The Cookers
Donald Harrison, alto sax, Billy Harper tenor sax, Eddie Henderson, David Weiss trumpet, Danny Grissett piano, Essiet Okon Essiet (replaces Cecil McBee) bass, Victor Lewis (replaces Billy Hart) drums
Experience counts, especially in jazz. The members of The Cookers have been active at the American jazz top for many decades. New York Times calls them ‘a dream team’, ‘a hard-bop wrecking crew’, a supergroup with musicians who came up in the 1960s and have maintained a contemporary approach. They play acoustic jazz in the hard bop tradition, but the open spirit of today’s jazz heroes.
Trumpet player Eddie Henderson formed a quintet with drummer Victor Lewis, who in his turn has collaborated with Woody Shaw and Stan Getz. Double bassist Cecil McBee anchored the Charles Lloyd Quartet alongside Keith Jarrett en Jack DeJohnette. Tenorist Billy Harper played with Lee Morgan, Max Roach en Art Blakey. The band is completed by three slightly younger virtuosos, trumpeter/band leader David Weiss, alto player Donald Harrison, bassist Essiet Okon Essiet and pianist Danny Grissett.
‘A true teamwork band… although the gritty foundation of ’60s hard-bop is in its DNA, the band’s goal lies more in forwarding the momentum that many of the senior members ignited in the ’70s: expanding on the ’60s language with varied grooves and a widened harmonic palette’ (Downbeat).