In 1939 , Ms. Mattie Mae Thomas was an inmate of the women’s wing of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchment Farm when the place was visited by an ethnomusicologist who recorded her and some of her fellow inmates in the sewing room. My mom’s side of the family is from Drew, Mississippi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew,_M…) – 10 minutes down the road from where Mattie MAE Thomas was recorded. This is where my mother Cora MAE Campbell was born.

MAE//MAE

MATTIE MAE THOMAS – Voice, life and spirit
Ambrose AKINMUSIRE – Trumpet + Composer

Dean Bowman – Vocals
Gerald Clayton – Piano
Joe Sanders – Bass
Marvin Sewell – guitar
Kendrick Scott – Drums & computer

Audio Manipulations: Alexander Overington
Mixed by: Dave Darlington
Video by : Laura Pleifer