Beryl Booker
{{Short description|American swing pianist}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Beryl Booker
| image = Beryl Booker.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date text|June 7, 1922}}
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| origin =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1978|9|30|1922|6|7}}
| death_place =
| genre = Swing
Post bop
Cool jazz
| occupation = Musician
| instrument = Piano
| years_active =
| label =
| past_member_of = Slam Stewart
| website =
}}
Beryl Booker (June 7, 1922 – September 30, 1978) was an American swing pianist. She was born in Philadelphia.
Career
Booker performed with Slam Stewart's trio in 1946, and played intermittently with him until 1951. She was Dinah Washington accompanist for a period. In 1951, she became part of the newly formed Austin Powell Quintet (consisting of former Cats and the Fiddle members Doris Knighton, Johnny Davis and Stanley Gaines, and also Dottie Smith) which recorded one Decca single entitled "All This Can't Be True" before disbanding.Warner, Jay. American Singing Groups: A History From 1940 To Today. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006; {{ISBN|0634099787}}, 9780634099, p. 17
=Beginning her own combo=
In early 1952, Booker led a quintet which played Birdland, featuring Don Elliot, Chuck Wayne, Clyde Lombardi and Connie Kay. Recordings with Miles Davis sitting in on the group have been preserved.Schenker, Anatol. Chronological Classics: 1946-1952. Liner Notes In 1953, she formed her own trio with Bonnie Wetzel and Elaine Leighton (de) (nl) (1926–1912). This group toured Europe in 1954 as part of a show entitled "Jazz Club USA", which featured Billie Holiday. After another stint with Dinah Washington in 1959, she slipped into obscurity.
=Later career=
In the 1970s, she continued to perform and record with small groups.Dahl, Linda. Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen. London 1984; {{ISBN|0-7043-2477-6}}, p. 76. Philadelphia writer Thom Nickels, who knew Booker in the 1970s, nominated her several times for Philadelphia's Walk of Fame on Broad Street. The project to get Booker on the Walk of Fame remains in progress.
Discography
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Dahl,|1989|pp=76, 92}} |last1=Dahl |first1=Linda (born 1949) |date=1989 |orig-date=1984 |title=Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen |url={{GBurl|Sq4eXS-IbngC|p=76 |dq="elaine leighton"}} |publisher= |pages=76, 92|via=Google Books (limited preview) }} {{LCCN|83019456}}, {{LCCN|8912352}}; {{ISBN|0-8791-0128-8|978-0-8791-0128-2}}; {{OCLC|19888394|show=all}}.
{{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|"New Jersey Death Index," May 13,|2012}} |date=2016 |title="New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848–1878, 1901–2017" |type=Elaine Leighton → Date of birth: 22 May 1926 → Place of birth: New York City → Date of death: 13 May 2012 → Place of death: New Jersey |location=Lehi, Utah |via=Ancestry.com }}
}}
External links
- [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6152|pure_url=yes}} Beryl Booker at Allmusic]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booker, Beryl}}
Category:American women jazz pianists
Category:Musicians from Philadelphia
Category:20th-century American women pianists
Category:20th-century American pianists
Category:Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania
Category:Uptown Records (jazz) albums
Category:EmArcy Records artists
Category:Discovery Records artists
Category:Cadence Records artists
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