Dupree was a
New Orleans blues and
boogie-woogie pianist, a
barrelhouse "professor". His father was from the
Belgian Congo and his mother was part
African American and
Cherokee. His birth date has been given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, 1908, 1909, or 1910; the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc give July 4, 1910. Dupree taught himself to play the piano there and later apprenticed with
Tuts Washington and
Willie Hall, whom he called his father and from whom he learned "
Junker's Blues". He was also a "spy boy" for the Yellow Pocahontas tribe of the
Mardi Gras Indians. He soon began playing in barrelhouses and other drinking establishments. He began a life of travelling, living in
Chicago, where he worked with
Georgia Tom, and in
Indianapolis, Indiana, where he met
Scrapper Blackwell and
Leroy Carr. He also worked as a cook. In
Detroit, after
Joe Louis encouraged him to become a boxer, he fought 107 bouts, winning
Golden Gloves and other championships and picking up the nickname Champion Jack, which he used the rest of his life. He returned to Chicago at the age of 30 and joined a circle of recording artists, including
Big Bill Broonzy and
Tampa Red, who introduced him to the record producer
Lester Melrose. Many of Dupree's songs were later credited to Melrose as composer, and Melrose claimed publishing rights to them. Dupree's career was interrupted by military service in
World War II. He was a cook in the
United States Navy and was held by the Japanese for two years as a prisoner of war. Following
Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in office, Dupree composed the "F.D.R. Blues". After the war, his biggest commercial success was "Walkin' the Blues", which he recorded as a duet with
Teddy McRae. England, Sweden and, finally, Germany. On June 17, 1971, he played at the
Montreux Jazz Festival, in the Casino Kursaal, with
King Curtis, backed by
Cornell Dupree on guitar,
Jerry Jemmott on bass and
Oliver Jackson on drums. The recording of the concert was released in 1973 as the album
King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree: Blues at Montreux on the
Atlantic label. In the mid-1970s, Dupree lived at
Ovenden in
Halifax, England, after marrying a local woman, Shirley Ann Harrison, whom he had met in London. A piano he used was later discovered at
Calderdale College in Halifax. In 1976, he divorced Shirley and moved to
Copenhagen, where he lived in the anarchist-occupied
Freetown Christiania, where he met guitarist Kenn Lending. Dupree and Lending would form a partnership that lasted until Dupree's death in 1992. This period of his life was the subject of the 1975 film
Barrelhouse Blues - Feelings and Situations by the artists Laurie Grundt and Eva Acking which includes several filmed performances, including one where Dupree plays drum set. Dupree later moved to
Hanover, Germany. He continued to record in Europe with Kenn Lending,
Louisiana Red and
Axel Zwingenberger and made many live appearances. He also worked again as a cook, specializing in
New Orleans cuisine. In 1990 Dupree returned to the United States to perform at the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The event was marked with the recording of the album
Back Home in New Orleans. ==Musical style and output==