Jack Cooper
Composer In Residence
With a wide range of musical activities over the past 35 years, Jack Cooper is an internationally recognized composer and arranger. Since the Fall of 2015, he has been serving as staff arranger for the Berlin Jazz Orchestra. (Germany) Their recent 2021 release “Songs Of Berlin” on Belgium based GAM Records was composed and arranged entirely by him serving as their musical director. He also currently serves as a staff arranger for Bernie Dresel and the BBB, and Excelcia/Kendor music publishing.
He has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune’s music critic Howard Reich naming Cooper’s 2014 release “Mists: Charles Ives for Jazz Orchestra” (Planet Arts) as one oof the top ten jazz CDs for that year. Cooper is musical director for two recent big band releases on Origin Records jazz label (2015 and 2018). Polish critic Andrzej Ficus writes, “Time Within Itself” (Origin 82690) owes its success largely to excellent arrangements by Jack Cooper, one of today’s best jazz arrangers in the U.S. … (sic) particularly in the layer of instrumentation, Cooper gives a masterful display.” Cooper is musical director and founder of the U.S. Mid-South based Jazz Orchestra of The Delta. Their CD, “Big Band Refflections of Cole Porter”(Summit Records) was released in 2003 to international acclaim.
Cooper’s chamber music can be heard on the CD recording "The Chamber Wind Music of Jack Cooper” (Centaur 3027, released in 2010). Cooper’s Saxophone Sonata from that release is highly regarded, belonging with “such landmark jazz/classical’ pieces as the Phil Woods Sonata, on any recital or concert program that explores (both) these worlds”.
His television and media writing credits include The Jenny Jones Show, Danish Radio 2 (DR P2), E! Entertainment, Access Hollywood, American Restoration, Deal Or No Deal and Extra. His music has been featured at numerous venues around the world to include The North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals. He served as a staff arranger for Columbia Pictures and Warner Brothers publishing from 1992 through 2015. Cooper toured and recorded in the sax section and as a staff arranger with the U.S.Army Jazz Knights (1989-1995) For further detail go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cooper_(American_musician)