Live on Long Beach's Rocket Boat, May 2008

'08-'68 Experimental Dance Performance with the Museum/of/Traffic at Lula Washington Dance Theater

Hype Underground Radio Show - LA, 2008

Element Learn Live Grow Show - Hangar Gallery, Downtown LA

Element-Vestalife Event w/ Ray Barbee: Las Vegas

"As an added bonus to the Vestalife Launch Event there was a musical performance
by Mataji Booker and Ray Barbee. Playing wonderfully together for what we were told
was the first time, here is an exclusive video"

Element Skateboards Owner, Johnny Schillereff, Mataji Booker & Ray Barbee

Rome, Italy 2006/2007

Album Art designed by Mauro Scia Scia


Luca Romano, Beba Do Samba and San Lorenzo:

Although I gigged on March 17, 2007 at El Sur in San Lorenzo along side
Luca Romano, my 2nd guitar, (we played a quiet simple set together,
opening up for his rock band Just What We Need. ) This show at
Beba do Samba was my first solo show in Rome. 05/09/07Beba Do Samba in San Lorenzo, Rome

Guitarist, Luca Romano (left)

His band Just What We Need

A Summer night in San Lorenzo

I met my guitarist and close friend Luca Romano within the first week of arriving in Rome in December of 2006. I accompanied my sister's boyfriend Luigi to a Tattoo shop in an area called San Lorenzo. The vibe there is like a Mideval version of Williamsburg or Silver Lake, but minus the Hipsters. I found Luca practicing guitar two doors down from the Tattoo shop in what was his parents Paper and Office Supply shop. He grew up in the neighborhood and lived upstairs with his family. We became fast friends and within a short time we were writing songs and rehearsing regularly in the shop which wasn't used as a shop anymore, so we could play all day as loud as we wanted (not that we were so loud), and as late into the night as we liked. There was a constant audience of passer byers on the street outside the windows for inspiration and friends were always stopping in, it was incredible. This was my first time truly collaberating over any length of time with a good, solid musician who understood my music - a priceless experience. Luca inspired me to write outside my usual songwriting box, to write with a more abstract magical realist approach - also refreshing was finally being able to put my guitar down and let someone else play so I could just focus on singing. Truly liberating. 

A place called Pigneto [Peen-yeh-toh]:Show Flyer for the 06/06/07 show at Fanfulla.
I've always made my own flyers. Even before computers.

A typical evening in Pigneto, Roma

Fanfulla in Pigneto was my favorite space to perform in as well as hang out.
It has a speak easy vibe that lends itself to artists of all types. 06/06/07

Spring photo shoot in Villa Ada park with friend Giuliano Berarducci:

Photographer & friend, Giuliano Berarducci



Studio Photo Shoot near Villa Borghese:

Photography by Giuliano Berarducci

Roberto Tolis, Parco di Veio and Lo Five Orchestra

In June of 2007 I was introduced to percussionist, DJ and electronic programmer Roberto Tolis through a friend for the purpose of possibly making music together.He was living in a magical corner of countryside just minutes outside of Rome called:

Parco di Veio

When I heard the tracks that he had stashed away and he heard my voice, we knew we found a great match and got to work. I spent alot of time there,including my 31st birthday and within a matter of a couple of weeks we had recorded 7 tunes & came up with Lo Five Orchestra as the name of our project.

Listen: "All I Want"
Graphic created by Mauro Scia Scia



Mataji Booker and Roberto Tolis, Lo Five Orchestra Rome, 08/07




Lo Five Orchestra performing at the end of the summer
run of Natural Born Chillers at Lago (Lake) Martignano.




Stella TV Show Live Performance 09/21/09:

I met Barbara, a woman affiliated with Maurizio Costanzo's Stella talk show, while performing in San Felice at Club La Stiva in early August. When she told me about the show in her broken english & that she'd be calling me soon, I didn't think much of it. So when she did call about a month later I was actually quite surprised. I phoned my percussionist friend Daniele Amato and we put together a short set for the live broadcast. We had to downsize all of my song's normal lengths for TV which was a first and only a little frustrating, but I got over it along with the fact that they dont pay thier guest's even though Maurizio Costanzo is apparently the Italian equivalence of David Lettermen and within the media he has the influence of the Godfather. Overall it was a really exciting and new experience and we were asked to come back on the show by the Godfather after taping had finished. So two weeks later we got together to rehearse the short but sweet set (each song had to be something like less than a minute) and we played one of my last gigs before leaving Europe on live television, again. Not bad for a girl from South LA.

Mataji Booker after her first live performance on
Maurico Costanza's Talk show, Stella. 09/04/07 The show was/is taped daily at the Teatro Parioli

Daniele Amato, percussionist.








Verardo & Ricci Productions.
Sabaudia, Italy


In the studio with Alex and Fabio in Sabaudia, Italy.

Fabio Verardo

Alex Ricci

Another great opportunity that came from my weekend gig in Circeo (San Felice) in August, was an invitation to record a song for Verardo&Ricci Productions Project, Truly Weirdos. I took the train about 30 min. south ofRome to Sabaudia, which runs along the sea. Listen to Sunrise here .

With Alex Ricci of Verardo&Ricci Productions. 09/07




Last Call...

Officine, Pigneto, my favorite neighborhood. Friday 09/14/07 This was a special Bon Voyage show for me before leaving Rome. In the end I was there in Italy a whopping 10 months (when I arrived in Dec.2006 I was planning on staying just one month when I went to visit my sister and her boyfriend before moving to Spain. It helped that they had a spare room.) At that point, Luca Romano and I had a pretty well prepared, nice size repetoire of original songs that we'd wrote together, as well as a few covers ( I opened with Leonard Cohens 'Hallelulah') and of course we had to play some oldies but goodies of my own that I always play at shows. The house was packed with friends old and new. There was a also a small group of Italians that were visting from Los Angeles that I'd met briefly back home through my Cicilian roommate,who also had moved to Europe and was visting as well. So it was truly a proper send off. 

On the bus some where near
home in Monte Mario.

Ciao, Arrivederci Beautiful Roma

Paris, France May 2007

As an "Artist Advocate" for Element's female line, Eden, I've been fortunate to perform and showcase some of my visual art at various openings and events for Element Skateboards. While in Europe I was really Blessed to showcase some Polaroid Photography at an opening for an Element store there. Good times.

Me posing with "Me".

'Roids...

Barcelona, JAHRED Music Video & Release info

New Arrival, from Downtown LA to Barcelona:

Just landed: Wonka Bar - Barcelona, Spain 12/07/06. My first show in Europe.

Shooting the music video for 'Jahred':Film stills from the making of 'Jahred' music video, shot the second
week of December 2007 in Barcelona, Spain. Directed by Santi Aguado.

Jahred single available on itunes, Juno and Root 70 Lounge:

Listen to Jahred Remixes & check out El Chavo interview on Root 70 Lounge.

El Chavo

The story of how 'Jahred' came to exist across borders:

Once upon a time on myspace, two musicians met. It was back in 2004 when the myspace craze was just taking off and thus, was still really cool and hip. One artist was living in Los Angeles and the other in Spain. One day, the myspace in Spain approached the one in LA about collaberating on a track sometime. She agreed happily and before she knew it she was emailed several sample tracks to sink her teeth into. After awhile she settled on the instrumental beats that would later come to be what we now know as 'Jahred'. Juan aka El Chavo named the tune Jahred after ' Jarret', the last name of the artist from which he sampled the piano on the track. The album happened to be 'the Koln Concert', which I coincidentally owned myself for years. Once I figured out the lyrics I recorded the vocals at musician friend Sonny Coate's place and emailed the results to Juan in Barcelona. Fast forward to the end of that year just after deciding to finally make the move to Europe. It was nothing short of Divine syncronicity that I had just bought my plane ticket to Rome the week that El Chavo and his good friend and director of the video decided that they wanted to make the music video. Thankfully plane fare is really cheap within Europe and i was able to book a flight straight away from Rome to Barcelona as soon as I landed a week later. It took us about 3 or 4 days to shoot the video all over the city. Although it was December, I had just come from 70 degree weather in LA and landed in 30 degree weather in Barcelona, so if you're wondering why I'm looking so 'hard' and bad ass in the video don't be fooled; I was freezing my southern California ass off.

The Lyrical journey of Jahred:

Before Jahred was Jahred, it was called "The Line" in my notebook. The lyrics were actually written two years before while living in New York City. I remember it's conception well. It was January 2004 and I had just returned from LA for Christmas. It was freezing out side and I was cramped working alone in the coat check closet of the Morgan's bar of the Morgan's Hotel. I had some beats previously given to me by Mums the word on my trip to LA, and the words to the song literally just poured out. Once I got the instrumental from Juan two years later, I added a bridge from another song entitled "Home" and the new version was complete. The song is about the hard knock life of any struggling artist trying to make ends meet. My experience living in New York for three long years up to that point most definately had alot to do with the 'war cry' of the verses...but in the end, even during the hardest times, I knew that I had to step aside and let the powers that be carry me through. So when I was singing Jah, I was praising the most high. Come to find out El Chavo wasn't too good at naming his tracks (his words, not mine) and so that's how he pronounced 'Jarret'. Ha.

Jahred lyrics by Mataji Booker

I’m searchin’ so highSo high to get by Jah
I wanna step outside this lineOutside the lines to definethe love I feel myself inside I I never thought my heart could fallThis far behind or didn’t IIt’s in this frame of mind that I hope to find
A true meaning to the answer's I receiveAnd if I fall I wanna lean on what I feel Is meant to heal my third eye criesTo be blind when I wanna shine
Divine sign that with love as my guideWill lead me to the stream of this dream I’ve been conceiving my entire time in this lineAnd only then can I believe in me whenMy patience is fadin’ I pray to the most high to get by
Jah Jah Jah So High So High
And if they say home is where the heart isWell then today you should try to find itNo reason to hide years of all your true desiresThere’s a place inside where you’re strong enoughSo hurry home to love
I’m searching so High, so HighSo High, so High, So I So HighJah Know I to get by
All rights reserved © 2004 Mataji Booker