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Henry Cook
Henry Cook is a multi-reed player, whose instruments include alto and baritone saxophones, flute, alto and bass flutes, and a variety of folk woodwinds.
About Me
Henry Cook is a multi-reed player, whose instruments include alto and baritone saxophones, flute, alto and bass flutes, and a variety of folk woodwinds. His passion for many styles of music, including blues, funk, latin as well as African and Arabic musical forms have given him a very eclectic and innovative approach to playing.
His musical associations include Famoudou Don Moye, John Tchicai, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Cecil Brooks, Howard Johnson, Steve Neil, Joe Bonner, Donald Smith and Mark Johnson among others, each of whom has played on some of jazz' most important recordings.
After studying with Joe Viola at the Berklee college of music in the early eighties, he began his career in Boston playing with the Billy Skinner Double Jazz Quartet. Over the next few years, they traveled throughout the Northeast, as well as England and Northern Ireland.
He eventually formed his own band, which performed across the US, and in 1996 did a tour in Mexico. In addition to his own band, Cook has had a long musical partnerships with the Either/Orchestra, Salim Washington’s Roxbury Blues Aesthetic and Jorge Arce’s Humano.
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Cook's recordings include:
Dimensional Odyssey which won the Boston Music Award for Best Indie Jazz Album and garnered rave reviews in Down Beat, Jazz Times, Cadence, Stereo Review and CD Review:
Live at Montreux-Detroit which was also well received by the media, and got heavy airplay on jazz radio coast to coast, and brought the band and its members many award nominations..
Harlem Homecoming by the Harlem Arts Ensemble
Love in Exile by Salim Washington's Roxbury Blues Aesthetic
Kosen Rufu with the Billy Skinner DJQ
Live in Addis with the Either/Orchestra, an album devoted to Ethiopian music.
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Cook has played in major festivals around the world, including:
European Jazz Expo - Cagliari, Italy
Sant'Elpidio Jazz Festival - Italy
Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival – Detroit USA
Cork Jazz Festival, Cork, Ireland
DuMaurier Jazz Festival, Toronto, Canada
Festival Internacional de San Miguel De Allende, Mexico
Ethiopian Music Festival – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Kampala Festival of the Arts - Kampala, Uganda
Discovery Jazz Festival, Vermont, USA
Boston Globe Jazz Festival - Boston, USA
International Assoc. of Jazz Educators Conference, San Diego USA
In addition to performing, Henry has been teaching jazz, flute, and saxophone for over twenty years. He has given music clinics across the United States, in Europe and Africa.