Although Marva Griffin Carter's biography of Will Marion Cook is too short, it is required reading for a study of one of the most pivotal figures in the prehistory of jazz music. Admittedly, I only knew of Will Marion Cook in passing through his son's reputation as one of the translators of Jacques Roumain's magnum opus, but his name is frequently mentioned in the context of African American music of the pre-jazz era. Undoubtedly, Cook's talents as a composer for black musical theater in the 1890s and 1900s helped pave the way forward for jazz by opening doors to black musicians in New York City.
The Southern Syncopated Orchestra, unfortunately, was never recorded. But if arrangements from that Cook orchestra are ever located, it would be interesting to see in what ways it was a precursor to big band jazz. We know that Cook, like Europe, wanted to develop a uniquely African American musical aesthetic, which featured aspects of ragtime and proto-jazz. The number of jazz musicians who went on to leave a significant mark in the genre are plentiful, including Duke Ellington who perhaps best encapsulated Cook's desire to combine elements of highbrow and lowbrow musical expressions into a new aesthetic reflecting "racial" consciousness.
The Southern Syncopated Orchestra, unfortunately, was never recorded. But if arrangements from that Cook orchestra are ever located, it would be interesting to see in what ways it was a precursor to big band jazz. We know that Cook, like Europe, wanted to develop a uniquely African American musical aesthetic, which featured aspects of ragtime and proto-jazz. The number of jazz musicians who went on to leave a significant mark in the genre are plentiful, including Duke Ellington who perhaps best encapsulated Cook's desire to combine elements of highbrow and lowbrow musical expressions into a new aesthetic reflecting "racial" consciousness.
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