Jazz Articles about Cooper-Moore

Francisco Mela: Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 2

by John Sharpe
February 4, 2023

The three protagonists gaze out from the cover, variously smiling, appearing wryly amused, and looking stern. The image suggests a will to tackle things head on, without artifice or adornment. To tell it like it is. And that is the result: a thrilling no-nonsense representation of the combined artistry of drummer Francisco Mela, pianist Cooper-Moore and bassist William Parker. Though billed as Volume 2 of Music Frees Our Souls it isn't more from the same session. In ...

Cooper-Moore: Catharsis and Creation in Community Spirit

by Jakob Baekgaard
February 26, 2019

It's tempting to think of a life in music as a linear story with a beginning, middle and end, because that's the way life is: we are born, we live, and then we die. In this narrative, one could assume there will be highs and lows and masterpieces might emerge out of a misty fog of events. The idea is that some pieces of music must be better than others. This way of thinking naturally poses the question of which ...

Vision Festival 2017

by Frank Rubolino
July 6, 2017

New York's Vision Festival of innovative music marked its 22nd anniversary last month with another stellar lineup boasting pioneers of the avant-garde playing alongside a premier cadre of younger musicians. Presented at the historic Judson Memorial Church in the heart of Greenwich Village by Arts for Art, the festival featured six nights of challenging music, much of it instantly composed. Each year, the festival honors a living legend with a Lifetime Achievement award. This year's recipient was Cooper-Moore, who was ...

Cooper-Moore: The Cedar Box Recordings

by Ted Gordon
February 23, 2009

Cooper-Moore, at first glance, can be compared to a savant subway musician: eccentric, obsessed with repeating melodic and rhythmic patterns, fast, passionate, eye-catching. Though many subway musicians would never sound good besides the brief respite they afford a too-crowded platform, occasionally there is one that is so moving, so original and so well-composed that they warrant another listen. That's kind of how it feels when listening to Cooper-Moore's The Cedar Box Recordings. This collection archives both his amazing ...

Cooper-Moore: The Cedar Box Recordings

by Mark Corroto
November 24, 2008

In 2004, the multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore and 50 Miles of Elbow Room released a handmade cedar box filled with 5 vinyl 7" records, each with the artist playing a different handmade instrument. These collectible art pieces were soon sold out.But you're in luck, as AUM Fidelity along with 50 Miles of Elbow Room is repressing the Cedar Box recordings in a limited edition of 500 CDs, silkscreened and hand numbered to commemorate Cooper-Moore's 2008 solo American tour.The ...

Cooper-Moore / Assif Tsahar / Chad Taylor: Digital Primitives

by Ian Patterson
March 14, 2007

Take a touch of blues-edged funk, add some free jazz (of both the howling and Eastern-meditative varieties), a dash of African percussion and a sprinkling of didgeridoo, and you may (or may not) begin to get some idea of the musical gumbo served up by Cooper-Moore, Taylor and Tsahar on Digital Primitives.

And if you don't know your Bo Diddley from your diddley bow, then all will become clear on the opening track, “Turn it Up. Cooper-Moore plays ...

Cooper-Moore: Outtakes 1978

by Jeff Stockton
March 9, 2006

About ten years ago, Cooper-Moore was a bona fide man of mystery. He had a reputation as a formally trained, creatively inspired master improviser who was fluent on just about any instrument he touched (particularly the piano), but he was also in possession of a notoriously maverick heart. It was said he would only perform and record with William Parker, usually with the In Order to Survive quartet. And when he stepped away from the piano, he made his own ...