Fine arts students welcome jazz singer Oct 16, 2008
I kicked up a friendship with the sensational pianist James Booker, chummed around with Henry Butler, singing tunes at his mothers home while he played the keys. . (Florida Today)
Second line fetes famed photog Michael P. Smith Oct 13, 2008
His photos of Professor Longhair and James Booker are synonymous with the Fest and the New Orleans culture that he loved. Michael Luke. (WWLTV.com, LA)
More of this story Aug 7, 2008
I d include them along with Allen Toussaint and James Booker. They re the real deal. (Newport Daily News, RI)
Blackout battleHow Indonesia is trying to combat its energy shortage Apr 19, 2008
James Booker is a coal-buyer for independent energy company Paiton Energy ... The solution, according to James Booker and others, is to do away with huge government subsidies on electricity and make the consumer pay the market rate for switching on a light, watching TV or powering a factory. (BBC News -- Asia-Pacific)
0bituaries for Sunday, December 2, 2007 Dec 2, 2007
Winona Daily News - 6. Published - Sunday, December 02, 2007. (Winona Daily News, MN)
* By George! That's not world music May 25, 2007
So he went all the way back to the 1920s in search of a purer sound, and found it in the pianists of New Orleans X people like Henry Butler, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Dr John, Allen Toussaint, and Jon Cleary ... "Especially Professor Longhair, the founder of the New Orleans Ro scene in the late 1940s who inspired so many; James Booker, whose language most influences the way I think of playing; and Henry Butler, who is the pianist I have studied the most since 1985. I'm also indebted to... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Harry Connick, Jr. ~ 'My New Orleans' coming to McCallum May 11, 2007
His early talent was shaped by study with such luminaries as James Booker and Ellis Marsalis, and he was but five years old when he began performing. He appeared on his first jazz recording at age ten, and left New Orleans for the Big Apple at 18. (Desert Entertainer, CA)
He's got rhythm. And for someone his age, plenty of soul, too. Apr 12, 2007
The other pianists he most admires are Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, the late New Orleans musician James Booker and Herbie Hancock, now at the top of Reider's list. "I was into Chick for a really long time, but in the last few years I started to really get back into Herbie,'' he says. "There's no one that really tells a story like he does. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Connick Performs Musical Comedy Hour Feb 25, 2007
" "Let Them Talk," which Connick performed on the Hammond organ, was a tribute to the great New Orleans musician James Booker, and Connick saluted Louis Armstrong with a swinging "Hello, Dolly. " Lucien Barbarin added some growling trombone to the intro of "Basin Street Blues" and capped "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" with a tender solo. The only serious moments were during Connick's composition "All These People," in which he recounted visiting the New Orleans Convention Center... (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
Music Review: Harry Connick, Jr. Feb 1, 2007
Connick's own funky "Do Dat Thing" pays tribute to departed New Orleans musical legends from Al Hirt to James Booker, while his title track in a traditional New Orleans jazz style honors the city's living legacy by bringing in veteran and young New Orleans musicians. Connick's optimistic spirit finds expression in an old Allen Toussaint song "Yes We Can" which could serve as a theme song for the city's recovery. (The Advocate)
