Bertha Hope-Booker ( Rosemond; born November 8, 1936,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) is an American jazz pianist and jazz educator. She is the widow of fellow pianist

Elmo Hope St. Elmo Sylvester Hope (June 27, 1923 – May 19, 1967) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, chiefly in the bebop and hard bop genres. He grew up playing and listening to jazz and classical music with Bud Powell, and both were ...

, with whom she collaborated. She has toured Europe and Japan and played with a diverse group of artists. In the 1990s, she had her first CDs as a leader and additionally worked with her second husband, bassist

Walter Booker Walter Booker (December 17, 1933 – November 24, 2006) was an American jazz musician. A native of Prairie View, Texas, Booker was a reliable bass player and an underrated stylist. His playing was marked by voice-like inflections, glissandos and ...

.Leslie Gourse, ''Madame Jazz''
Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 165. Retrieved November 16, 2013.

Biography

Hope-Booker was born in Los Angeles in 1936. Both of her parents worked in the entertainment industry. Her mother, Corinne Meaux Rosemond, worked as a chorus line dancer and her father, Clinton Rosemond, was a stage manager and singer who had worked with

Mabel Mercer Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984) was an English-born cabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats in jazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop in Paris, owned ...

and

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...

. She began studying classical piano with her parents at the age of three. Her interested in jazz came from listening to

Shelly Manne Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, ...

Shorty Rogers Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arra ...

and, most importantly,

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...

. Seeing Powell play at

the Haig The Haig Dinners was a jazz club located at 638 South Kenmore Avenue in the Wilshire Distric, Los Angeles, California. Along with the Tiffany Club it was one of Los Angeles's premier jazz venues in the 1950s and strongly associated with West Co ...

in the early 1950s influenced Hope-Booker's decision to play jazz herself. Hope-Booker attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

where she befriended

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...

. Dolphy introduced her to

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

and

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car crash, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Sprin ...

. Hope-Booker was encouraged to play by musicians such as

Les McCann Leslie Coleman McCann (September 23, 1935 – December 29, 2023) was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. He is known for his innovations in soul jazz and his Swiss Movement, 1969 recording of the protest song "Compared to What". His music ha ...

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone ...

and

Vi Redd Elvira Louise Redd (September 20, 1928 – February 6, 2022) was an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She was active from the early 1950s and was known primarily for playing in the blues style. She was highly regarded a ...

. For six months, Hope-Booker studied piano under

Richie Powell Richard Powell (September 5, 1931 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was not assisted in his musical development by Bud, his older and better known brother, but both played predominantly in the bebop style. ...

. Hope-Booker started playing professionally in Johnny Otis's band as well as local trios. In 1958, Hope-Booker met

who was touring with

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

. Hope-Booker married Elmo in 1960 and the following year they moved to New York City. Together they recorded an album, ''Hope-Full'', for Riverside which featured Hope-Booker on three songs. After Elmo's death in 1967, Hope-Booker gave up her music career despite being offered a place in Art Blakey's band.

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader

As sidewoman

References

External links

Hope's biography on the History Makers Project
1936 births American jazz pianists Living people Jazz musicians from Los Angeles 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists {{US-jazz-pianist-stub