Pianist Sammy Price, the "King of Boogie Woogie" who toured from Dallas to Paris and jammed with jazz giants Lester Young and King Curtis during a seven-decade career, has died. He was 83.
Price, a fixture in his Harlem neighborhood for the past 50 years, died at his home, said his daughter, Sharon Mack. The pianist had remained active almost until his death, headlining a Carnegie Hall show just last year at the JVC Jazz Festival.Price was born in 1908 in Honey Grove, Texas, and began studying the piano under Portia Pittman, the daughter of famed educator Booker T. Washington. By the time he was 18, he was leading his own band in Dallas.
During the early 1930s, he set up shop in Kansas City. "There was no Depression for the gangsters," Price once said, referring to his days playing piano in mob-run speakeasies.
Price eventually settled into the New York club scene, popping up at different spots around town with his unique blend of blues and boogie woogie playing.