Statesman of the Piano: Jazz, Race, and History in the Life of Lou Hooper

Ontario-born jazz pianist Lou Hooper (1894-1977) began his professional career in Detroit, accompanying blues singers such as Ma Rainey at the legendary Koppin Theatre. In 1921 he moved to Harlem, performing alongside Paul Robeson and recording extensively in and around Tin Pan Alley, before moving to Montreal in the 1933. In Montreal he joined Myron Sutton's Canadian Ambassadors, an all-black dance band active in Quebec and Ontario. Hooper formed and conducted a male choir, the Hooper Southern Singers, in concerts and on CKAC radio. He also played in local dance and jazz bands and taught piano. Oscar Peterson was one of his pupils. After a term in Europe during the Second World War with the Royal Canadian Artillery in which he served mainly as a pianist and entertainer in charge of Canadian concert parties, Hooper returned to Montreal, playing and teaching in increasing obscurity. In 1962 he was rediscovered by Montreal jazz enthusiasts and subsequently celebrated as a surviving link to the early history of recorded jazz. He was honored by the International Association of Record Collectors in 1973 and by the Canadian Congress of Collectors in 1977. This book is Harper's autobiography that, until now, was never published and sheds light on the cross-border travels and wartime experiences of Black musicians, the politics of archiving and curating, and the connections between race and music in the twentieth century.

Montreal and Kingston

McGill-Queen's University Press

2023

xviii-262p.

en

978-0-228-01880-3