BIO and REVIEWS 

Jim Cooper, the award winning vibraphonist, composer and educator, has been playing the vibes for over 50 years, leading numerous groups and appearing  both as soloist and sideman.  Though, not exactly a household name among jazz vibraphonists, The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Cooper is not just a strong soloist but an accomplished band-leader as well…he played with a degree of subtlety and craft one does not often encounter in the work of performers far better known than he.” 

Over the years, Jim has performed with some amazing jazz artists like Frank Wess, Milt Hinton, Mark Levine, Marcus Belgrave, Ira Sullivan, Buddy de Franco, Jon Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and Michigan musicians Dave Bennett, Jeff Haas, Jerry McKenzie and Tad Weed among many others. 

In the 1980s he teamed up with pianist and composer Bob Dogan, the Jim Cooper/Bob Dogan Quintet appeared at all the major jazz clubs and festivals in Chicago.  He has appeared in many clubs, concerts and festivals including Sutton’s Bay (MI) Jazz Festival, Lansing Jazz Festival, Sedona Jazz on the Rocks, Grand Rapids Jazz Festival, The South Haven Jazz Festival, Paradise Valley Jazz Party (AZ), Chicago’s Millennium Park, Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase, Chicago’s Green Mill,  Andy's, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, Cleveland's Bop Stop and makes annual trips to Phoenix, AZ to perform. 

 After beginning an association with the legendary multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, they released two Delmark recordings, Tough Town and Nutville and received favorable reviews,  “. . . he’s no kid, judging by his mature lines . . . a warm vibist who goes for the heart.” Jazz Times    After that, Jim released Itchin' to Groove, Trio Musik, Chi-Town Sessions and Make Someone Happy on his Jazmyn Records label.

Jim's awards include a 1996 National Endowment for the Arts grant, a WYCE-FM "Jammie Award," and ArtPrize's 2015 "Best Jazz Composition Award" for his song, Third Circle.  His song, Mallethead was included in the 2019 book, The City Was Yellow, Chicago Jazz and Improvised Music 1980-2010. 

Jim has taught jazz studies at the Taipei National Institute of the Arts, jazz vibraphone for the Jazz Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University and has given clinics and workshops around the country. Since 2001, he has taught at Blue Lake Fine Arts Summer Camp and is currently an adjunct music instructor at Lake Michigan College. He endorses Musser Vibes and Mike Balter Mallets. 

  

REVIEWS 

“. . . the more you listen, the more you appreciate the quiet but marked strength of Cooper’s style . . . he impresses with his stylistic range and the harmonically assured manner in which he draws his fellow players together.” 

Chicago Sun-Times 

  

“Cooper is not just a strong soloist but an accomplished band-leader as well, he played with a degree of subtlety and craft one does not often encounter in the work of performers far better known than he.” 

Chicago Tribune 

  

“. . . he’s no kid, judging by his mature lines . . . a warm vibist who goes for the heart.” 

Jazz Times 

  

“There seems no limit to the range of Cooper’s moods and themes: he delves deeply into each tune, from bop to bossa....he maintains openness through his warm, unfettered lines.” 

Cleveland (OH) Jazz Report 

  

 “. . . nothing tricky, nothing overly glossy, and nothing so sophisticated that it’s lost touch with the streets.” 

Chicago Reader 

  

“...your vibes are warm and true, the McCoy!” 

Studs Terkel 

  

“Cooper gave the evening the sort of depth of modern jazz knowledge you’d expect from a Chicagoan.”....masterful vibraphone playing..." 

Grand Rapids Press 

  

“When the mallets are in the hands of the exceptionally talented Jim Cooper, it’s an extraordinary and inspired performance vs. the mere ordinary! 

Grand Rapids Jazz Society Newsletter 

  

 "Jim is the real deal, he's been there, done that and has been woefully under-recorded during his long career."

International Association of Jazz Record Collectors

 

"An imaginative improviser, Cooper delivered quicksilver solos and propulsive rhythms..." 

AZ Music Scene 

  

“...a very good player of standards and originals...deserving wider recognition." 

All Music Guide 

  "Cooper never missed a note,  the man is as smooth on the vibraphone as a baby's hand in the breeze." 

Burlington (IA) Hawkeye

 
"What a wonderful exhilarating show. A bit of blues and lots of fun jazz! Loved it!"
Ann Raymond Meyers