Buster Cooper

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

• E-Bone-Ix with Thurman Green (Blue Lady, 1998)

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

• Everybody Knows (Impulse!, 1964)
• Triple Play (RCA Victor, 1967)
• Swing's Our Thing (Verve, 1968)

With A. K. Salim

• Stable Mates (Savoy, 1957)
• Pretty for the People (Savoy, 1957)
• Blues Suite (Savoy, 1958)

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)

References

Footnotes

General references

• Scott Yanow, Buster Cooper at Allmusic