Bman's Blues Report

I just received the new release (October 15, 2013) from James Booker and it's a total dictionary on New Orleans piano. Opening with title track, Classified , Booker hammers out a rhythmic chant on the piano clearing the path for the real authentic New Orleans vocal melody. On regional soul track If You're Lonely , Booker really shines on vocals and plays with church like accuracy on piano. Alvin "Red" Tyler is outstanding on sax on this track. On previously unreleased classically structured track Warsaw Concerto , Booker shows another side of his feel for the piano. Really interesting. Back to the bar room with Lawdy Miss Clawdy falls right into the heart of Bookers strength and this Lloyd Price track is a gem. On bayou/latino medley, Tico Tico/ Papa Was A Rascal/So Swell When You're Well Booker rattles the keys in traditional New Orleans style with compliments from Tyler. One of my favorites is a cool rendition of All Around The World (Grits Ain't Gro...

  JAMES BOOKER’S  CLASSIFIED: REMIXED AND EXPANDED  PROVIDES DEFINITIVE GLIMPSE  OF NEW ORLEANS PIANO LEGEND’S LATER CAREER Package, available as CD and double-LP vinyl on Rounder Records on October 15, coincides with festival screenings of  Lily Keber’s film                                  Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker NEW ORLEANS, La. —  The Bayou Maharajah. The Piano Pope. The Ivory Emperor. The Bronze Liberace. Music Magnifico. Gonzo. The Piano Prince of New Orleans.   James Booker  coined more than a few extravagant nicknames for himself, and he lived up to every one of them. James Carroll Booker III was also an unheralded genius of American music, a New Orleans pianist whose dizzying technique and mastery of the keyboard...

James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was a New Orleans rhythm and blues musician born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Booker's unique style combined rhythm and blues with jazz standards. 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. 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. Booker was highly skilled in classical music and played Bach and Chopin, among other composers. He also mastered and memorized solos by Erroll Garner, and Liberace. His thorough background in piano literature may have enabl...

James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 - November 8, 1983) was a jazz, New Orleans rhythm and blues and soul musician born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. 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. 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. Booker was highly skilled in classical music and played Bach and 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 othe...