New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!

New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!
Live album by
James Booker
Released1981
RecordedNovember 27, 1977,[1] Zurich
GenreBlues, New Orleans rhythm and blues
LabelRounder
James Booker chronology
Junco Partner
(1976) 		New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!
(1981) 		Classified
(1982)

New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! is a live album by the American musician James Booker, released in 1981.[2][3] It is a licensed version of Live!, which was released on the Swiss Gold Records label in 1978.[4]

Production

The album was recorded at the 1977 Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Piano Contest, in Zurich, in front of a raucous crowd.[5][6][7] "Please Send Me Someone to Love" is a cover of the Percy Mayfield song.[8] "Tell Me How Do You Feel" was written by Ray Charles.[9] "Come In My House" is a version of Joe Tex's "Come In This House".[10] "Come Rain or Come Shine" was composed by Harold Arlen.[11] Booker ends "Something Stupid" with a musical passage from the song "Tea for Two".[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All Music Guide to Soul[1]
Robert ChristgauA−[13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[14]
Lincoln Journal Star[15]
Los Angeles Times[16]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide[17]
Oakland Tribune[18]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[19]
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide[12]
Santa Barbara News and Review[20]

The Oakland Tribune called New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! "one of the best blues albums in some time."[18] The News & Observer said that Booker's vocals "are a heavy dose of head tones and Ray Charles-like sanctification".[21] The Los Angeles Times opined that the album was "derivative but earnest", but praised "Black Night" and "Keep On Gwine".[16] The Lincoln Journal Star stated that "the New Orleans rhythm and blues style is distinctively syncopated, and Booker's version is engagingly personal."[15]

The Detroit Free Press noted, "It's true that he'd never make it on his voice alone, but darn in that cracked tenor can't grow on you."[5] The San Francisco Examiner said that Booker "has a stronger harmonic sense than most blues pianists".[22] Robert Christgau wrote that "his arpeggios, harmonies, and insidious timing create an irresistible roller coaster effect".[13]

The album won the Grand Prix du Disque de Jazz.[23] It is included in Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.[24]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
  2. "Black Night"
  3. "Keep On Gwine"
  4. "Come Rain or Come Shine"
  5. "Something Stupid"

Side two

  1. "Please Send Me Someone to Love"
  2. "Tell Me How Do You Feel"
  3. "Let Them Talk"
  4. "Come In My House"

References

  1. ^ a b All Music Guide to Soul. Backbeat Books. 2003. p. 69.
  2. ^ James, Richard (November 29, 1981). "James Booker". Fanfare. The Commercial Appeal. p. 12.
  3. ^ Berry, Jason; Foose, Jonathan; Jones, Tad (1986). Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II. University of Georgia Press. p. 178.
  4. ^ Scott, Frank (1991). The Down Home Guide to the Blues. A Cappella Books. p. 13.
  5. ^ a b Heron, W. Kim (January 17, 1982). "Ragtime: New Orleans boogie-woogie". Detroit Free Press. p. 8C.
  6. ^ Lichtenstein, Grace; Dankner, Laura (1993). Musical Gumbo The Music of New Orleans. W.W. Norton. p. 313.
  7. ^ Hull, Robert A. (June 1982). "Records". Creem. Vol. 14, no. 1. p. 57.
  8. ^ Aregood, Rich (January 22, 1982). "Records". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 40.
  9. ^ White, Jim (February 28, 1982). "The Wizard Reappears". The Pittsburgh Press. Vol. 98, no. 246. p. J7.
  10. ^ Butler, Mike (January 21, 1982). "Album Reviews". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 12.
  11. ^ Robins, Wayne (January 21, 1982). "In Short". Part II. Newsday. p. 47.
  12. ^ a b The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide. Random House. 1999. pp. 82–83.
  13. ^ a b "James Booker". Robert Christgau. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  14. ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 665.
  15. ^ a b Becker, Bart (January 12, 1982). "Matter of record". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 6.
  16. ^ a b Feather, Leonard (January 10, 1982). "Jazz". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 55.
  17. ^ MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide (2nd ed.). Schirmer Trade Books. 2002. p. 45.
  18. ^ a b Kelp, Larry (December 20, 1981). "Records". Oakland Tribune. p. H25.
  19. ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 59.
  20. ^ Drust, G. (February 25, 1982). "Tunes". Santa Barbara News and Review. p. 24.
  21. ^ Cordle, Owen (January 3, 1982). "Off the record". The News & Observer. p. 5V.
  22. ^ Elwood, Philip (January 22, 1982). "New jazz piano albums". San Francisco Examiner. p. E5.
  23. ^ Rubien, David (April 23, 2006). "Selected Discography". Datebook. San Francisco Chronicle. p. 18.
  24. ^ Moon, Tom (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing. p. 104.
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