BIO
“Player for player, there’s
no better working band in jazz than The Cookers.”
– Andrew Gilbert, The Boston Globe
“A dream team of forward-leaning hard-bop” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times
“This hard-hitting septet wears its name like a mission statement. Rich with a mix of classic elegance and exploration, the group might reference the past by name, but it never sounds less than current.
”
– Chris Barton, The Los Angeles Times
“A remarkable band at the height of its collective powers.” – Chris Waddington, The Times-Picayune
“This is the greatest jazz super-band working.” – Charles L. Latimer, Detroit Metro Times
THE COOKERS Release TIME AND TIME AGAIN On Motema Music
Available September 16, 2014
WORLDWIDE TOUR SCHEDULED IN SUPPORT OF THE ALBUM! (see dates below)
The Cookers are: Billy Harper (Tenor Sax), Eddie Henderson (Trumpet), David Weiss (Trumpet), Donald Harrison (Alto Sax), George Cables (Piano), Cecil McBee (Bass) and Billy Hart (Drums)
After seven years together, The Cookers, who “embody the serious-as-death commitment that it took to thrive on the New York scene some four decades ago” (Andrew Gilbert, The Boston Globe), entered the studio earlier this year to record their fourth album, Time and Time Again, the follow up album to their three critically-acclaimed recordings, Warriors, Cast The First Stone and Believe. On Time and Time again the incredibly high level of musicianship has only increased with the latest offering of fresh, challenging, boundary-pushing music from these legendary, revered, veteran improvisers. Available on Motema Music, September 16, 2014. The Cookers will be touring the globe in support of the album, see dates below.
You can’t buy experience, and The Cookers have it in abundance; combined, the group has over 250 years of experience in the jazz world, and has been a part of over 1,000 recordings. Billy Harper, Cecil McBee, George Cables, Eddie Henderson, and Billy Hart, each bandleaders in their own right, came up in the exhilarating era of the mid 1960s. On Time and Time Again you can hear and feel the decades of living and playing these warhorses have racked up in the bands of jazz stalwarts such as Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd, Max Roach, Art Blakey and many others. Also on full display is the take-no-prisoners approach that the band has become known for worldwide, married with a profound melodic and harmonic sophistication. “If you wondered what has happened to all the passion and intensity, once such essential ingredients of great swinging jazz and now virtually non-existent in so much of today’s outpourings, you’ll find it all in The Cookers,” said Tony Hall in JazzWise Magazine (UK). David Weiss, and the newest member, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, from a younger generation, match their passion and intensity with aplomb.
The breadth of the compositions on Time and Time Again spans more than 40 years, from a revamped version of a Billy Harper tune ‘Sir Galahad’ which he first recorded on his debut album ‘Capra Black’ (in 1973), to two brand new tunes from bassist Cecil McBee, making their debut on this recording. The CD also features music from the pen of Billy Hart, George Cables and David Weiss. Time and Time Again also marks the recording debut of Donald Harrison with The Cookers, a wonderful new addition to this group of “musician’s musicians”. “The process of rehearsing this great music and bringing it to life and then performing and recording it is an amazing experience for me, these brilliant musicians still surprise me on a regular basis,” said trumpeter/bandleader David Weiss.
“The Cookers are more interested in making history than they are in re-living it . . .” (J Hunter, Nippertown), and through the music on Time and Time Again The Cookers produce a mighty force of commitment, to each other, and to the music.
Press Enquiries on The Cookers and Time and Time Again
Please contact: Jason Paul Harman Byrne – Red Cat Publicity,
Email Redcatjazz@mac.com, Tel 347 578 7601
www.redcatontheloose.blogspot.com