Jazz, soul & blues
Champion Jack Dupree
Champion Jack Dupree (1910-1992), a New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie pianist, a former professional boxer — hence his nickname — was one of those barrelhouse “professors” who bridged the blues and Europe, where he settled.
Champion Jack Dupree: Blues at Montreux
17 June 1971: with King Curtis
On 17 June 1971, at the Casino de Montreux, Champion Jack Dupree shared the stage with saxophonist King Curtis, backed by Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums. The concert was released in 1973 as “Blues at Montreux”, on Atlantic.
The evening has a particular taste: less than two months later, on 13 August 1971, King Curtis was murdered in New York. Those few Montreux minutes are among his last recordings, alongside a pianist who came straight from the barrelhouses of New Orleans.
July 1970: at the stove
A year before the record with King Curtis, Champion Jack Dupree was already in Montreux — but not only on stage. In July 1970 he ran a stand of New Orleans specialities at the festival: his contract, so the story goes, stipulated that he would cook or play depending on the audience’s appetite. A brilliant musician and an excellent cook, he embodied on his own the easy-going spirit of the early editions (RTS).