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Jim Cooper

Jim is a jazz vibraphonist, composer and teacher living in the West Michigan area.

About Me

Jim Cooper, the award-winning vibraphonist, composer and teacher, has been playing jazz for over 45 years, leading numerous groups and appearing as both soloist and sideman. Over the years he has performed with a wide variety of jazz performers including Frank Wess, Milt Hinton, Ira Sullivan, Barrett Deems, Dave Bennett, Buddy de Franco and Jon Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble to name a few, and has shared the stage with the great Joe Lovano! A native Chicagoan, Jim’s appearances include The Chicago Jazz Festival, Grand Rapids Jazz Festival, Chicago’s Millennium Park, Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase, West Michigan Jazz Society, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge as well as concerts and clubs in Cleveland and Phoenix. With six CDs as a leader and a Delmark recording artist in the early 90s, his 2019 release, Make Someone Happy, features the late multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan. In 2015 Jim won ArtPrize's “Best Jazz Composition Award” for his song, “Third Circle.” In 2019 his song, “Mallethead” was included in the book, The City Was Yellow, Chicago Jazz and Improvised Music 1980-2010. Jim has taught music classes at Lake Michigan College since 2001, the same year he starting teaching summer sessions at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He endorses Musser vibes and Mike Balter mallets. For more info on Jim, visit his website, www.jimcooper.net.