Booker T. Jones performs at Stax, ahead of milestone
A performance by master keyboardist Booker T
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Wearing a blue suit, black hat and multi-colored socks, master keyboardist Booker T. Jones leaned away from the Hammond B3 organ, tilted back his head and worked the keys and foot pedals as he played the funky and familiar hit “Green Onions” for a head-bobbing, toe-tapping crowd at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
The intimate performance by Jones and a tight backup band Wednesday was part of an event at the Memphis, Tennessee, museum that previewed its year-long 20th anniversary celebration planned for 2023.
Built on the site of the former Stax Records, the museum celebrates the influential soul music born from the studio where Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and others recorded some of American popular music’s most memorable songs.
“Right here in this space, you are on hallowed ground,” said Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, which oversees the museum.
