The Cooker

For other uses, see Cooker.

The Cooker
Studio album by Lee Morgan
Released	January 1958 (1958-01) [1]
Recorded	September 29, 1957
Studio	Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, NJ
Genre	Hard bop
Length	38:51
Label	Blue Note BLP 1578
Producer	Alfred Lion
Lee Morgan chronology
City Lights (1957) The Cooker (1958) Candy (1958)

The Cooker is a studio album by the American jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan. It was released through Blue Note Records in January 1958. ^[1] The quintet features saxophonist Pepper Adams and rhythm section Bobby Timmons, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. The recording was made on September 29, 1957.

Background

Recording and composition

Recorded and released while Morgan was still just nineteen years old, The Cooker is the first album to feature his own original compositions, as well as the first without any compositions written by Benny Golson. ^[2]

Style

The Cooker is considered a demonstration of Morgan's early bebop virtuosity, with its frequent double time improvisational lines. ^{[3] [4]} It is also noted for performance trademarks which would later come to typify Morgan's style, such as clipped notes, upward slurs, half-valving, and triple-tonguing. ^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[6]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states, "Morgan plays remarkably well for his age (already ranking just below Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis), making this an essential acquisition." ^[5]

Track listing

Side 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"A Night in Tunisia"	Dizzy Gillespie Frank Paparelli	9:24
2.	"Heavy Dipper"	Morgan	7:05

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Just One of Those Things"	Cole Porter	7:18
2.	"Lover Man"	Jimmy Davis Ram Ramirez Sherman	6:50
3.	"New-Ma"	Morgan	8:14

CD bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Just One of Those Things" (alternate take)	Porter	7:50

Personnel

Musicians

• Lee Morgan – trumpet
• Pepper Adams – baritone saxophone
• Bobby Timmons – piano
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Philly Joe Jones – drums

Technical personnel

• Alfred Lion – producer
• Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer, mastering
• Reid Miles – design
• Francis Wolff – photography
• Robert Levin – liner notes

References

1. "January Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box . New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. 18 January 1958. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
2. van de Linde, François (2019). "Lee Morgan The Cooker (Blue Note 1957)". Flophouse Magazine. flophousemagazine.com.
3. Chell, Samuel (2007). "Lee Morgan: The Cooker". All About Jazz. Elite CafeMedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
4. Waring, Charles (2018). "'The Cooker': How Lee Morgan Became Blue Note's Hottest Teen Star". uDiscoverMusic. uDiscover. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
5. Yanow, Scott Allmusic Review accessed September 27, 2011.
6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 147. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.