MIKE COOPER
Genres: Jazz Related Improv, Composition, Blues, Pop, Art Song, Folk, Exotica, Dub, Ska, Reggae, Avant-Garde Jazz • United Kingdom

Influential British guitarist Mike Cooper is primarily regarded as a folk-blues guitarist and singer/songwriter, though his wide range of work cannot be so easily defined. He is also a celebrated improviser and electronic musician. In addition, he creates sound installations and radio art; he's a videographer, journalist, and music historian; and he performs scores for silent films. Cooper was born in Reading, England in 1942. He began playing guitar at the age of 16. Initially inspired by New Orleans and Dixieland jazz, he played in skiffle groups during the late '50s. His life changed drastically in 1961 when he saw Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee at Reading's town hall and later witnessed James Cotton playing with Chris Barber at a local music festival. Naturally, he began to play harmonica as well as guitar. Cooper co-founded the band the Blues Committee, an R&B group based on the heady example set by Alexis Korner. read more...