Othar Turner, 94; Bluesman Played in Fife and Drum Tradition

Othar Turner, 94, one of the last living links to the rural Southern blues and the 19th century fife and drum tradition that predated the blues, died Feb. 27 at his daughter’s home in Gravel Springs, Miss.

Turner played the bamboo cane fife or wooden flute with the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band. His music was recently featured in the Martin Scorsese film “Gangs of New York.”

Born to sharecroppers, Turner began by playing a harmonica and a 50-gallon lard can he used as a drum. At 16, he was given a fife by a local man who made his own cane fifes.

Over the years, Turner’s music was discovered and rediscovered by folklorists, including Alan Lomax. Turner also began appearing infrequently on national television broadcasts, including “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS.

In 1992, Turner was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

He appeared in blues festivals in Chicago and Memphis. In 2001, he traveled to New York City, where his performance was filmed by Spike Lee and Wim Wenders for “The Blues,” an upcoming PBS series.