Arthur “Juini” Booth, a versatile and widely heralded bassist who worked with a vast swath of jazz artists over a career of nearly 60 years, died July 11. He was 73. A force on both the acoustic and electric bass, Booth accrued a remarkable résumé that spanned the spectrum of jazz talents and styles. Among his associations were Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Chuck Mangione, Eddie Harris, Sonny Simmons, Shelly Manne, Freddie Hubbard, Hamiett Bluiett, Chico Freeman, and Steve Grossman, as well as the Sun Ra Arkestra, of which he was a longtime member. He was probably best known, however, for his three-year tenure (1973-76) with pianist McCoy Tyner, with whom he made three albums for Milestone Records—Enlightenment, Song of the New World, and Atlantis.
Rick Laird, the Irish bassist whose…
