Muruga Booker
| Muruga Booker | |
|---|---|
Muruga Booker
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Steven Bookvich |
| Born |
27 December 1942 Detroit, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, rock, ambient, freestyle, funk, folk, new-age, techno |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, businessman, Orthodox priest, yoga instructor |
| Instruments | Drums, nada drum, percussion, congas, vocals, guitar, synthesizer |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Labels | Musart, Sagittarius, Qbico, Chesky |
| Associated acts |
Weather Report Paul Winter Consort Peter Gabriel George Clinton Funkadelic Merl Saunders Rainforest Band Jerry Garcia Mickey Hart Bob Dylan Allen Ginsberg Babatunde Olatunji Sikiru Adepoju Tim Hardin Gunter Hampel Mike Hinton John Lee Hooker Al Kooper Bootsy Collins David Peel Brenda Lee Mitch Ryder Ted Nugent Darius Brubeck Dave Brubeck Jim & Jean Perry Robinson Swami Satchidananda |
| Website | Musartco |
| Notable instruments | |
| Nada Drum | |
Muruga Booker (born December 27, 1942) is an American drummer, composer, recording artist, and uncanonical Greek Orthodox priest.
Booker was born Steven Bookvich in Detroit, Michigan on December 27, 1942 at Highland Park General, and is of Serbian descent. His father, Melvin Bookvich, was a shoemaker who played accordion. He has a wife, Shakti; a daughter, Rani; and a son, Aaron, from a previous marriage. Booker and his family moved back to the Detroit area from Oakland, California in 2000 and currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Booker first played the accordion before taking up drums as a pre-teen. He studied drums under Misha Vishkov, a Russian music teacher. He first professionally played drums with "The Low Rocks" in Detroit as Steve Booker. Under that name he also achieved local recognition playing with the "Thunder Rocks" and The Spike Drivers, and was known for his long, driving drum solos. He shared the bill at venues like Detroit's Eastown Theatre and Grande Ballroom with Ted Nugent (2/23/70), Traffic (6/5/70 & 6/6/70), Jack Bruce (2/13/70 & 2/14/70), and others.
At the first , where he played drums with Tim Hardin, along with cellist Richard Bach he met Swami Satchidananda who invited him to visit him at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York, where he gave him the name Muruga. In 1973 - 1974, he performed with Weather Report and appeared on their albums Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveller. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Booker lived in New York City and played with David Peel on "King of Punk" and "Death to Disco" and Peel's Underground Comeback Hit "Junk Rock" (Muruga introduced his "Electric Talking Drum" on this song, production was by Sherwin Winick), then moved back to Detroit in 1980 where he connected with funk legend George Clinton and became an official P-Funk All-Star. His band at that time, Muruga and the Soda Jerks, recorded several albums produced by George Clinton.
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