Louis Stanley Hooper (May 18, 1894, North Buxton, Ontario - September 17, 1977,

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

, Prince Edward Island) was a Canadian jazz pianist. Hooper was raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan and attended the Detroit Conservatory, where he played locally in dance orchestras in the 1910s. He then moved to New York City around 1920; he recorded with Elmer Snowden and

Bob Fuller Bob Fuller (December 31, 1898 – unknown) was an American blues and jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, best known for his recordings accompanying female singers of the 1920s. Born and raised in New York City, Fuller toured the United States wit ...

frequently in the middle of the decade, and performed with both of them in Harlem as well as with other ensembles. Hooper served for some time as the house pianist for

Ajax Records Ajax Records was a record company and label founded in 1921. Jazz and blues records were produced in New York City, with some in Montreal, and marketed via the Ajax Record Company of Chicago. History Ajax was a subsidiary of the Compo Company of ...

and accompanied many

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singers on record, including

Martha Copeland Martha Copeland (c. 1891–1894; date of death unknown) was an American classic female blues singer. She recorded 34 songs between 1923 and 1928. She was promoted by Columbia Records as "Everybody's Mammy", but her records did not sell in the qu ...

, Rosa Henderson, Lizzie Miles, Monette Moore, and Ethel Waters. He participated in the ''Blackbirds'' revue of 1928. In 1932, Hooper returned to Canada, where he played in

Mynie Sutton Myron Pierman "Mynie" Sutton (October 9, 1903, Niagara Falls - June 17, 1982, Niagara Falls) was a Canadian alto saxophonist and bandleader. Sutton worked in dance ensembles in Buffalo, New York and Cleveland, Ohio between 1924 and 1931. He retu ...

's dance band, the Canadian Ambassadors. He did local work solo and in ensembles for the next two decades, then was brought back into the limelight by the

Montreal Vintage Music Society Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

in 1962. Hooper released an LP of ragtime piano tunes in 1973 entitled ''Lou Hooper, Piano''. He taught at the University of Prince Edward Island late in his life and appeared regularly on CBC television in Halifax. His papers, which include unpublished compositions and an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, are now held at the

National Library of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

Lou Hooper fonds (R13911)

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources *Jack Litchfield, "Lou Hooper". '' Grove Jazz'' online. * Eugene Chadbourne,

Lou Hooper Louis Stanley Hooper (May 18, 1894, North Buxton, Ontario - September 17, 1977, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) was a Canadian jazz pianist. Hooper was raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan and attended the Detroit Conservatory, where he played local ...

at Allmusic ;Further reading *David Lewis, ''Louis Hooper: the Harlem Years''. Montréal: Montréal Vintage Society, 1989. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Lou 1894 births 1977 deaths Canadian jazz pianists 20th-century Canadian pianists University of Prince Edward Island faculty Canadian expatriates in the United States