Like many West Coast tenor saxophonists of his generation,
Bob Cooper's style was based upon skillful emulation of
Lester Young's velvety, vetiver-scented tone, harmonic ingenuity and sinuous technique. The best introduction to this artist would be
Coop! The Music of Bob Cooper, released in 1958 by Contemporary Records. Initially known as an exponent of the
Stan Kenton Orchestra, he branched out and spent four decades as an all-purpose session man, serving in the reed sections of multiple studio orchestras while maintaining a steady presence on the cool, bop-inflected West Coast mainstream jazz scene.
Born on December 6, 1925 in Pittsburgh, PA,
Robert Cooper studied the clarinet in high school, took up the tenor saxophone in 1941, and was soon operating under the influence of
Don Byas and
Lucky Thompson. He became a member of the
Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1945 and added the oboe to his musical equipage. In 1947
Coop was lucky enough to marry
June Christy, one of
Kenton's most accomplished vocalists. While with
Kenton he played behind
Nat King Cole and alongside
Art Pepper. After cutting loose from
Kenton in 1951,
Cooper made himself useful as a West Coast session man, absorbing fresh new currents of bop while refining and updating his musicianship. He added the English horn and bass clarinet to his arsenal of wind instruments, as well as the flute and both baritone and soprano saxes. During this period, while making records with drummer
Shelly Manne, vocalist
Annie Ross and guitarist
Barney Kessel, his new sax idols were
Lester Young and
Sonny Stitt; this placed him in league with
Brew Moore,
Stan Getz and
Zoot Sims. By 1954 he had joined forces with
Pete Rugolo and
Shorty Rogers, was sitting in with mambo king
Perez Prado and leading his first recording sessions on Capitol.
During the second half of the decade he gigged with
Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars in Hermosa Beach, accompanied
June Christy on numerous recordings and toured with her through Japan, South Africa and Europe. In 1956 he collaborated with drummer
Buddy Rich, alto saxophonist
Bud Shank, tenor saxophonist
Bill Perkins and with progressive clarinetist
Jimmy Giuffre, who also joined
Coop and
Shelly Manne in a group backing the R&B vocal group known as
the Treniers.
Cooper also recorded extensively with the
Buddy Bregman and
Russ Garcia Orchestras backing vocalists
Ella Fitzgerald,
Bing Crosby and
Anita O'Day; with the
Marty Paich Dek-tette behind
Mel Tormé and in the
Pete Rugolo Orchestra with
Patti Page. In 1957
Cooper recorded with drummer
Max Roach and with
John Graas, who specialized in playing jazz on the French horn.
In 1958
Bob Cooper made inroads into what would later qualify as archetypal lounge music by assisting Juan Garcia Esquivel on his landmark album Other Worlds Other Sounds. He was involved in another flashy project of similar vintage,
Shorty Rogers' Manteca: Afro-Cuban Influence. In 1959
Cooper assumed partial ownership of Lighthouse Records Inc. He was present when
Russ Garcia's Orchestra recorded with pianist
Oscar Peterson and helped with the realization of
Elmer Bernstein's score for Otto Preminger's sensationalistic film The Man with the Golden Arm.
Coop can be heard on the soundtracks of numerous motion pictures from this period, with titles like "A Building Is Many Buildings" and "Mad at the World." The 1960s began for
Cooper with an appearance on
Ray Brown's
Jazz Cello album and more session work behind singers like
Mel Tormé and
Peggy Lee. In 1966 he introduced his "Solo for Orchestra" with an orchestra under the direction of
Stan Kenton. That same year he was paid to operate an oboe in a studio orchestra backing the TV pop/rock group known as
the Monkees.
Bob Cooper's adventures during the '70s were varied enough to include sessions with the
Frank Capp/
Nat Pierce Juggernaut band; pop singer Paul Williams; the
Michel Legrand Orchestra backing jazz vocalist
Sarah Vaughan;
Ernestine Anderson during the beginning of her U.S. comeback; vibraphonist
Terry Gibbs; blues guitarist
John Mooney on his very first album;
Bob Florence and the Limited Edition Orchestra; alto saxophonist
Gabe Baltazar with the
Stan Kenton orchestra and a
Lester Young tribute project with vocalist
Joe Williams, saxophonist
Dave Pell and trumpeter
Harry "Sweets" Edison.
During the '80s he recorded in a typically broad range of styles and settings, appearing in a group led by drummer
Jeff Hamilton, with an orchestra led by
Nelson Riddle backing pop singer
Linda Ronstadt; with trumpeter
Snooky Young, vocalist
Ernie Andrews, pianist
Gene Harris, the
Sammy Nestico Big Band, the
Charlie Shoemake Orchestra, trumpeter Paul Cacia and a massive
Kenton Alumni band; tenor saxophonist
Bill Holman, singing pianist
Michael Feinstein, vibraphonist Jon Nagourney and a "West Coast All Star" tribute to composer Jimmy Van Heusen featuring a reunion band of sorts led by drummer
Vic Lewis.
Bob Cooper inaugurated the '90s by blowing his tenor sax on
Madonna's Dick Tracy-inspired album
I'm Breathless, followed by a cozy date with vocalist
Sue Raney, and a double barrel blowing session with
Doc Severinsen's featured tenor
Pete Christlieb. He was heard on the soundtrack to Neil Simon's racy romantic comedy The Marrying Man, and in studio bands backing vocalists
Manhattan Transfer,
Rosemary Clooney,
Jackie Cain and
Roy Kral. The final months of his lengthy career found him characteristically busy, recording in a group led by pianist
Frank Strazzeri, assisting with Frank
Sinatra's commercially successful album of overdubbed
Duets and accompanying vocalist
Lucie Arnaz.
Bob Cooper's last live recording was made during a concert performance with trumpeter
Conte Candoli; weeks later, on August 5, 1993, he began to experience chest pains while driving home from a session where he'd played in a band backing vocalist
Karrin Allyson. Slowing down and stopping his car on the shoulder of the Hollywood Freeway,
Bob Cooper quietly succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 67. ~ arwulf arwulf