Customer Reviews

New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love New Orleans jazz, esp. piano songs, you'll love this album. I end up listening to this album almost every day at work -- it's inspirational in the best sense of the word. I bought this CD because I love Prof. Longhair and Dr. John and was looking for new influences; read the above amazon reviews and decided to give it a shot. You should too. James Booker's voice and piano will shake your soul and make you love humanity. It's a feel-good CD, a really-feel-good CD.

One of my favorite recordings. Booker is an outstanding pianist and his singing is both touching and powerful. He thrilled me as he obviously also did the audience present during the recording of this album. I have probably listened more often to this album, than any other in my collection.

This album was recorded at something called the "Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Piano Contest" in Zuerich, Switzerland. What I want to know is, who were the other contestants? James Booker's best album, and probably one of the most soulful and rhythmically exciting albums ever recorded in this genre. Booker was a musical originator, but also famous for his ability to impersonate a wide variety of players. He seems to borrow heavily from Ray Charles at points on this album, but in my opinion he actually surpasses Charles in certain respects. His singing on this album is both bizarre and tortured and soulful, he has a nasal style here that was de rigeur for funk groups such as The Commodores and Cameo. You know what I'm talking about. The whole album is just Booker and his pyrotechnical piano (check out the amazing crescendo on the last track,) and should serve as a reminder that you don't need a big band or fancy production to be funkier than the rest.

James Booker is a gem. This album features some of the most soulful, joyful piano playing and singing ever recorded in this genre. Booker's voice is deep and stirring and his piano is astonishingly free and funky. This is beautiful music, made simply. It will make you want to dance, cry, and start all over again.

i scored this record from the buck bin yesterday. the owner of the shop looked at it like maybe it shouldn't have been in there but sold it to me anyhow. he said i should run home quick and listen to it because james booker is a revelation. right he was - when side one finished i didn't even flip over the record, i just plopped the needle right back at the beginning.

it may just be solo piano and a little singing but the sound is big, beautiful, complex, soulful. one of those rare records that make me kick myself over all the years i spent not listening to it.

James Booker was a prodigy. Being a New Orleans native I've had the good fortune to see and hear most, if not all of the great N.O. piano players live. Not to take anything away from Dr. John (Mac Rebbenack), Proffesor Longhair, Huey Smith, Harry Connick Jr, or Allen Toussaint, because everyone one of the aforementioned names either were, or for the ones still living, great in their own right, but Booker was the KING...Harry Connick Jr's dad, when he was the D.A. in New Orleans, would get Booker out of jail so he could give young Harry piano lessons, and to this day I think Harry Connick Jr will agree with my assessment that James Carrol Booker was the greatest ...Buy any James Booker CD and you won't be disappointed.

This is just flat-out great music. Booker's best recordings are live, so don't opt for the studio. I think the thing that makes this album great, apart from Booker's virtuoso piano playing and deeply soulful and engaging voice, is the audience. Unfortunately, the vast majority of live Booker recordings sound as if they were performed in front of quite small, and at times seemingly disinterested, crowds. In this European recoding the crowd is attentive and appreciative. I find that Booker fed off that and really belted into these particular tracks. Let Them Talk is a virtual tour-de-force of soul music; vocal expression with a rolling, dynamic piano paving the way. This would probably classify as Booker's best recorded performance. A must have for lovers of fine music. Five Stars.

This is my first James Booker CD but it won't be my last. It starts out with Sunny Side of the Street, and if that doesn't get you going or brighten and lighten your day, nothing will. This one gets lots of play time.

This is a fantastic live record by a New Orleans genius- a man with an emotive voice and a stunning way of playing piano. Many people feel that Mr. Booker had four hands, two of which were invisible. Though he was a heroin addict and an open homosexual, his eccentricities simply make him more beloved by the Blues and Jazz community. He studied Classical piano until he was 12 years old, thus accounting for his extremely proficient technical skills. This disc is highly recommended.