Booker T. Jones to perform his hits and back up Bobby Bazini on July 2

It can be argued that it was Booker T. Jones who set the cast for modern soul music and is largely responsible for its rise and enduring popularity. On classic Stax hits like “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High,” “Time Is Tight,” and “Melting Pot” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee,  Musicians Hall of Fame inductee and GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award recipient pushed the music’s boundaries, refined it to its essence and then injected it into the nation’s bloodstream.

“I found the music that I loved for the rest of my life at Satellite Records, while I was on my bike soliciting customers on my paper route,” he recalled.  “I walked into the lobby of the Capitol Theater, and it had been transformed into a record store, and there was Steve Cropper playing records for me there when I was in ninth grade. That legacy is my heart and my life. That’s where I come from.”  And, Booker adds, “I have music inside me, and I’m looking forward to the future. I’m very excited about making some things happen.”

Sound the Alarm, the new album from Booker T, finds the Hammond B3 organ master looking ahead yet again, laying down his distinctive bedrock grooves amid a succession of sparkling collaborations with some of contemporary R&B’s most gifted young voices. The new recording is also a reconnection to the Stax Records tradition, which began for Booker T as a teen, when the Bluff City label was founded out of McLemore Avenue’s Satellite Record Shop.

Sound the Alarm also marks Booker T’s return to Stax Records, the Memphis soul label the instrumentalist, bandleader, producer, and songwriter helped put on the map during the 1960s, along with his brilliant band, the MGs.

Creatively, it’s another new step in a career that has witnessed a striking resurgence in recent years.  Booker T took home Best Pop Instrumental Album GRAMMY Awards for both 2010’s Potato Hole, his head-turning collaboration with The Drive-By Truckers and 2012’s The Road From Memphis, his critically acclaimed album with The Roots.

Sound the Alarm is graced with soulful guest performances by R&B stars Anthony Hamilton (on “Gently”) and Estelle (on “Can’t Wait”). Another dynamic talent, Raphael Saadiq, contributes guitar work on “Broken Heart” and “Feel Good.” Says Booker of the neo-soul star, “He’s been an inspiration for the album.”

The set also showcases a number of exciting singers who are just beginning to make their mark on contemporary R&B, including Mayer Hawthorne (“Sound the Alarm”), Jay James (“Broken Heart”) and Luke James (“All Over the Place”).

Booker T and his band will open for Bobby Bazini at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier at 7:30 pm on July 2, and then will perform with Bobby Bazini. Tickets: 514-842-2112 or www.placedesarts.com