James Booker
Certainly one of the most flamboyant New Orleans pianists in recent memory, James Carroll Booker III was a major influence on the local rhythm & blues scene in the '50s and '60s. Booker's training included classical instruction until age 12, by which time he had already begun to gain recognition as a blues and gospel organist on radio station WMRY every Sunday. By the time he was out of high school he had recorded on several occasions, including his own first release, "Doing the Hambone," in 1953. In 1960, he made the national charts with "Gonzo," an organ instrumental, and over the course of the next two decades played and recorded with artists as varied as Lloyd Price, Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, the Doobie Brothers, and B.B. King. In 1967, he was convicted of possession of heroin and served a one-year sentence at Angola Penitentiary (referred to as the "Ponderosa"), which took the momentum out of an otherwise promising career. The rediscovery of "roots" music by college students during the '70s (focusing primarily on "Fess" by Professor Longhair) provided the opportunity for a comeback by 1974, with numerous engagements at local clubs like Tipitina's, The Maple Leaf, and Snug Harbor. As with "Fess," Booker's performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals took on the trappings of legendary "happenings," and he often spent his festival earnings to arrive in style, pulling up to the stage in a rented Rolls Royce and attired in costumes befitting the "Piano Prince of New Orleans," complete with a cape. Such performances tended to be unpredictable: he might easily plant some Chopin into a blues tune or launch into a jeremiad on the CIA with all the fervor of a "Reverend Ike-meets-Moms Mabley" tag-team match.
Booker's left hand was simply phenomenal, often a problem for bass players who found themselves running for cover in an attempt to stay out of the way; with it he successfully amalgamated the jazz and rhythm & blues idioms of New Orleans, adding more than a touch of gospel thrown in for good measure. His playing was also highly improvisational, reinventing a progression (usually his own) so that a single piece would evolve into a medley of itself. In addition, he had a plaintive and seering vocal style which was equally comfortable with gospel, jazz standards, blues, or popular songs. Despite his personal eccentricities, Booker had the respect of New Orleans' best musicians, and elements of his influence are still very much apparent in the playing of pianists like Henry Butler and Harry Connick, Jr.
© Bruce Boyd Raeburn /TiVo
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The Lost Paramount Tapes
Blues - Pubblicato da DJM Records il 11 mar 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Classified (Remixed & Expanded Edition)
Blues - Pubblicato da Rounder Records il 1 gen 1982
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True (Live At Tipitina's - 04/25/78)
James Booker, Tipitina’s Record Club
Jazz - Pubblicato da 501 RECORD CLUB il 3 dic 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spiders On The Keys (Live At The Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, LA / 1977-1982)
Jazz - Pubblicato da Rounder il 15 set 1993
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Resurrection Of The Bayou Maharajah (Live At The Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, LA / 1977-1982)
Jazz - Pubblicato da Rounder il 22 lug 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1976, Vol. 1 (Live)
Jazz - Pubblicato da Jazzline il 1 mar 1976
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Make a Better World! Live in Leipzig
Blues - Pubblicato da Black Sun Music il 1 gen 1991
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United, Our Thing Will Stand: Live At Tipitina's 1976 (Live)
Soul - Pubblicato da Night Train International il 1 gen 1999
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The Piano Prince of New Orleans
Blues - Pubblicato da Black Sun Music il 1 gen 1976
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King Of The New Orleans Keyboard
Blues - Pubblicato da jsp il 1 mar 2012
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James Booker: Manchester '77
Blues - Pubblicato da Document Records il 1 giu 2006
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A Taste of Honey: Live In New Orleans, 1977
Soul - Pubblicato da Night Train International il 1 gen 2000
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Blues & Ragtime from New Orleans
Blues - Pubblicato da Black Sun Music il 1 gen 1976
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Gonzo: More Than All The 45's
Soul - Pubblicato da Night Train International il 1 gen 1996
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The Ivory Emperor
R&B - Pubblicato da Mojo Workin' il 10 feb 2022
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Nightingale
Jazz - Pubblicato da oldies and hits for future il 28 mag 2019
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Gonzo (Billboard Hot 100 - No 43)
R&B - Pubblicato da Music Manager il 5 nov 2020
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Under The Christmas Tree
Jazz - Pubblicato da The Christmas Tree il 24 nov 2021
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Sound and Vision
Jazz - Pubblicato da the sound girly il 13 dic 2014
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