Celebrating the life and music of the multi-dimensional drummer and composer, Jerome Cooper.

Born in 1946, Jerome is best known for his solo work, as a band leader, as a member of Art Ensemble of Chicago and Revolutionary Ensemble, and for his collaborations with Cecil Taylor, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, Anthony Braxton, and Kresten Osgood to name a few. Jerome died on May 6, 2015, in Brooklyn, NY.

This split tape we present to you consists of The Mimetic Suite written and performed by the Danish keyboard and piano player Rasmus Kjaer, and an archival recording, made just before Jerome’s passing, of Jerome’s composition My Birds performed by Jerome himself in a duo with Tomo Jacobson on double bass.

THE MIMETIC SUITE
Rasmus says:
“The Mimetic Suite draws on the spirit of Jerome’s music, his way of composing, and his use of pre-recorded structures as building blocks in making music. This piece is an imagining of Jerome’s travels as he was gathering inspiration from traditional music cultures around the world.
I went through an intense period of studying Jerome Cooper’s music after being his student at Jyderup Accordeontræf 2014 (a workshop for improvised music organized by Kresten Osgood).
After Cooper left us in 2015, I organized a memorial concert in 2017 in Copenhagen with performances by me (solo), our ensemble from Jyderup Accordeontræf, and Kresten Osgood Quintet. A beautiful night it was, where Cooper’s ex-wife Beth Cummins was also present. That night I also premiered the first version of the suite live with the ensemble.
After recording the suite, I shelved it for years but now it finally found its right platform in collaboration with Gotta Let It Out and Tomo Jacobson.


MY BIRDS
Tomo says:
“I met Jerome for the first time, just like Rasmus, at Jyderup Accordeontræf 2014. He was chatty, his laughter contagious, he was hip beyond. His drums, synth, and reed playing blew my mind of course, and changed my life forever.
A few months later I was moving for a year to NYC as a part of my studies, and called him right away to ask if he’d be willing to meet and play. I got some money from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory for lessons, so I was able to pay him for his time from that.
He kindly agreed, but only on the condition that we would be meeting regularly for a while. I was thrilled of course. In the end, we only met a few times before his passing.
The first time I visited him in his apartment, we didn’t play but just talked. Well, he talked most of the time. I don’t mean it in a bad way, just that he had a lot to say and I didn’t. The second time I visited him, there was an incredibly different vibe around him. He was dressed up in robes and had his ceremonial dagger on him. He didn’t talk at all. I tried to strike a casual conversation, but he’d just ignore me or answer in a way that wouldn’t leave anything more for me to say. The contrast confused me, but I went with it. I didn’t get it at that time, but I guess he was in the tone world already. There’s a chatting time, and there’s a music time, and you don’t mix them, was the message. I unpacked my bass. And then without saying anything he sat by his Yamaha PSR-1500 and started playing what I only later learned was his composition ‘My Birds’ (from the 2010 CD ‘A Magical Approach’ and Revolutionary Ensemble’s 2012 album ‘Counterparts’). He went for it. I love him for that. The fact that he just played out his life for 20+ minutes with me that day is a kind of generosity I’ll never forget. He had a spirit, a real spirit.
A few years ago Rasmus wrote to me that he’d like to release The Mimetic Suite on my label Gotta Let It Out. I was into it but thought it should be a split tape, and then for a few years, I couldn’t find anything matching for the B side. About a year ago I stumbled upon this recording on my hard drive and thought that if anything could become a B side for Rasmus’ piece that he wrote in Jerome’s memory, it would be Jerome himself. And we went for it. Here you go, love to Jerome solidified into a cassette tape. Presto!”