George "Buster" Cooper (April 4, 1929 – May 13, 2016)[1][2] was an American jazz trombonist.

Career

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]

Discography

As leader

As sideman

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

References

Footnotes
  1. 1 2 Vacher, Peter (May 26, 2016). "Buster Cooper obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Cridlin, Jay (May 13, 2016). "Jazz icon, trombonist Buster Cooper dies at 87 in St. Petersburg". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 556. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  4. ↑ Murder Between Friends, Library of Congress, accessed 31 December 2022
General references
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