Trumpeter Willie Cook served as lead player alongside jazz figures including Duke Ellington, Johnny Hartman, and Count Basie. Additional associations brought him together with Earl "Fatha" Hinds, Jimmy Lunceford, B.B. King, and Dizzy Gillespie. Born in Tangipahoa, LA, he relocated with his family to East Chicago, IL during childhood. Early exposure to instruments led him first to the violin; after changing to trumpet during his teens, he entered the King Perry band. In the early '40s he assumed the chair vacated by Charlie Parker within Jay McShann's ensemble, where his recording debut occurred on McShann's "Say Forward I'll March." The year 1951 found him performing with Duke Ellington. By the late '70s he had begun appearing onstage with Count Basie. During a 1982 Swedish tour the trumpeter chose to settle permanently in that country. He appears in the 1985 Swingtime Video home release Meet the Bandleaders with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. Willie Cook died in Stockholm, Sweden, at age 75 on September 22, 2000. His performances remain audible on Duke Ellington releases such as Three Suites, Up in Duke's Workshop, At Birdland 1952, The Pasadena Concert [1953], and Monterey Jazz Festival, Vol. 1; on Dizzy Gillespie's The Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1937-1949; on Ella Fitzgerald titles including The Best of the Songbooks and Verve Jazz Masters 6: Ella Fitzgerald; and on Earl Hines sets covering 1942-1945 and Golden Age of Swing, Vol. 3, among numerous additional recordings.
