(Bop) The Cookers Quintet - Volume One - 2014, MP3, 320

The Cookers Quintet are a Toronto-based jazz combo, with a sound firmly rooted in the ‘50s and ‘60s hard bop movement.
The Cookers core members each bring their own unique qualities to the band’s sound. Saxophonist Ryan Oliver’s fat, full tenor tone might bring to mind heavyweight Dexter Gordon, but it’s blended with sophistication and subtlety. Oliver shares the front line with Tim Hamel, a trumpet player that can bring a hot, uptempo number to a boil and then carry a ballad with lyricism and beauty minutes later. The rock solid foundation of all this is bassist Alex Coleman, who’s clearly grounded in the Ray Brown/Paul Chambers school of keeping the bass steady and swinging. Rounding out the group is pianist Richard Whiteman, a veteran of the Toronto music scene, and Vancouver native Morgan Childs on drums.
Born out of a weekly residency where the group cut their teeth on the classic, hard swinging music of Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and Hank Mobley, it didn’t take long before they were writing tunes of their own. “We wanted to have tunes that would be swinging, straight ahead, and arranged for a quintet. Essentially, fun tunes with great rhythms and memorable melodies that even non-jazz lovers would be attracted to,” says Coleman.

Ryan Oliver: tenor sax
Tim Hamel: trumpet
Alex Coleman: bass
Richard Whiteman: piano
Joel Haynes: drums