Hal and Mal’s - Jackson

Founded by brothers Harold and Malcolm White, the restaurant and music club Hal & Mal’s opened in 1985 with a performance by Albert King, and would subsequently present hundreds of shows by artists including B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Mose Allison, Otis Clay and Jack Owens. A regular venue for local musicians, in 2008 it began serving as the home of weekly Blue Monday shows hosted by the Central Mississippi Blues Society, and in 2020 received the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive award.

Hal & Mal’s success as a major entertainment spot in Jackson after its 1985 opening can largely be attributed to co-owner Malcolm White’s long and extensive history in managing venues and booking bands. Born in Hattiesburg and raised in Perkinston, White (b. 1951) first started booking bands in 1968 while still in high school in Booneville; the first was Sam and Bob’s Soul Review, featuring future Malaco recording artists Sam Mosley and Bob Johnson. White continued booking bands while attending Northeast Mississippi Community College and Mississippi State University, and while running restaurants in Hattiesburg and New Orleans in the 1970s hired bands including McComb’s Omar and the Howlers.

In the late ’70s White moved to Jackson, and while managing George Street Grocery booked artists including John Lee Hooker, Dwight “Gatemouth” Moore, Mose Allison, B.B. King and Sam Myers. Once open, Hal & Mal’s featured blues regularly, and became renowned for its food, largely the responsibility of Harold White (1949-2013). With the assistance of his wife, cofounder Vivian Pigott Neill, Arden Barnett, Charly Abraham, and Brandi White-Mims, Malcolm White brought in a wide range of artists, including blues veterans Son Thomas, Jack Owens and R.L. Burnside, soul oriented artists including Bobby Rush, Tyrone Davis and Otis Clay, and New Orleans groups including the Neville Brothers. They also booked blues artists at annual events including the Jackson Jubilee Jam (1987-2009), Zoo Blues (1985-2002), and Mal’s [later Hal’s] St. Paddy’s Parade, founded in 1983.

In 2006, musician Jesse Robinson, who arranged special birthday and Christmas events at Hal & Mal’s for many years, founded the Central Mississippi Blues Society together with Peggy Brown and Carol and Ron Marble. The Society began hosting Blue Monday shows here the following year, with the evening often starting with acoustic performers followed by a jam session anchored by the Blue Monday Band and featuring multiple guest performers. Blue Monday stalwarts have included vocalists Pat Brown, Abdul Rasheed, Dennis Fountain and J.T. Watkins; guitarists Sherman Lee Dillon, King Edward, Lonné George, and Bernard Jones; drummers Rick Lewis, Dwight Ross, Jr., and Malcolm Shepherd; bassists Robert “Bull” Jackson, Troy Thomas, Keith Collins, Michael Bernard, and Chillie Willie (James); keyboardists Johnny Sharp and Kendrick Hart; and saxophonist Dr. Russell Thomas. The Blue Monday Band also performed at events including the King Biscuit Blues Festival, and the Society has sent to the International Blues Competition local competition winners Dillon, Dexter Allen, “Stevie J” Johnson, Fredrick “Fred T” Robinson, Jarekus Singleton, and the duo of D’Mar (Derek Martin) and (Chris) Gill.

[ BACK TO TOP ]