Music
Carla Cook
· jazz singer
Detroit-born jazz singer, a Cass Tech classmate and friend of violinist Regina Carter, whose 1999 debut It's All About Love earned a Grammy nomination.
- Detroit years
- 1960s–1980
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Carla Cook grew up in Detroit and was drawn to music early. At Cass Technical High School she played string bass in the orchestra, studied piano and voice on weekends and sang in her church choir. An older brother introduced her to jazz, and she became a devotee of Eddie Jefferson, the pioneer of vocalese. At Cass she and her close friend Regina Carter dreamed of jazz careers, Cook as a singer and Carter as a violinist, and at Carter's urging she enrolled at Northeastern University in Boston, graduating in 1985 while Carter studied nearby at the New England Conservatory. She moved to New York in 1990, teaching school and selling books by day and singing at night, taught in Basel and Freiburg in 1993–1994, and sang with Lionel Hampton's orchestra. Signed by the new MaxJazz label, she released It's All About Love (1999), which drew a Grammy nomination for best jazz vocal album, followed by Dem Bones (2001) and Simply Natural (2002). She still performs with Regina Carter.
Highlights
- Studied at Cass Technical High School with friend Regina Carter
- Sang with Lionel Hampton's orchestra
- Debut album It's All About Love (MaxJazz, 1999), Grammy-nominated
- Albums Dem Bones (2001) and Simply Natural (2002)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1970s–early 1980s
Cass Technical High School
Where Cook played bass in the school orchestra and formed her friendship with Regina Carter.