Biography
Walter Booker earned recognition less for showmanship than for his dependability as a bassist and his underappreciated sense of style. A full-bodied tone combined with sure execution in the instrument’s upper range revealed his command of both older and newer methods, while his solo work with the bow also ranked above most contemporaries. In college he performed on clarinet and alto saxophone in a concert band; only during military service did he switch to bass. After his discharge he joined Andrew White in Washington, D.C., appearing with the JFK Quintet in the early 1960s. The rest of that decade found him alongside Donald Byrd, Sonny Rollins, Ray Bryant, Art Farmer, Milt Jackson, and Chick Corea before he entered Cannonball Adderley’s group. He remained with Adderley from the late 1960s until the leader’s death in 1975, taking part in constant touring and recording. Later associations and sessions included Betty Carter, Nick Brignola, Billy Higgins, Richie Cole, Phil Woods, John Hicks, Pharoah Sanders, Nat Adderley, Arnett Cobb, and Clifford Jordan. Booker directed the Walter Booker Quintet on the 2000 Mapleshade album Bookie's Cookbook, and his work continues to appear on digital reissues by Adderley, Sanders, Jordan, and numerous others.
Albums
