Michael Cooke - Reviews & Testimonials
MICHAEL COOKE BRINGS AN ABUNDANCE OF HUMOR AND WIT AS WELL AS SOME CONSUMMATE PIANO PLAYING TO THE HISTORIC CATALINA JAZZ VENUE IN HOLLYWOOD
By: T.S. Kerrigan
Michael Cooke is one of those rare originals who comes by in our lives now and again, but, not nearly often enough. His solo show recently on a rainy night at the Catalina Jazz Club, where so many artists have appeared over the years, was unparalleled in the memory of this reviewer, not only for his virtuosity on the key board, but for his brilliant running repartee, repartee about not only jazz and its performers, but on such diverse subjects as the relationship between Churchill and FDR (the former reportedly having said that meeting FDR“ was like opening your first bottle of champagne,” and that “knowing him was like drinking it”) and the philosophic in general. This was a performance that at times was profound, and at other times was riotously funny.
At one point Cooke quotes the late Malcolm Muggeridge on friendship as “a relationship which is lasting, which is enriching, which is the source of peace and not of restlessness, and which provides one in dark moments with great comfort; that it should be there, that it asks nothing in return for itself, that it takes one above controversy, carnality, that sort of thing.” And when was the last time you heard words like that expressed in a jazz nightclub?
Cooke begins the evening by coming onstage, where he swirls an imaginary snifter of brandy and then guiltily engages in a forbidden smoke. He goes on from there to stories about Ahmad Jamal, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and other jazz greats, with astonishing duplications of each legend’s piano style, making love, as it were, to his keyboard and showing us that he can hold his own with the artists he admires so much. One need not be an aficionado of jazz to enjoy Cooke’s wonderful eccentricities on stage. You can’t keep your eyes off him for a second without missing some telling gesture, some almost sotto voce suggestion, but that being said, it is not likely that you will be able to keep your eyes off him in any event, he is that compelling a performer.
Though he plans to take this show on tour around the country, and maintains that it is still a work in progress, there is already a wealth of material here, a full evening of entertainment. One can only speculate what new rabbits he will pull out of hats for us in the future. The only thing that appeared to be missing the other night were the encores the packed house kept calling for.
DATELINE – Hollywood
by: Elizabeth McCallan
It’s a wet Tuesday night in LA., but I head over the hill for Hollywood anyway. Turning right on Sunset from Cahuenga I see a marquee a few blocks away…Michael Cooke Tonight at Catalina's….Him! The Jazzman!
I hang a right and find myself on McCadden! McCadden? Jesus! Carmen had a thing for him. She lived on McCadden, just up the damned street. I had a thing for her! She was mad as a #!Xz*#! Hatter, and I couldn't get enough of her. And I was getting plenty of her ’til the Jazzman started playin' at Catalina's. But that’s another story for another night.
Tonight the Jazzman has managed to fill the place and by God the cover is steep, but he can do that, fill the place I mean. He’s that good. He can fill a place on a wet Tuesday night. He has the audience in the palm of his hand. I sit in the dark nursing a Manhattan making sure he doesn’t see me.
FAN COMMENTS
“You are a whirlwind of talent. You have an amazing ability to convey interesting stories in a way that makes the audience think that we were actually there at the time they occurred! Your boldness at the piano comes forth as you make it your own. Many times I had the feeling that you were the composer and then you graciously announced the composer. I loved the variety of textures and creative voicings and colors.“
—Howard Richman, piano instructor, composer, pianist
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a show here quite like the one you did tonight.“
—Manny, Manager of Catalina Jazz Club
“Wonderful, simply wonderful. Thank you for sharing your great talent with us. Enjoyed myself totally. That’s because you are so damn ’unique’...actually, I felt the entire evening as if I were reading a book...a book with music, stories, quips, etc. And the book was YOU!!! And the comfort was there. Congratulations again.“
—Chairani (Linda) Milo, educator
“Your show was wonderful! You are phenomenal when you ... pull out all the stops - and become the crazy man that you are! Keep getting crazier...I can’t put it any other way! We absolutely love you! I can’t wait or the next show...I hope it’s soon.“
—Aaron Ryan
“You are a man of rare gifts and depth, a vaudeville man with the breadth of a Jazz man and the requisite passion and gray matter to accompany it. I understand your sense of obvious delight and inner calm. That is the feeling that should pervade the sharing of your deepest love with the people you love and the friends they brought along. I look forward to you sharing your love of this music with a whole new crowd. You the man baby, you the Thelonious Monster man! ... PS- Sing more. It’s lovely to hear your rich baritone and my favorite piece was the song about our little planet spinning in lonely space and the wit of the lyrics only enhanced the beauty of the melody and arrangement.“
—Shishir Kurup, actor, playwright, director, composer
“You are amazing. You are wonderful. You were so, and of course are, so ineffably yourself! This above all moves me deeply, makes me applaud you loudly. It was a magical evening, one that I wouldn’t have missed for the world, one that I will remember forever. And I want to be there for the next one!“
—Jane Marla Robbins, author, teacher, actress