Statesman of the Piano
Jazz, Race, and History in the Life of Lou Hooper
The previously unpublished autobiography of a Canadian-born pianist who played with many of the twentieth century’s jazz and blues greats in Detroit, Harlem, and Montreal.
Description
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 1930s.
Prolific and influential, Hooper was an early teacher of Oscar Peterson and deeply involved in the jazz community in Montreal. When the Second World War broke out he joined the Canadian Armed Forces and entertained the troops in Europe. Near the end of his life Hooper came to prominence for his exceptional career and place in the history of jazz, inspiring an autobiography that was never published. Statesman of the Piano makes this document widely available for the first time and includes photographs, concert programs, lyrics, and other documents to reconstruct his life and times. Historians, archivists, musicians, and cultural critics provide annotations and commentary, examining some of the themes that emerge from Hooper’s writing and music.
Statesman of the Piano sparks new conversations about Hooper’s legacy while shedding 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.
Reviews
“Statesman of the Piano provides a fascinating lens, one that corroborates current research and adds new detail and insights. Hooper’s story shows how a Canadian-born Black man was able to thrive in Jim Crow America. Moreover, the breakdown of black nightclubs/venues in the forties and fifties in southwest Montreal brings a new punctuation to the city’s jazz history.” Dorothy W. Williams, author of Blacks in Montreal, 1628–1986: An Urban Demography
“Primary sources for the history of jazz, particularly in Canada, are few and far between and Statesman of the Piano is a welcome and meaningful contribution. Hooper’s autobiography contains much to savour, and the editors are to be commended for presenting his work to a wider audience. Their introduction – thoughtful, illuminating, and comprehensive – provides an inviting basis from which to follow Hooper’s story.” Rob van der Bliek, editor of The Thelonious Monk Reader