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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCOOK, Will Marion(b 27 January 1869, Washington DC; d 19 July 1944, NYC) Composer, conductor, violinist. Studied at Oberlin, in Berlin, in NYC with Antonín Dvořák. He wrote or co-wrote or appeared in a dozen or so musical shows in the first decade of the 20th century, allegedly after aspiring to a career as a 'classical' composer. He wrote music for dancer Bert Williams, and co-wrote In Darkeydom in 1914, with James Reese Europe. He toured the USA and Europe with an orchestra including Sidney Bechet in 1918-19 including a command performance for King George V. He spent later years as a choral and orchestral conductor. As a prominent black leader with formal musical training, he influenced the next generation; Duke Ellington had long conversations with him about composition, and perhaps more formal training. The Ellington and Cook families were neighbors and close friends in Washington; Duke's piano teacher was Mrs Cook's accompanist, and Mercer Cook was Duke's close friend; see Ellington. Cook's songs included the early jazz classic 'I'm Coming Virginia'. His 'Bon Bon Buddy, The Chocolate Drop' (lyrics by Alex Rogers) was used in Cole and Johnson's musical show Bandana Land, and maybe also in In Dahomey. That's why Louis Armstrong starts out his vocal with 'Chocolate drop, that's me!' on his first recording of 'Shine'; both that and 'Li'l Farina' (recorded by the young Duke Ellington, but probably not his composition) open with a phrase from Cook's song. Cook's talent had a reach far beyond his posthumous fame. The late tenor William Brown recorded some of Cook's songs on Fi-Yer! A Century of African-American Song on the Albany label (1999) and then did a 2-CD set of 26 Cook songs, Swing Along: The Songs of Will Marion Cook on the same label (2006). Brown, who has since passed away, was over 60 when he made the latter set, and one critic described the singing as rough, adding that some songs (such as 'Bon Bon Buddy') which should go at a jog are treated as though they were ballads. |