American jazz trombonist
George "Buster " Cooper (April 4, 1929 – May 13, 2016)[ 1] [ 2] was an American jazz trombonist.
A native of St. Petersburg, Florida , United States,[ 3] Cooper played in a territory band with Nat Towles in Texas in the late 1940s and with Lionel Hampton in 1953.[ 3] He played in the house band at the Apollo Theater in New York City in the mid-1950s, and following this he was in Benny Goodman 's band.[ 3] Late in the 1950s he and his brother Steve formed the Cooper Brothers Band.[ 3] From 1962 to 1969, he was a trombonist in Duke Ellington 's Orchestra.[ 3] In 1973, he moved to Los Angeles , and played in jazz orchestras over the next several decades, including Bill Berry 's band and The Capp-Pierce Juggernaut .[ 3] He led a trio at a restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In 1993, Cooper appeared as a jazz trombonist in the film Murder Between Friends , set in New Orleans .[ 4]
George "Buster" Cooper died on May 13, 2016, of prostate cancer in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 87.[ 1] [ 2]
With The Capp-Pierce Juggernaut
Juggernaut (Concord Jazz, 1977)
Live at the Century Plaza (Concord Jazz, 1978)
Juggernaut Strikes Again! (Concord Jazz, 1982)
Live at the Alley Cat (Concord Jazz, 1987)
With Duke Ellington
The Symphonic Ellington (Reprise, 1963)
Afro-Bossa (Reprise, 1963)
Ellington '65 (Reprise, 1964)
Plays with the Original Motion Picture Score Mary Poppins (Reprise, 1964)
Harlem 1964 (Pablo, 1985)
Duke Ellington's Concert of Sacred Music (RCA Victor, 1966)
The Popular Duke Ellington (RCA Victor, 1966)
Antibes Concert (Verve, 1967)
The Far East Suite (RCA Victor, 1967)
Liederhalle Stuttgart 1967 (SWR, Jazzhaus, 2020)
And His Mother Called Him Bill (RCA, 1968)
Second Sacred Concert (Fantasy, 1968)
Yale Concert (Fantasy, 1973)
The Great Paris Concert (Atlantic, 1973)
Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session (Atlantic, 1976)
Up in Duke's Workshop (Pablo, 1979)
Concert in the Virgin Islands (Discovery, 1981)
Serenade to Sweden (Black Lion, 1982)
Harlem (Pablo, 1985)
All Star Road Band Volume 2 (Doctor Jazz, 1985)
With Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington
Ella at Duke's Place (Verve, 1966)
The Stockholm Concert 1966 (Pablo, 1984)
Ella & Duke at the Cote D'Azur (Verve, 1997)
With Lionel Hampton
Wailin' at the Trianon (Columbia, 1955)
Lionel Hampton (Amiga, 1976)
Aurex Jazz Festival '81 (EastWorld, 1981)
Ambassador at Large (Glad-Hamp, 1984)
With Johnny Hodges
With A. K. Salim
With others
Cat Anderson , A Chat with Cat Anderson (Columbia, 1963)
Billy Brooks , Windows of the Mind (Crossover, 1974)
Ruth Brown , Fine and Mellow (Fantasy, 1992)
Milt Buckner , The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions (Black and Blue, 1998)
Lawrence Brown , Inspired Abandon (Impulse!, 1965)
Arnett Cobb , Smooth Sailing (Prestige, 1959)
Arnett Cobb, The Wild Man from Texas (Black and Blue, 1977)
Harry "Sweets" Edison , For My Pals (Pablo, 1988)
Jimmy Forrest , Soul Street (Original Jazz Classics, 1998)
Benny Goodman , Happy Session (Columbia, 1959)
Earl Hines , Once Upon a Time (Impulse! 1966)
Abdullah Ibrahim , Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro (The Sun, 1979)
Abdullah Ibrahim, Tintinyana (Kaz, 1988)
Mundell Lowe , Satan in High Heels (Charlie Parker, 1961)
Mundell Lowe, Blues for a Stripper (Charlie Parker, 1962)
Oscar Peterson , Plays Duke Ellington (Pablo, 1999)
Bobby Short , Guess Who's in Town (Atlantic, 1987)
Frank Sinatra , Francis A. & Edward K. (Reprise, 1988)
O. C. Smith , Love Changes (Motown 1982)
Billy Strayhorn , Lush Life (Red Baron, 1992)
Dinah Washington , Wise Woman Blues (Rosetta, 1984)
Gerald Wilson , Calafia (Trend, 1985)
Footnotes
^ a b Vacher, Peter (May 26, 2016). "Buster Cooper obituary" . The Guardian . Retrieved September 30, 2016 .
^ a b Cridlin, Jay (May 13, 2016). "Jazz icon, trombonist Buster Cooper dies at 87 in St. Petersburg" . Tampa Bay Times . Retrieved September 30, 2016 .
^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin , ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing . p. 556. ISBN 0-85112-939-0 .
^ Murder Between Friends , Library of Congress , accessed 31 December 2022
General references
Studio albums
Harlem Jazz, 1930
Ellingtonia, Vol. One
Ellingtonia, Vol. Two
Braggin' in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year
The Blanton–Webster Band
Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
Smoke Rings
Liberian Suite
Great Times!
Masterpieces by Ellington
Ellington Uptown
The Duke Plays Ellington
Ellington '55
Dance to the Duke!
Ellington Showcase
Historically Speaking
Duke Ellington Presents...
The Complete Porgy and Bess
A Drum Is a Woman
Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956
Such Sweet Thunder
Studio Sessions 1957 & 1962
Ellington Indigos
Black, Brown and Beige
Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque
The Cosmic Scene
Happy Reunion
Jazz Party
Anatomy of a Murder
Festival Session
Blues in Orbit
The Nutcracker Suite
Piano in the Background
Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.
Unknown Session
Piano in the Foreground
Paris Blues
Featuring Paul Gonsalves
Midnight in Paris
Studio Sessions, New York 1962
Afro-Bossa
The Symphonic Ellington
Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session
Studio Sessions New York 1963
My People
Ellington '65
Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins
Ellington '66
Concert in the Virgin Islands
The Popular Duke Ellington
Far East Suite
The Jaywalker
Studio Sessions, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1967, San Francisco, Chicago, New York
...And His Mother Called Him Bill
Second Sacred Concert
Studio Sessions New York, 1968
Latin American Suite
The Pianist
New Orleans Suite
Orchestral Works
The Suites, New York 1968 & 1970
The Intimacy of the Blues
The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
Studio Sessions New York & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971
The Intimate Ellington
The Ellington Suites
This One's for Blanton!
Up in Duke's Workshop
Duke's Big 4
Mood Ellington
Live albums Collaborations Compositions by Billy Strayhorn by Juan Tizol
Orchestra members Related
International National Artists Other