Jerome Douglas Cooper (December 14, 1946 – May 6, 2015) was an American

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians dur ...

musician. In addition to trap drums, Cooper played

balafon The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now ...

, chirimia and various electronic instruments, and referred to himself as a "multi-dimensional drummer," meaning that his playing involved "layers of sounds and rhythms".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

reviewer

Ron Wynn Ron Wynn is a music critic, author, and AllMusic editor. Wynn was the editor of the first edition of '' The All Music Guide to Jazz'' (1994), and from 1993 to 1994 served as the jazz and rap editor of the ''All Music Guide''. Wynn is the former e ...

called him "A sparkling drummer and percussionist... An excellent accompanist". Another Allmusic reviewer stated that "in the truest sense this drummer is a magician, adept at transformation and the creation of sacred space".

Career

Cooper studied with Oliver Coleman and

Walter Dyett Walter Henri Dyett (also known as Captain Walter Henri Dyett; January 11, 1901 – November 17, 1969) was an American violinist and music educator in the Chicago Public Schools system. He served as music director and assistant music director ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then studied at the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservato ...

and

Loop College Harold Washington College is a community college, part of the City Colleges of Chicago system of the City of Chicago, in Illinois, United States. It is located in the downtown "Loop" area of the City, near the series of parks along the lakef ...

. In 1968, he worked with Oscar Brown, Jr. and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre in the U.S. but moved to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

before the end of the decade, where he played with

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

Steve Lacy Steve Lacy may refer to: Music * Steve Lacy (saxophonist) (1934–2004), American jazz saxophonist and composer * Steve Lacy (singer) (born 1998), American musician Other occupations *Steve Lacy (coach) (1908–2000), American college sports coach ...

Lou Bennett Lou Bennett (May 18, 1926, Philadelphia – February 10, 1997, Paris) was an American jazz organist. Bennett first played bebop on piano, but started playing organ in 1956 after hearing Jimmy Smith. Bennett toured the U.S. with an organ trio bet ...

(with whom he visited

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...

), the

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an American free jazz double bassist and keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azorean/ Portuguese mother, Irene da Silva, and a black Bermudian f ...

, and Noah Howard. After returning to the U.S. in 1971, he joined the

Revolutionary Ensemble The Revolutionary Ensemble was a free jazz trio consisting of violinist Leroy Jenkins (1932–2007), bassist Sirone (Norris Jones, 1940–2009) and percussionist/pianist Jerome Cooper (1946–2015). The group was active from 1970–1977, and reuni ...

alongside Leroy Jenkins and Sirone, where he remained for several years, and played piano, flute, and bugle in addition to drums. In the 1970s, he played with Sam Rivers, George Adams, Karl Berger, Andrew Hill, and

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of ...

. In the 1980s he worked with McIntyre again, as well as with

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

Death

Cooper died in Brooklyn on May 6, 2015, aged 68, from complications of multiple myeloma, according to his daughter, Levanah Cummins-Cooper.

Discography

As leader or co-leader With the

* 1972: ''

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

'' (ESP-Disk) * 1972: ''

Manhattan Cycles ''Manhattan Cycles'' is a live album by the Revolutionary Ensemble, violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper, which was recorded on the last day of 1972 and released on the India Navigation label the following year. The a ...

'' (India Navigation) * 1975: '' The Psyche'' (RE Records) * 1976: '' The Peoples Republic'' (A&M/Horizon) * 1977: ''

'' (Enja) * 2004: '' And Now...'' ( Pi Recordings) * 2008: ''

Beyond the Boundary of Time ''Beyond the Boundary of Time'' is a live album by the Revolutionary Ensemble, violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in May 2005 in Warsaw, Poland, and was released in 2008 by Mutable Music. The album c ...

'' (Mutable) * 2012: '' Counterparts'' (Mutable)

As sideman

With

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in t ...

* ''

Fast Last! ''Fast Last!'' is an album by trumpeter Lester Bowie recorded for the Muse label and released in 1974. It features performances by Bowie, Julius Hemphill, John Hicks, John Stubblefield, Joseph Bowie, Bob Stewart, Cecil McBee, Jerome Cooper, Char ...

'' (Muse, 1974) With

* ''

New York, Fall 1974 ''New York, Fall 1974'' is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Anthony Braxton, recorded in 1974 and released on the Arista Records, Arista label.

'' (

Arista Arista may refer to: Organizations *Arista Networks, a software defined networking company *Arista Records, an American record label, division of Sony Music **Arista Nashville, a record label specializing in country music *Arista (honor society) ...

, 1974) With

Ted Daniel Ted Daniel (born June 4, 1943) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. Biography He studied trumpet in elementary school, and began his professional career playing local gigs with his childhood friend, the legendary guitarist Sonny Sharrock. ...

* ''Tapestry'' (Porter, 2008) With Leroy Jenkins and

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group, founded by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler in 1965, to perform orchestral avant-garde jazz. Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon which grew out ...

* '' For Players Only'' (JCOA, 1975) With

* ''Live in Paris, Vol. 1'' (

France's Concert Records France's Concert Records was a 1980s independent French jazz and blues record label (also known as Esoldun INA) that is now defunct, that was set up by Esoldun to exploit the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA)'s recording archives. Distributi ...

, 1988) * ''Live in Paris, Vol. 2'' (

, 1988) * ''

Dog Years in the Fourth Ring ''Dog Years in the Fourth Ring'' is a compilation album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk featuring 2 CDs of previously unreleased live performances and Kirk's solo album '' Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata'' on the third disc ...

'' (32 Jazz, 1970 997 With

* ''Wordless'' (Futura, 2009) With Marcello Melis * ''Perdas De Fogu'' (Vista, 1975) With

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figures ...

and

Don Moye Donald Moye, Jr. (born May 23, 1946), known as Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percus ...

* ''Wildflowers 5: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions'' (one track) (Douglas, 1997); released on CD as '' Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions - Complete'' (Knit Classics, 1999) With

* ''

Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

'' (BYG Records, 1971) * ''My Country'' (Leo, 1989) With

* '' It is in the Brewing Luminous'' ( hat Art, 1980) With Clifford Thornton * ''

Communications Network A telecommunications network is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit switching, mes ...

'' (Third World, 1972)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Jerome 1946 births 2015 deaths American jazz drummers Musicians from Chicago Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from multiple myeloma Jazz musicians from Illinois Revolutionary Ensemble members