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William Parker / Hamid Drake / Cooper-Moore: Heart Trio
by John Sharpe
By largely leaving behind their main instruments, three stalwarts of the New York avant jazz scene tap into something timeless and elemental on Heart Trio. Instead of his customary bass, William Parker wields an array of flutes, double reeds, and the doson ngoni, a six-stringed hunter's harp from West Africa allegedly the ancestor of the banjo. His long-time partner Chicago drummer Hamid Drake remains at his kit, which he supplements with a frame drum, while erstwhile pianist Cooper-Moore, another habitué ...
Continue ReadingFrancisco Mela: Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 2
by John Sharpe
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 ...
Continue ReadingCooper-Moore: Catharsis and Creation in Community Spirit
by Jakob Baekgaard
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 ...
Continue ReadingVision Festival 2017
by Frank Rubolino
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 ...
Continue ReadingCooper-Moore: The Cedar Box Recordings
by Ted Gordon
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 ...
Continue ReadingCooper-Moore: The Cedar Box Recordings
by Mark Corroto
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 ...
Continue ReadingCooper-Moore / Assif Tsahar / Chad Taylor: Digital Primitives
by Ian Patterson
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 ...
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