calvin), Janet Webb, David White, Anthony White, Derrick White (Renee), Pam White (Gregory).
He also had 24 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren: L’Shae, Marquise, Kenneth Jr., Michael, > Jr., Romell Jr., Dontae, Javontay. He is also survived by his sister, Martha Ann Kent (Robert), and was preceeded in death by his sister and brother, Mary Riley and Lee Dell Holley (daughter Laura).
Jessie can be viewed at the Gates of Heaven funeral home at 4412 Livernois, just north of Michigan Avenue – dates and time still TBD. Burial will follow next to his wife, and grandson.
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