Thanks to you, our July shoot went fantastic! We had the opportunity to interview Reggie Scanlan & James Singleton- both bass players- and Johnny Vidacovich, a drummer who played with Booker. We also interviewed Antoine Domino, III a piano player who played on Toulouse St right next to the Toulouse Theatre. He also happens to be Fats Domino's son, and talked about Booker playing on his daddy's albums.

A schoolmate of Booker's recounted how, even as a young child, Booker had a bright light in him- not only did he make everyone in class smile, but he could charm the nuns, too. Now that's a feat!

Harry Connick Sr, the former DA of New Orleans, shared his first memories of Booker- though he'd seen him play around town for years, once Connick was elected DA, Booker came to his office and declared that he wanted to write Connick's biography. Ha! [note- I've heard various rumors that Booker was writing his auto-biography. If anyone has any leads on that, let me know!]

We also interviewed Vernel Bagneris, the playwright of One Mo' Time and theatre manager at the time Booker was playing the Toulouse Theatre. In addition to being articulate and witty (he is a playwright, after all. I guess it comes with the territory.), Vernel gave us a wonderful description of what the French Quarter was like in those days, and placed Booker in a chronological continuum of the African-American musical and cultural evolution in the 20th century. I could have listened to him talk forever..

So now I have the long task of sorting through all the interviews and footage we've captured in the past couple weeks and making sense of it all. My hope is to cut together some highlights from some of the interviews and put them on JamesBooker.com for yall to see. Guess we all know what I'll be doing for summer vacation!

As this round of Kickstarter fundraising wraps up, I just want to say THANK YOU again to all you generous supporters, and I wanted to give some updates on the project:
I've just wrapped up 2 and a half very successful days of shooting. We caught Dr. John just before he left for tour, and he shared some fond and heartfelt recollections of Booker. My favorite quote from his interview is: "I miss Booker a lot. But what I miss most is how *aggravating* he could be." (maybe this isn't funny out of context, but I guarantee it's funny how he said it.)
Yesterday we had a small marathon of piano interviews. Ronald Markham schooled me on the influence of the blues and the church in Booker's playing, Joshua Paxton shared some direct examples of the influence of Booker's classical training, and Tom McDermott broke down several of Booker's distinct playing styles (plus much, much more).
And today- whew*, what a day!- too many interview to even go into!

And thanks to each and every one of you, I'll be able to conduct even more interviews of this sort throughout July. Several people couldn't make it today, so I'll catch them then. Your contributions will enable me to record: Harry Connick Sr, Doug Jackson, Antoine Domino Jr, and many, many more.

If you would like to continue to get updates on how Bayou Maharajah is coming along, email me at lkeber@gmail.com or become a fan of Bayou Maharajah on Facebook.

Thank you!
Lily

Also, does anyone else think it's weird that the day I reached my target goal I have 13 backers with 13 days to go? And if you add up the digits of how much I currently have pledged ($1,660), that they equal 13?

Not that I'm superstitious or anything.. I'm just saying..

Lily

Greetings to all my lovely backers-

Thanks to each of you, we made our $1500 goal!

I've already begun getting the silkscreens ready so I can get your notebooks and posters out as quickly as possible. Once the Kickstarter campaign is done (July 1), I'll send out an email getting each of yall's address.

I'm attaching a photo of the last piano Booker owned. It's a tiny little thing, almost a child's piano (and thus even more amazing that he could get as much sound out of it as he did!). I got the piano repairman out yesterday to diagnose it, and it's actually going to be $500, not the $300 I'd budgeted for. So keep spreading the word and telling your friends about the Kickstarter! If we can get up to $1700, that'll cover these additional piano expenses.

And any spill-over after that will go towards my next shoot! I've been talking with Dave Johnson, the bass player and co-producer on the AMAZING Lost Paramount Tapes album. He's got some really unique insight into Booker's psyche, and will be a great addition to the film. However, he lives in Colorado, and I'll need to pay to get him down here. Any additional money raised after the piano repair will go straight to Dave's airfare.

Thank you again! Spread the word (and if you're on Facebook, become a fan of Bayou Maharajah. It'll be the best way to stay in the loop.)

Lily

Great news everybody! The line up for June has been announced! This month I'll be interviewing:

Harry Connick Sr.- Former New Orleans District Attorney. Friend of Booker.
Ronald Markum- Wonderful local piano player. CEO for New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
Jim Scheurich- Good friend of Booker
Anne Scheurich- Good friend of Booker
Jack Cruz- One of the many great bass players for James Booker
Doug Jackson- Sound guy for Toulouse Theatre (& now Deacon John)

The July interviews (which these Kickstarter funds will be used for) are still in the works. As soon as a couple more people confirm their availability, you'll be the first to know.

And more good news: We've just past the 75% mark, with 20 days left to go!