J. Lawrence Cook

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Jean Lawrence Cook (born July 14, 1899 in Athens , Tennessee , † April 2, 1976 in New York City ) was an American jazz pianist and is considered the most productive piano roll arranger of all time. Its performance is estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 different piano roll recordings.

Live and act

Cook was born the son of a preacher. He was orphaned before his fourth birthday. His grandparents, with whom he grew up, introduced the young Cook to music. He was able to convince her of the need for formal training as a pianist, which he received at the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in Augusta, Georgia. After doing odd jobs in Pittsburgh in 1919, Cook moved to New York in March 1920. There he took up some pianola roles for the US Music Roll Company. In May 1923 he was employed by the QRS Music Roll Company (QRS Records), for which he worked for almost 50 years. Because of his extremely productive work, he also used pseudonyms; some of the roles he has recorded appeared under names such as Sid Laney, Pep Doyle and Walter Redding.

In addition, he interpreted numerous Fats Waller pieces in his style. These roles were published under the pseudonym Fats Waller with the express permission of Thomas "Fats" Waller, while roles that Waller had recorded himself were signed Thomas Waller. Waller and Cook were friends.

Cook was known to produce more than two rolls a day. Most of Cook's arrangements show an unmistakable style of their own that is clearly influenced by contemporary jazz pianists such as James P. Johnson or Fats Waller. In the 1960s (when other genres of music were more popular), QRS had the roles played more and more by younger arrangers. Even some of the titles previously recorded by Cook were rearranged during this time.

In addition to recording pianola roles, Cook created band organ roles for the BAB Organ Company. According to an interview with Cook in the 1970s, he was the only arranger for BAB who had produced more than 800 master roles by the time it closed. Some of Cook's arrangements for BAB were never released, but are stored in Virginia City, Montana, USA. Cook arranged in all common organ scales.

Cook also transcribed several pieces by Jelly Roll Morton for the Tempo Music Publishing Company. Some of the piano rolls have also been released on record. In 1949 he had his first hit with The Old Piano Roll Blues .

literature

  • Brian Dolan Inventing Entertainment: The Player Piano and the Origins of an American Musical Industry Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2009; ISBN 978-0-7425-6127-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alan Lomax Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and "Inventor of Jazz" New York 1993, p. 268
  2. ^ Dolan Inventing Entertainment: The Player Piano and the Origins of an American Musical Industry , p. 164
personal data
SURNAME Cook, J. Lawrence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cook, Jean Lawrence (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American piano roll artist
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Athens , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1976
Place of death New York City