Alan Cooper

b. 15 February 1931, Leeds, England, d. 22 August 2007, London, England. Playing several instruments, notably different members of the clarinet family, Cooper made a valuable contribution to various traditional jazz bands in the UK. In particular, he was a member of the Yorkshire Jazz Band and also played with the Temperance 7. Although settings such as these might have proved to be confining for a lesser musician, Cooper was able to display a large measure of originality in his playing. As distinguished an observer of the British jazz scene as Digby Fairweather, with whom Coo...