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Junior Cook

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Junior Cook
Background information
Born
Herman Cook

(1934-07-22)July 22, 1934
OriginPensacola, Florida, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 1992(1992-02-03) (aged 57)
New York City, U.S.
GenresJazz, hard bop
OccupationMusician
InstrumentsSaxophone, flute
Years active1958-1992

Herman "Junior" Cook (July 22, 1934 – February 3, 1992)[1] was an American hard bop tenor saxophone player.

Biography

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Cook was born in Pensacola, Florida.[1] A member of a musical family, he started on alto saxophone before switching to tenor during his high school years.[2]

After playing with Dizzy Gillespie in 1958, Cook was a member of the Horace Silver Quintet (1958–1964); when Silver left the group in the hands of Blue Mitchell Cook stayed in the quintet for five more years (1964–1969).[1] Later associations included Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, George Coleman, Louis Hayes (1975–1976), Bill Hardman (1979–1989), and the McCoy Tyner big band.[1]

In addition to many appearances as a sideman, Junior Cook recorded as a leader for Jazzland (1961), Catalyst (1977), Muse, and SteepleChase.

He also taught at Berklee School of Music for a year during the 1970s.[1][3]

In the early 1990s, Cook was playing with Clifford Jordan, and also leading his own group. He died in February 1992 in his apartment in New York City, aged 57.[3]

Saxophonist Courtney M. Nero authored "Have Horn, Will Travel: The Life and Music of Herman "Junior" Cook," the first full-length biography of Cook's life and career. The book was published in November 2025 by University of North Texas Press and sheds additional light on Cook's beginnings in Pensacola, his pre-Horace Silver career, and his impact on a generation of young jazz musicians in New York City, especially in the 1980s New York City jam session scene.[4]

Discography

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As leader/co-leader

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As sideman

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With Horace Silver

With Barry Harris

With Bill Hardman

With Freddie Hubbard

With Clifford Jordan

With Blue Mitchell

With others

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 553. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ "Junior Cook at All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Junior Cook, 57, Tenor Saxophonist In Jazz Ensembles". The New York Times. February 5, 1992. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
  4. ^ Nero, Courtney M. (2025). Have horn, will travel: a biography of Herman "Junior" Cook. Number 21 in the North Texas lives of musicians series. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-990-0.
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