Muruga Booker

Cynthia Robinson
February 4, 2013
John Brumbach
February 5, 2013
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Muruga Booker

Through the 1960s, as Steve Booker, Muruga recorded with Jim and Jean on “Changes” in 1964, and on “People World” in 1966. He appeared on the Paul Winter Consort’s “Something in the Wind,” and recorded a meditation record with Swami Satchidananda in 1969. During the 1970s he recorded with Darius Brubeck, Gunter Hampel, Al Kooper, Ursa Major, and with Weather Report on their albums “Sweetnighter” in 1973 and “Mysterious Traveler” in 1974. Muruga’s band, Muruga and the Soda Jerks, were produced by George Clinton, and he recorded with George Clinton, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, and the P-Funk All Stars on the following records:
• 1985 – George Clinton – Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends
• 1984 – Muruga & The Soda Jerks – Boogy With You (45)
• 1983 – George Clinton – You Shouldn’t-Nuf Bit Fish
• 1983 – P-Funk All Stars – Urban Dance Floor Guerillas
• 1982 – George Clinton – Computer Games
• 1982 – Godmama (w/Bootsy Collins) – Here
• 1981 – Funkadelic – The Electric Spanking of War Babies
• 1993 – George Clinton – Hey Man, Smell My Finger
• 1995 – P-Funk All Stars – Dope Dogs
In mid-1985 his band Muruga UFM recorded “Terroristic Activities” 1990 and “Rock the Planet” 1993. In 1990 he, his wife Shakti, and Prem Das recorded the long-selling Journey of the Drums, a pioneering drum album. That same year, Booker joined Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia to record the Grammy-nominated album (and subsequent DVD) Blues From the Rainforest, and their live CDs Save the Planet So We’ll Have Someplace to Boogy (1992) and “Fiesta Amazonica” (1998). He also joined Babatunde Olatunji and Sikiru Adepoju to record the CD Cosmic Rhythm Vibrations 1993, which was later remixed and distributed on Chesky Records as Circle of Drums in 2005. With his Detroit-based band Free Funk, he recorded the self titled colored vinyl LP titled Free Funk in 2005 which was released by Qbico Records. This band released the album OrthoFunkOlogy in 2008.