The life and legacy of Dothan native Jackie Mills was honored by the Wiregrass Blues Society at an awards presentation held at the Carver Museum on North Foster Street here
Friends and family members of Mills, called “an icon, one of the jazz greats,” gathered at the museum to pay tribute to the man who returned to his hometown after a decades-long jazz career to teach young people until his death June 24, 2014, at the age of 87.
Mills studied music at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona, Fla., and then later at the Julliard School in New York City, said Brooks. To be closer to New York City, he and his childhood sweetheart and wife Juanita moved to northern New Jersey. In 1968 Mills and his wife moved back to Dothan where he continued to perform in clubs and became a music educator, teaching privately as well as bringing his jazz knowledge to students at Wallace Community College, Florida State University, Troy University, Florida A&M University and for thousands of primary school children through the free “Jazz in Schools” programs produced by Music South.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | Omny Studio | All Of Our Podcasts Pollan shared stories of Mills’ outstanding performances in the annual Dothan Jazz Festival in the 1990s, playing with Randy Brecker at the Dothan Opera House. Adkins was a musical prodigy/multi-talented instrumentalist who took his first piano lessons from his aunt Lera Mae Rogers at age eight. His “quick study” ability was fostered by his older brother, John Rainey Adkins. Adkins remembers hanging around John Rainey’s rehearsals at their house on West Main Street, first with The Webs and later with The Candymen – who became Roy Orbison’s touring band.
Adkins returned to Dothan from Atlanta as a studio musician at the late Mike Boyd’s Wildwood Studios. In the early 2000s, Adkins entertained at piano gigs at Stray Cats club and was flown cross-country to perform at dueling piano nightclubs.
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