Walter Booker
Encyclopedia
Walter Booker was an American jazz musician
. A native of Prairie View, Texas
, Booker was a reliable bass
player and an underrated stylist. His playing was marked by voice-like inflections, glissando
s and tremolo
techniques.
in the mid 1940s. He played clarinet
and alto sax in college with a concert band. In 1959 he began on bass while in the US Army, serving side-by-side in the same unit with Elvis Presley
. He worked with Andrew White
in Washington after his discharge, playing in the JFK Quintet during the early 1960s.
In 1964 Booker moved to New York City
, being hired by Donald Byrd
. After that, he recorded and toured with Ray Bryant
, Betty Carter
, Chick Corea
, Stan Getz
, Art Farmer
, Milt Jackson
, Thelonious Monk
and Sonny Rollins
, before joining the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1969, starting an association which lasted until Adderley's death in 1975. His next work was to tour the United States
with the Shirley Horn Trio
, along with Billy Hart
on drums
. During the same time, Booker designed, built, and ran the Boogie Woogie Studio in NYC, a mecca for musicians from all over the world, and through the 1980s, he played and recorded with Nat Adderley
, Nick Brignola
, Arnett Cobb
, Richie Cole
, John Hicks
, Billy Higgins
, Clifford Jordan
, Pharoah Sanders
, Sarah Vaughan
, and Phil Woods
.
Booker was married to the pianist
Bertha Hope with whom he played in a trio that included drummer Jimmy Cobb
. In addition to his own quintet, he also formed Elmollenium, based on the same core group as the Quintet (plus Bertha Hope) and dedicated to playing the music of Elmo Hope
.
Booker died at his Manhattan, New York home at the age of 72.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. A native of Prairie View, Texas
Prairie View, Texas
Prairie View is a city in Waller County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,410 at the 2000 census.Prairie View A&M University is located in the city.-Geography:Prairie View is located at ....
, Booker was a reliable bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
player and an underrated stylist. His playing was marked by voice-like inflections, glissando
Glissando
In music, a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, to glide. In some contexts it is distinguished from the continuous portamento...
s and tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
techniques.
Biography
Booker moved with his family to Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in the mid 1940s. He played clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and alto sax in college with a concert band. In 1959 he began on bass while in the US Army, serving side-by-side in the same unit with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. He worked with Andrew White
Andrew White (saxophonist)
Andrew White is an American jazz/R'n'B multi-instrumentalist , musicologist and publisher.-Biography:...
in Washington after his discharge, playing in the JFK Quintet during the early 1960s.
In 1964 Booker moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, being hired by Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
. After that, he recorded and toured with Ray Bryant
Ray Bryant
Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant was an American Jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ray Bryant began playing the piano at the age of six, also performing on bass in junior High School...
, Betty Carter
Betty Carter
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
, Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Art Farmer
Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
, Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
and Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, before joining the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1969, starting an association which lasted until Adderley's death in 1975. His next work was to tour the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with the Shirley Horn Trio
Shirley Horn
Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music...
, along with Billy Hart
Billy Hart
William "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...
on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. During the same time, Booker designed, built, and ran the Boogie Woogie Studio in NYC, a mecca for musicians from all over the world, and through the 1980s, he played and recorded with Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
, Nick Brignola
Nick Brignola
-Biography:He was born on July 17, 1936 in Troy, New York. Nick was born into a musical family in which his father played the tuba and his uncle played the banjo. As a mostly self-taught musician, he developed his facility on all of his instruments using unconventional techniques, which gave his...
, Arnett Cobb
Arnett Cobb
Arnett Cobb was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Cobb was born Arnette Cleophus Cobbs in Houston, Texas. His musical career began with the local bands of Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942...
, Richie Cole
Richie Cole (musician)
Richie Cole is a jazz alto saxophonist composer and arranger born in Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. and is a graduate of Ewing High School, Ewing New Jersey....
, John Hicks
John Hicks (jazz pianist)
John Josephus Hicks, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, active in the New York and the international jazz scene from the mid-1960s.-Biography:...
, Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
, Clifford Jordan
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
, Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, and Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
.
Booker was married to the pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Bertha Hope with whom he played in a trio that included drummer Jimmy Cobb
Jimmy Cobb
-External links:* - includes full discography* * * * * * *...
. In addition to his own quintet, he also formed Elmollenium, based on the same core group as the Quintet (plus Bertha Hope) and dedicated to playing the music of Elmo Hope
Elmo Hope
St. Elmo Sylvester Hope was an American jazz pianist, performing chiefly in the bop and hard bop genres. His highly individual piano-playing and, especially, his compositions have led a few enthusiasts and critics such as David Rosenthal to place him alongside his contemporaries Bud Powell and...
.
Booker died at his Manhattan, New York home at the age of 72.
As leader
- 2000: Bookie's Cookbook (with Leroy WilliamsLeroy WilliamsLeroy Williams is an American jazz drummer.Williams first began playing drums as a teenager in the 1950s. From 1959 to the middle of the 1960s he played with Judy Roberts, and following this he moved to New York City and played with Booker Ervin in 1967...
, Cecil PayneCecil PayneCecil Payne was a jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute...
, Marcus BelgraveMarcus BelgraveMarcus Belgrave is a jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has recorded with a variety of famous musicians, bandleaders, and record labels since the 1950s. Notable among them are: Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Gunther Schuller, Motown Records, Tribe Records, Blue Note...
, Roni Ben-HurRoni Ben-HurRoni Ben-Hur is a Tunisian-Israeli bebop jazz guitarist who emigrated to the United States in 1985. His third CD, Anna's Dance, was rated by The Village Voice as one of the best jazz CDs of 2001...
, Larry WillisLarry WillisLawrence Elliott Willis is an American jazz pianist and composer. He has performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion rock music, Bebop and Avant-Garde...
)
As sideman
- Cannonball Adderley: Country PreacherCountry PreacherCountry Preacher is a live album recorded by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in 1969.Recorded at an unidentified church meeting of the Chicago chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket, the album spent two months in the Cash Box R&B charts in 1970.Described by...
, Inside StraightInside Straight (album)Inside Straight is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in 1973 featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet with Nat Adderley, Hal Galper, Walter Booker and Roy McCurdy with guest percussionist King Errisson...
(OJC, 1973), PhenixPhenix (album)Phenix is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in 1975 featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet with Nat Adderley, Michael Wolff, Walter Booker and Roy McCurdy with guest percussionist Airto Moreira and sessions featuring past...
(Fantasy, 1975) - Nat AdderleyNat AdderleyNathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
: We Remember Cannon (I+O), On the Move (Evidence, 83), Blue Autumn (Ev., 1983), Mercy Mercy Mercy (Ev.) - Kenny BarronKenny BarronKenny Barron , is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.-Biography:...
: Kenny Barron / John Hicks Quartet - Rhymthm-A-Ning (Candid, 1989) - Donald ByrdDonald ByrdDonaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
: Mustang!Mustang! (Donald Byrd album)Mustang! is an album by American trumpeter Donald Byrd featuring performances by Byrd with Sonny Red, Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Walter Booker, and Freddie Waits recorded in 1966 and released on the Blue Note label in 1965 as BLP 4238...
(Blue Note, 1966) Blackjack (Blue Note, 1963–67) - Stanley CowellStanley CowellStanley Cowell is an American jazz pianist and founder of the Strata-East Records label. He played with Roland Kirk while studying at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and later with Marion Brown, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Clifford Jordan, Harold Land, Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz...
: Departure No. 2 (Steeplechase, 1990) - Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
: What The World Needs Now - Plays Bacharach and David (Verve, 1967) - Roy HargroveRoy HargroveRoy Anthony Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter. He won worldwide notice after winning two Grammy Awards for differing types of music, in 1997, and in 2002...
: Family (Verve, 1995) - Andrew HillAndrew HillAndrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...
: ChangeChange (Andrew Hill album)Change is an album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill featuring performances recorded and scheduled for release in 1966 on the Blue Note label...
(Blue Note, 1966 [2007]) - John HicksJohn Hicks (jazz pianist)John Josephus Hicks, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, active in the New York and the international jazz scene from the mid-1960s.-Biography:...
: Inc. 1 (DIW, 1985) - Clifford JordanClifford JordanClifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
: Repetition (Soul Note, 1984) - Lee MorganLee MorganEdward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
: The ProcrastinatorThe ProcrastinatorThe Procrastinator is an album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on July 14, 1967 and features performances by Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins.-Reception:...
(Blue Note, 1967) - Archie SheppArchie SheppArchie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
: The Way AheadThe Way Ahead (album)The Way Ahead is an album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! Records in 1968. The album contains tracks recorded by Shepp, Jimmy Owens, Grachan Moncur III, Walter Davis Jr., Ron Carter, Roy Haynes and Beaver Harris in January 1968 with two additional tracks featuring Charles Davis, Dave Burrell...
(Impulse!, 1968) - Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
: Super NovaSuper Nova (Wayne Shorter album)-Track listing:All compositions by Wayne Shorter except as indicated.# "Supernova" - 4:52# "Sweet Pea" - 4:36# "Dindi" - 9:35# "Water Babies" - 4:53# "Capricorn" - 7:47# "More Than Human" - 6:12...
(Blue Note, 1969) - Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
: Zawinul (Atlantic, 1970) - Pete La RocaPete La RocaPete La Roca is an American jazz drummer. He adopted the name La Roca early in his musical career when he was a timbales player in Latin bands....
- Turkish Women at the Bath (1967)