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Biography
James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 - November 8, 1983) was a New Orleans rhythm and blues musician born in New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans , Louisiana , United States . Booker's unique style combined rhythm and blues with jazz standards.
Biography
Booker was the son and grandson of Baptist ministers, both of whom played the piano . He spent most of his childhood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast , where his father pastored a church. Booker received a saxophone as a gift from his mother, but he demonstrated a stronger interest in the keyboard instrument|keyboard . He first played organ in his father's churches.
After returning to New Orleans in his early adolescence , Booker attended the Xavier Academy Preparatory School. He learned some elements of his keyboard style from Tuts Washington and Edward Frank. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music , v. 1, 665. Booker was highly skilled in classical music and played Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach and Frédéric Chopin|Chopin , among other composers. He also mastered and memorized solos by Erroll Garner , and Liberace . His thorough background in piano literature may have enabled his original and virtuosic interpretations of jazz and other popular music. These performances combined elements of stride (music)|stride , blues , gospel and latin music|Latin piano styles.
Booker made his sound recording and reproduction|recording debut in 1954 on the Imperial Records|Imperial record label|label , with "Doin' the Hambone" and "Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby." This led to some session work with Fats Domino , Smiley Lewis , and Lloyd Price .Ibid. 665
In 1958, Arthur Rubinstein gave a concert in New Orleans. Afterwards, eighteen-year-old Booker was introduced to the concert pianist and played several tunes for him. Rubinstein was astonished, saying "I could never play that... never at that tempo." ( The Times-Picayune , 1958) Booker also became known for his flamboyant personality amongst his peers.cite news| url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi? f=/c/a/2006/04/23/PKGGGI6B3S1.DTL& hw=booker& sn=001& sc=1000 | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | title=Booker's Mad Muse | first=David | last=Rubien | date=April 22, 2006
After recording a few other single (music)|singles , he enrolled as an undergraduate in Southern University 's music department. In 1960, Booker's "Gonzo" reached number 43 on the United States|U.S. Billboard (magazine)|Billboard record chart|chart , and number 3 on the Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|R& B record chart|chart . This was followed by some moderately successful singles. In the 1960s, he turned to Recreational drug use|drugs , and in 1970 served a brief Sentence (law)|sentence in Angola Prison for possession.
Professor Longhair and Ray Charles were among his important influences.cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | pages= 94 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X
In 1973 Booker recorded The Lost Paramount Tapes at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California|Hollywood , California with members of the Dr. John musical ensemble|band which included John Boudreaux on drums, Jessie Hill on percussion, Alvin Robinson on guitar and vocals, Richard "Didymus" Washington on percussion, David Lastie on sax and Dave Johnson on bass. This album was record producer|produced by the former Dr. John and Sweathog (band)|Sweathog bassist , David L. Johnson and Daniel J. Moore. The master tape s disappeared from the Paramount Recording Studios library, but a copy of some of the mixes made near the time of the recordings was discovered in 1992, which resulted in a Compact disc|CD release.
Booker's performance at the 1975 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival earned him a recording contract with Island Records . His album with Island, Junco Partner , was produced by Joe Boyd , who had previously recorded Booker on sessions for the Muldaurs' records.Allmusic|class=artist|id=p12422/credits|pure_url=yes Allmusic - James Booker credits During 1976, Booker played and concert tour|toured with the Jerry Garcia Band.
Booker recorded a number of albums while touring Europe in 1977, including New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! , which was recorded at his performance in the 'Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Piano Contest' in Zurich , Switzerland This album won the Grand Prix du Disque . He played at the Nice and Montreux Jazz Festival s in 1978. Fourteen years later a recording in Leipzig from this tour would become the last record to be produced in the former East Germany . It was entitled ''Let's Make A Better World! .
From 1977 to 1982 he was the house pianist at the Maple Leaf Bar in the Carrollton, Louisiana|Carrollton neighborhood of uptown New Orleans. Recordings during this time made by John Parsons (musician)|John Parsons were released as Spider on the Keys and Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah . http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php? id=5177 James Booker at All About Jazz
His last commercial audio recording, Classified , was made in 1982 — in four hours according to the producer, Scott Billington . By this time, his physical and mental condition had deteriorated.
At the end of October, 1983, film-maker Jim Gabour captured Booker's final concert performance. The footage from the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans was broadcast on Cox Cable and a six-and-a-half-minute improvisation, "Seagram's Jam," featured on Gabour's film - All Alone with the Blues .
Booker died ten days later, on November 8, 1983, while seated in a wheelchair, waiting to be seen at the emergency room at New Orleans Charity Hospital. The cause of death was renal failure . (Orleans Parish Coroner's Death Certificate). His death was mourned by music lovers, but was unsurprising to those who were aware of his life-long history of serious drug abuse and chronic alcoholism .
Harry Connick Jr. , a student and close friend of Booker, is probably his most renowned disciple. Connick, Henry Butler , and Dr. John, among others, have recorded songs with titles and musical styles referencing Booker.
Transcriptions by JoshuaPaxton of Booker's playing are available in "The James Booker Collection" and "New Orleans Piano Legends", both published by The Hal Leonard Corporation .
Patchwork: A Tribute to James Booker is a 2003 release consisting of a compilation album|compilation of his songs performed by various pianists.
The latest Booker album, released in June 2007, is ''Manchester '77 , which consists of a live performance recorded in October 1977 at The Lake Hotel, Belle Vue, Greater Manchester|Belle Vue , Manchester with Norman Beaker on guitar.
It has been speculated that his song "Gonzo" was the inspiration for the use of the word gonzo journalism|gonzo to describe Hunter S. Thompson 's journalistic style. Citation needed|date=March 2010 A feature-length documentary entitled "Bayou Maharajah" is currently being produced on the life of James Booker, set to be released in Spring 2012.
(Albums listed are with James Booker as main artist. For a complete discography which includes Booker's other album credits, see "External Links".)
References
Ibid|date=May 2010reflist
External links
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi? f=/c/a/2006/04/23/PKGGGI6B3S1.DTL "Booker's Mad Muse", April 23, 2006 at the San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.offbeat.com/artman/publish/article_571.shtml "Booker: A Pianist's Perspective", by Joshua Paxton
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=6877669 "Making The Insipid Sublime", January 17, 2007 at NPR
http://andresschulz.com/web/images/beat-street-01-2004.pdf Beat Street Magazine 2004 James Booker Special
http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_30/rooster.html "Maharajahs in the Mist" from Blues Access Summer, 1997
http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/JamesBooker.htm James Booker Bio from "Blues Notes", February, 2002
http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_scott_billington/ Producer Scott Billington on Booker
http://www.rickieleejones.com/friends/booker.htm Singer Rickie LeeJones on Booker
http://www.wirz.de/music/booker.htm Illustrated James Booker Discography
http://www.thebestofwebsite.com/Bands/Grateful_Dead/Misc/Garcia_Booker.htm Jerry Garcia & James Booker Sessions Info
http://www.harrietblum.com/musicians.html Harriet Blum's Original Booker Photos
http://www.document-records.com/pod/James-Booker-Podcast.mp3 Document Records James Booker Podcast
http://jamesbooker.com/
Persondata | NAME = Booker, James | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = December 17, 1939 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = November 8, 1983 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Booker, James Category:1939 births Category:1983 deaths Category:African American pianists Category:American blues musicians Category:American blues pianists Category:American pianists Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:LGBT African Americans Category:R& B musicians from New Orleans Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Blues musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Rhythm and blues pianists Category:Stride pianists Category:Deaths from renal failure
