The BOSTON GLOBE raves, “Player for player, there’s no better working band in jazz than The Cookers.” This is one of the last remaining Jazz Supergroups with an astounding 3 NEA Jazz Masters in one band!
Experience counts, especially in jazz. The more time musicians spend interpreting tunes and interacting with others, the more articulation an audience can expect. You can hear the fruits of such work in the expressive language THE COOKERS bring to the bandstand and to their 6 critically acclaimed recordings, ‘Warriors’, ‘Cast the First Stone’, ‘Believe’, ‘Time and Time Again’ (which was the iTunes Jazz CD of the year in 2014), ‘The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart’ and ‘Look Out!’. This exciting all-star septet summons up an aggressive mid ‘60s spirit with a potent collection of expansive post-bop originals marked by all the requisite killer instincts and pyrotechnic playing expected of some of the heaviest hitters on the scene today!
These five members of THE COOKERS all came up in the heady era of the mid ‘60s (It was a period that found the dimensions of hard bop morphing from their original designs, and each of these guys helped facilitate the process as members of some of the most important bands of the era): NEA Jazz Master BILLY HARPER (Saxophone), NEA Jazz Master & GRAMMY® Award Nominee BILLY HART (Drums), GRAMMY® Award-Winner CECIL MCBEE (Bass), GEORGE CABLES (Piano), and NEA Jazz Master EDDIE HENDERSON (Trumpet) .
These 2 members of THE COOKERS are from a more recent generation and the youngest members of the band: NEA Jazz Master & GRAMMY® Award Nominee DONALD HARRISON (Saxophone) and DAVID WEISS (Trumpet).
Each member of THE COOKERS has spent time leading his own series of groups as well, and each has a keenly individual sound. But it’s the unmistakable power of teamwork that makes this music so commanding and resonates with a kind of depth and beauty that speaks of the seasoned track record of its principals (combined, the group has over 250 years of experience in the jazz world and has been a part of over 1,000 recordings). You can feel the collective weight of that experience in their albums, and especially in their live performances.
THE COOKERS released their sixth acclaimed album, ‘Look Out!’ in 2021. On ‘Look Out!’ the incredibly high level of musicianship has only increased with the latest offering of fresh, challenging, boundary-pushing music from these legendary, revered, veteran improvisers!
