Bob Cooper shared common ground with numerous West Coast tenor saxophonists from his era by crafting his approach through adept emulation of Lester Young’s smooth, vetiver-scented timbre, inventive harmonies, and supple technique. An ideal entry point to his recorded legacy remains the 1958 Contemporary Records release Coop! The Music of Bob Cooper. Although he initially earned notice as a key voice in the Stan Kenton Orchestra, he soon diversified and devoted four decades to freelance studio work, occupying reed chairs across many orchestral dates while sustaining a consistent role in the cool, bop-tinged mainstream jazz environment of the West Coast.
Born Robert Cooper on December 6, 1925, in Pittsburgh, PA, he began formal study on clarinet during high school, switched to tenor saxophone in 1941, and quickly came under the sway of Don Byas and Lucky Thompson. Joining the Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1945, he added oboe to his instrumental resources. In 1947 Coop married June Christy, one of Kenton’s standout vocalists. While still with Kenton he performed behind Nat King Cole and next to Art Pepper. After departing Kenton in 1951, Cooper established himself as a reliable West Coast session player, absorbing emerging bop influences and sharpening his command of the horn. He expanded his collection of woodwinds to include English horn, bass clarinet, flute, and both baritone and soprano saxophones. During these years, while recording alongside drummer Shelly Manne, vocalist Annie Ross, and guitarist Barney Kessel, his primary tenor models shifted to Lester Young and Sonny Stitt, aligning him with Brew Moore, Stan Getz, and Zoot Sims. By 1954 he had aligned himself with Pete Rugolo and Shorty Rogers, sat in with mambo king Perez Prado, and begun leading his own sessions for Capitol.
Throughout the latter half of the decade he performed regularly with Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All Stars in Hermosa Beach, supported June Christy on numerous dates, and traveled with her to Japan, South Africa, and Europe. In 1956 he collaborated with drummer Buddy Rich, alto saxophonist Bud Shank, tenor saxophonist Bill Perkins, and progressive clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre, who also joined Coop and Shelly Manne behind the R&B vocal group the Treniers. Cooper further participated in extensive sessions with the Buddy Bregman and Russ Garcia Orchestras that backed Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, and Anita O’Day; with the Marty Paich Dek-tette supporting Mel Tormé; and in the Pete Rugolo Orchestra with Patti Page. In 1957 he recorded with drummer Max Roach and with John Graas, a specialist in jazz French horn.
In 1958 Bob Cooper ventured into territory that would later be viewed as classic lounge music by assisting Juan Garcia Esquivel on the landmark album Other Worlds Other Sounds. He took part in another flamboyant project of the same period, Shorty Rogers’ Manteca: Afro-Cuban Influence. In 1959 he acquired partial ownership of Lighthouse Records Inc. He appeared on Russ Garcia’s Orchestra date with pianist Oscar Peterson and contributed to Elmer Bernstein’s score for Otto Preminger’s sensationalistic film The Man with the Golden Arm. Coop can be heard on the soundtracks of several motion pictures from that era, among them “A Building Is Many Buildings” and “Mad at the World.” The 1960s opened for Cooper with a featured role on Ray Brown’s Jazz Cello album and additional session work behind vocalists such as Mel Tormé and Peggy Lee. In 1966 he premiered his “Solo for Orchestra” with an ensemble directed by Stan Kenton. That same year he played oboe in a studio orchestra supporting the TV pop/rock group the Monkees.
Bob Cooper’s activities through the 1970s encompassed sessions with the Frank Capp/Nat Pierce Juggernaut band, pop singer Paul Williams, the Michel Legrand Orchestra behind jazz vocalist Sarah Vaughan, Ernestine Anderson at the outset of her American resurgence, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, blues guitarist John Mooney on his debut album, Bob Florence and the Limited Edition Orchestra, alto saxophonist Gabe Baltazar with the Stan Kenton orchestra, and a Lester Young tribute project featuring vocalist Joe Williams, saxophonist Dave Pell, and trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison.
During the 1980s he appeared across an equally wide spectrum of settings, recording with a group led by drummer Jeff Hamilton, an orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle behind pop singer Linda Ronstadt, trumpeter Snooky Young, vocalist Ernie Andrews, pianist Gene Harris, the Sammy Nestico Big Band, the Charlie Shoemake Orchestra, trumpeter Paul Cacia, and a large Kenton Alumni band; tenor saxophonist Bill Holman, singing pianist Michael Feinstein, vibraphonist Jon Nagourney, and a “West Coast All Star” tribute to composer Jimmy Van Heusen that reunited musicians under drummer Vic Lewis.
Bob Cooper opened the 1990s by playing tenor saxophone on Madonna’s Dick Tracy-inspired album I’m Breathless, followed by an intimate session with vocalist Sue Raney and a dual-tenor date with Doc Severinsen’s featured saxophonist Pete Christlieb. He contributed to the soundtrack of Neil Simon’s racy romantic comedy The Marrying Man and to studio bands supporting vocalists Manhattan Transfer, Rosemary Clooney, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral. The closing months of his long career found him characteristically active, recording with pianist Frank Strazzeri, assisting on Frank Sinatra’s commercially successful album of overdubbed Duets, and accompanying vocalist Lucie Arnaz. Bob Cooper’s final live recording captured a concert performance with trumpeter Conte Candoli; weeks afterward, on August 5, 1993, he began to feel chest pains while driving home from a session backing vocalist Karrin Allyson. Pulling over and stopping his car on the shoulder of the Hollywood Freeway, Bob Cooper died quietly of a heart attack at the age of 67.
