Documentary about incredible boogie-woogie piano player James Booker

One of my first posts to the Boing Boing blog, back in 2001, was about the incredible (and incredibly eccentric) boogie-woogie piano player James Booker (1939-1983). Dr. John once described Booker as “the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced.” I’m crazy excited to check out this new feature documentary film about Booker titled “Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker.” Its official world premier is next month at SXSW but I hope to catch it this Friday night as part of San Francisco’s Noise Pop festival!

And if you’re not hip to Booker, I highly recommend starting with his live recording “Spiders on the Keys.”