Will Marion Cook

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Will Marion Cook was born in Washington, D.C., in 1869 as William Mercer Cook. His father was one of the first Black lawyers in the city. He studied violin at the Oberlin conservatory and, from 1887 to 1889, at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. In 1894 and 1895 he was taught by Antonín Dvořák in New York. Because of the strict segregation in classical music, his career as a soloist did not take off, and he found a home in musical theatre.

Music and breakthrough

In 1898 his one-act piece Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk came about, with lyrics by the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. In 1903 followed In Dahomey, with the comedians Bert Williams and George Walker in the leading roles. It is regarded as the first full-length musical by and for Black creators in a major Broadway theatre. In Dahomey toured for four years, including in the United Kingdom and the United States. Cook was composer and musical director of the Williams and Walker company and also wrote Abyssinia in 1906 and Bandanna Land in 1907. His songs used folk music in a way of their own.

Influence

In 1918 and 1919 he travelled with his New York Syncopated Orchestra, also called the Southern Syncopated Orchestra, to England, where it played for King George V. The clarinettist Sidney Bechet played in that orchestra. Cook also gave advice to younger musicians such as Eubie Blake and Duke Ellington. He died in New York in 1944. Cook joined European training with African American music and showed that Black creators could define the theatre.

Listening

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