Booker was among the greatest pianists New Orleans ever produced -- and that's saying something. His idiosyncratic style was a crazed mix of rhuma, funk, bebop, classical and anything else that slipped into his cranium. He was also a spectacularly twisted individual, a plot point that shines through loud and clear on this stunningly good solo set recorded throughout 1977 at the Maple Leaf, the still-standing bar where the criminally under-recorded Booker performed. In a two-disc set packed with jaw-dropping displays of Booker's surreal way with a keyboard(Chopin into standards into blues into bebop in a single song), a 10-minute reading of "Classified" takes the crab cake. Here, after just part of his supremely funky showpiece, Booker decides to sermonize, stopping just short of lapsing into tongues in a head-on collision of genius and madness that will leave you reeling. Other reasons to seek out this treasure include two versions of Allen Toussaint's gorgeous "Life," a couple of great takes of "Junko Partner" and Booker's own "Papa Was a Rascal."
- Daily News by Fre Shuster