Jazz Articles about Cooper-Moore

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 ...

Cooper-Moore: Outtakes 1978

by Jerry D'Souza
January 27, 2006

These outtakes from 1978 conclusively document music as a force with constant appeal. Cooper-Moore is a multi-instrumentalist with many interests and pursuits, the spectrum of his calling seen in the wide range of his music. Improvisation is a key factor in his work, but composition also plays an integral role. Besides, he can grab the ear with his gift for melody.

As is evident from the song titles, each piece is played in different instrumental combinations. One of ...

Cooper-Moore: Outtakes 1978

by Troy Collins
January 16, 2006

A welcome reissue, Outtakes 1978 finds iconic multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore leading a varied set of pieces in the studio. Each track is introduced with its respective title and take number by Gretchen, listed as the recordist for the session; it even sounds like an archival album. Cooper-Moore's infatuation with tribal percussion and gospel-tinged work outs certainly help lend the set an air of timeless nostalgia.

With lineups that vary from duo to full quartet, the album encompasses all of ...

Cooper-Moore and Assif Tsahar: Tells Untold

by Rex Butters
July 18, 2005

Cooper-Moore and Assif Tsahar's follow up to last year's blistering America finds them sounding a mellower tone, with no loss of passion or imagination. Tsahar's improvisational intensity navigates the unique aural worlds created by Cooper-Moore, whether on conventional or invented instruments.

Cooper-Moore plays the marimba-like ashimba while Tsahar simmers on bass clarinet to open “The Eight. The bright, lovely little flute/harp/guitar/mouth-bow multitracked “Tribes Gathering also features a tasty bass clarinet solo by Tsahar. The unique sound of the mouth-bow blooms ...

Cooper-Moore/Assif Tsahar: Tells Untold

by Eyal Hareuveni
May 21, 2005

On Tells Untold, homemade-instrument inventor Cooper-Moore and Israeli reed man Assif Tsahar keep refining their unique, hard-to-classify musical language. The narrative evolves around stories that Cooper-Moore and Tsahar told each other during the recording about an ancient tribal mutiny against the tribe's king, and it has a more meditative atmosphere than their previous collaboration, America (Hopscotch, 2003). The recording process this time was a bit longer and involved many overdubs; Cooper-Moore gave up the piano, but the outcome is as ...

Cooper-Moore: A Journey on the Road

by AAJ Staff
March 8, 2005

By Cooper-Moore Confucius said, “To learn and to practice what is learned is pleasure, is it not? To have friends come from afar is happiness, is it not? To be unperturbed when not appreciated by others is gentlemanly, is it not?" My 58th birthday, 4 am on a Sunday morning and I'm laid out on the living room floor, unable to move, back spasms and pain that have me begging my wife, Doreen, to call ...

Cooper-Moore & Assif Tsahar: America

by Rex Butters
June 1, 2004

After adopting a low profile following the breakup of William Parker’s In Order to Survive band, Cooper-Moore returns very high profile in duet with leather-lunged reed man Assif Tsahar, who also brings acoustic guitar. Cooper-Moore, known for a pianistic range that allows him to be elegiac or shred, adds his homemade diddley-bo and mouth bow, as well as banjo, drums and cymbals, to enliven the sound. A surprisingly rich presentation of American culture results, all referencing back to Cooper-Moore’s opening ...