Bob Cooper

Biography

Bob Cooper (December 6, 1925 – August 5, 1993) was a West Coast jazz musician known primarily for playing tenor saxophone, but also for being one of the first to play jazz solos on the oboe.

Career

Cooper worked in Stan Kenton's band starting in 1945 and married the band's singer, June Christy, two years later. Their union produced a daughter, Shay Christy Cooper (September 1, 1954 – February 21, 2014), with the marriage lasting 44 years until Christy's death in 1990. He later left the Kenton band in 1951 and joined Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars with his friend and bandmate Bud Shank. The two would go on to form a wind partnership, with Cooper on oboe and Shank on flute, that was a novel frontline combination for jazz.

He worked in Pete Rugolo's orchestra from the mid-1950s through 1960s as well as in the later bands of Stan Kenton. From the 1960s, he became mainly a sideman and studio musician, often arranging music for his wife, June Christy.
His last studio recording was on Karrin Allyson's album Sweet Home Cookin' (1994), on which he played tenor saxophone.
Cooper died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 67. He was found in his car, which had pulled over to the side of the road.

As leader

The Bob Cooper Sextet (Capitol, 1954)
Shifting Winds (Capitol, 1955)
Flute 'n Oboe (Pacific Jazz, 1957) – with Bud Shank
Milano Blues (Music, 1957)
Coop! The Music of Bob Cooper (Contemporary, 1958)
The Swing's to TV (World Pacific, 1958) – with Bud Shank
Blowin' Country (World Pacific, 1959) – with Bud Shank
Tenor Sax Jazz Impressions (Trend, 1979)
The Music of Michel Legrand (Discovery, 1980) – with Mike Wofford, Tom Azarello, and Jim Plank
In a Mellotone (Contemporary, 1985) – with the Snooky Young Sextet featuring Ernie Andrews
At the Royal Palms Inn (Woofy Productions, 1993) – with Carl Fontana
For All We Know (Fresh Sounds, 2000) -with Lou Levy

As sideman

With Karrin Allyson

Sweet Home Cookin' (Concord Jazz, 1994)
With Chet Baker

Witch Doctor (Contemporary, 1953 [1985])
With Elmer Bernstein

The Man with the Golden Arm (Decca, 1956)
With Buddy Bregman

Swinging Kicks (Verve, 1957)
With June Christy

June's Got Rhythm (Capitol, 1958)
Do-Re-Mi (Capitol, 1961)
Impromptu (Interplay, 1977)
With Maynard Ferguson

Maynard Ferguson's Hollywood Party (EmArcy, 1954)
Jam Session featuring Maynard Ferguson (EmArcy, 1954)
Dimensions (EmArcy, 1955)
With Jimmy Giuffre

The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet (Atlantic, 1956)
With The Gene Harris All Star Big Band

Tribute to Count Basie (Concord Jazz, 1988)
With Stan Kenton

Stan Kenton's Milestones (Capitol, 1943–47 [1950])
Stan Kenton Classics (Capitol, 1944–47 [1952])
Artistry in Rhythm (Capitol, 1946)
Encores (Capitol, 1947)
A Presentation of Progressive Jazz (Capitol, 1947)
Innovations in Modern Music (Capitol, 1950)
Stan Kenton Presents (Capitol, 1950)
City of Glass (Capitol, 1951)
Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1953)
This Modern World (Capitol, 1953)
The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1940–54, [1955])
The Innovations Orchestra (Capitol, 1950–51 [1997])
Stan Kenton Conducts the Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra (Capitol, 1965)
Hair (Capitol, 1969)
With Barney Kessel

Kessel Plays Standards (Contemporary, 1954–55)
With Shelly Manne

The West Coast Sound (Contemporary, 1955)
With Jack Nitzsche

Heart Beat (Capitol, 1980) – film soundtrack
With Art Pepper

Showcase for Modern Jazz (Brunswick, 1958)
With Shorty Rogers

Cool and Crazy (RCA Victor, 1953)
Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (RCA Victor, 1954)
Collaboration (RCA Victor, 1954) – with André Previn
Afro-Cuban Influence (RCA Victor, 1958)
Shorty Rogers Meets Tarzan (MGM, 1960) – film soundtrack
With Pete Rugolo

Introducing Pete Rugolo (Columbia, 1954)
Adventures in Rhythm (Columbia, 1954)
Rugolomania (Columbia, 1955)
New Sounds by Pete Rugolo (Harmony, 1954–55, [1957])
Out on a Limb (EmArcy, 1956)
An Adventure in Sound: Reeds in Hi-Fi (Mercury, 1956 [1958])
Rugolo Plays Kenton (EmArcy, 1958)
The Music from Richard Diamond (EmArcy, 1959)
The Original Music of Thriller (Time, 1961)
10 Saxophones and 2 Basses (Mercury, 1961)
With Bud Shank

Jazz at Cal-Tech (Pacific Jazz, 1956)
Barefoot Adventure (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
Bud Shank & the Sax Section (Pacific Jazz, 1966)