Jesse Cook
Encyclopedia
Jesse Cook is a Toronto
-based guitarist, born in Paris
to Canadian parents. Like other guitarists of his style of music, he incorporates funky jazz, latin & world music
into his playing. Cook is also well known for the energy of his live shows. He has contributed to the Afro Celt Sound System
album Seed, and often has other popular recording artists contribute vocals on his own albums. He has recorded on the Narada
label.
and television director and producer Heather Cook, Jesse Cook spent the first few years of his life moving between Paris, Southern France and Barcelona. As a toddler he was fascinated by the guitar and tried to emulate the sound he heard coming from his parents' recordings of Manitas de Plata
, a famous Gypsy guitarist from the region of Southern France known as the Camargue.
After his parents separated, Cook and his sister accompanied his mother to her birth country, Canada
. Recognizing the musical aptitude of her son, lessons followed at Toronto’s Eli Kassner Guitar Academy. Kassner's other famous pupil was classical guitarist Liona Boyd
.
While Cook was still a teenager, his father retired to the French city of Arles in the Camargue where his neighbor just happened to be Nicolas Reyes
, lead singer of the flamenco group the Gipsy Kings
.
During frequent visits to Arles, Jesse Cook became increasingly fascinated by the “Camargue sound”, the rhythmic, flamenco-rumba approach that could be heard on many corners and cafés in the “gipsy barrio”.
Back at home, he continued his studies in classical and jazz guitar in some of North America’s most prestigious music schools, including the legendary Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has often quipped that he later attempted to unlearn it all while immersing himself in the oral traditions of Gypsy music. This helped him widen his range of musical tastes.
The 1995 Catalina Jazz Festival was a turning point in his career. His debut album 'Tempest' had been independently released in Canada. Within a month, a deal with American company Narada allowed them to be booked at the Catalina Jazz festival. Originally the band was to perform during the twenty minute intermissions in a little bar downstairs from the main stage. His performance was well appreciated, so appreciated in fact that Cook was invited to give a performance on the main stage. Shortly afterwards, Tempest entered the American Billboard charts at #14.
Cook has recorded seven studio albums, two live DVDs and has traveled the world exploring musical traditions that he has blended into his style of rumba flamenco. In addition to headlining concerts and festivals, he has opened for such legends as B.B. King, Ray Charles
and Diana Krall
. He has performed with Welsh soprano Charlotte Church
on the Tonight Show and toured with legendary Irish band, The Chieftains
.
His music has been featured on several episodes of Sex in The City, The Chris Isaac Show and several Olympic Games.
In 2001, Cook won a Juno Award
in the Best Instrumental Album category for “Free Fall.” In 2009, he was Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco category (gold went to Paco de Lucia). He is a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year and numerous other awards.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based guitarist, born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Canadian parents. Like other guitarists of his style of music, he incorporates funky jazz, latin & world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
into his playing. Cook is also well known for the energy of his live shows. He has contributed to the Afro Celt Sound System
Afro Celt Sound System
The Afro Celt Sound System is a musical group which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African music...
album Seed, and often has other popular recording artists contribute vocals on his own albums. He has recorded on the Narada
Narada Productions
Narada is a record label formed 1983 as an independent New Age music label and distributed by MCA Records. Now a fully owned subsidiary of EMI, Narada evolved through an expansion of formats to include music from other styles including world music, jazz, Celtic music, new flamenco, acoustic guitar...
label.
Biography
Born in Paris on 29 November 1964 to photographer and filmmaker John CookJohn Cook (filmmaker)
John Cook was an Austrian filmmaker. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada , Cook lived and worked most of his life in Europe and often referred to himself as "Viennese by choice" , having moved to Austria in the late 1960s after a career in commercial photography in Paris...
and television director and producer Heather Cook, Jesse Cook spent the first few years of his life moving between Paris, Southern France and Barcelona. As a toddler he was fascinated by the guitar and tried to emulate the sound he heard coming from his parents' recordings of Manitas de Plata
Manitas de Plata
Manitas de Plata . is a French Gitano flamenco guitarist.-Life:He was born in a Gypsy caravan in Sète in southern France...
, a famous Gypsy guitarist from the region of Southern France known as the Camargue.
After his parents separated, Cook and his sister accompanied his mother to her birth country, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Recognizing the musical aptitude of her son, lessons followed at Toronto’s Eli Kassner Guitar Academy. Kassner's other famous pupil was classical guitarist Liona Boyd
Liona Boyd
Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd, LLD, D.Mus, CM, O.Ont, is a Canadian classical guitarist, composer, songwriter and singer. Boyd was born in London, England on July 11, 1949, moved to Canada with her parents when she was eight years old and became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1975...
.
While Cook was still a teenager, his father retired to the French city of Arles in the Camargue where his neighbor just happened to be Nicolas Reyes
Nicolas Reyes
Nicolas Reyes is the lead singer of the musical group the Gipsy Kings. He sings in various styles which mainly include traditional and popular versions of flamenco and Latino-American dance music rumba. With his hoarse and passionate voice he is one of most prominent flamenco singers...
, lead singer of the flamenco group the Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings
The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...
.
During frequent visits to Arles, Jesse Cook became increasingly fascinated by the “Camargue sound”, the rhythmic, flamenco-rumba approach that could be heard on many corners and cafés in the “gipsy barrio”.
Back at home, he continued his studies in classical and jazz guitar in some of North America’s most prestigious music schools, including the legendary Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has often quipped that he later attempted to unlearn it all while immersing himself in the oral traditions of Gypsy music. This helped him widen his range of musical tastes.
Cook has recorded seven studio albums, two live DVDs and has traveled the world exploring musical traditions that he has blended into his style of rumba flamenco. In addition to headlining concerts and festivals, he has opened for such legends as B.B. King, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
. He has performed with Welsh soprano Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
on the Tonight Show and toured with legendary Irish band, The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
.
His music has been featured on several episodes of Sex in The City, The Chris Isaac Show and several Olympic Games.
In 2001, Cook won a Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
in the Best Instrumental Album category for “Free Fall.” In 2009, he was Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco category (gold went to Paco de Lucia). He is a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year and numerous other awards.
Discography
- Tempest (1995)
- GravityGravity (Jesse Cook album)-Track listing:# "Mario Takes a Walk" – 3:47# "Azul" – 4:16# "Gravity" – 3:57# "Closer to Madness" – 5:49# "Into the Dark" – 4:15# "Brio" – 3:15# "Falling From Grace" – 3:33# "Olodum" – 3:32...
(1996) - VertigoVertigo (Jesse Cook album)Vertigo is the third album by the New Flamenco artist Jesse Cook. Musicians vary by track, including Jesse Cook, Stanley Dural Jr. aka Buckwheat Zydeco, Art Avalos, Ofra Harnoy, Blake Manning, Carmen Romero, Miguel de la Bastide, Djivan Gasparyan, George Koller, Mario Melo, Etric Lyons, and Holly...
(1998) - Free Fall (2000)
- Nomad (2003)
- Montreal (2004)
- Ultimate Jesse Cook (2005)
- FrontiersFrontiers (Jesse Cook album)Frontiers is the sixth album by Jesse Cook. According to Cook's official web page, inspiration for the album came from a "temporary move with his wife to Seville, Spain" and the birth of his first child, Lucas Cook . Cook and nine other musicians recorded the album at Coach House Music in Canada....
(2007) - The Rumba FoundationThe Rumba Foundation (Jesse Cook album)The Rumba Foundation is the ninth studio album by New Flamenco artist Jesse Cook. It was released on September 29, 2009.-Track listing:...
(2009)
Compilation appearances
- Narada Smooth JazzNarada Smooth JazzNarada Smooth Jazz is a 1997 compilation release by Narada. It peaked at #25 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums in the same year.-Track listing:*1.01 "Redwood/Nocturne" – Spencer Brewer – 4:20...
- The Next Generation - Narada SamplerThe Next Generation - Narada SamplerThe Next Generation - Explore Our World is a 1997 Narada sampler introducing their "Next Generation" of artists.-Track listing:#Jesse Cook Introduction – 0:52#"Mario Takes A Walk" – Jesse Cook – 3:47...
- Narada Film and Television Music SamplerNarada Film and Television Music SamplerNarada Films and Television Music Sampler is a 2003 U.S. EMI Film & TV Music publishing 2CD sampler that represents an overview of the Narada catalog, demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the Narada roster.-Disc One:...
External links
- Guitarist Jesse Cook - his official website.