Buster Cooper

Biography
Articles

Cooper was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. He played in a territory band with Nat Towles in Texas in the late 1940s, and gigged with Lionel Hampton in 1953. He played in the house band at the Apollo Theater in New York City in the mid-1950s, and following this spent time with Benny Goodman. Late in the 1950s he and his brother Steve formed a unit, the Cooper Brothers Band. From 1962 to 1969 he was trombonist in Duke Ellington's Orchestra. In 1973 he moved to Los Angeles and played in various jazz orchestras there over the next two decades; among them were The Juggernaut and Bill Berry's L.A. band. He recorded one album as a co-leader with fellow trombonist Thurman Green. In 1994, he returned to his hometown of St. Petersburg, FL.

Photo Credit
Lisa DeJong

Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Live at Falkoner Theatre Copnhagen 1966

Read "Ella Fitzgerald Live at Falkoner Theatre Copnhagen 1966" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
July 2, 2026

The night before Ella Fitzgerald's historic concert with Duke Ellington in Stockholm, she played two concerts in Copenhagen. For Ella Fitzgerald, this was like playing at home because she had an apartment in the city. It was one place where she felt relaxed and it shows in the music. It is Fitzgerald at her most at ease. In fact, she sings more at this concert than she did in Stockholm The tape emanates from a Danmarks Radio broadcast, ...

Album Review

Duke Ellington: Copenhagen 1964

Read "Copenhagen 1964" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
March 3, 2026

All Duke Ellington concerts offered music of substance. Audiences listened patiently through the medleys and Tony Watkins' vocals. Some performances, however, stood apart because they contained material that was fresh--music not yet worn thin by repetition, where both the thinking and playing could still surprise. Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and the orchestra toured Asia (the “Far East") in 1963. Rather than immediately writing new compositions, they deliberately allowed the impressions of the journey to settle, preferring that the process ...