COOK, J[EAN] LAWRENCE

COOK, J[EAN] LAWRENCE. Jazz pianist (14 July 1899 in Athens, Tennessee; 2 April 1976 in Mt. Vernon, New York). He obtained his musical training at the Haines Institute in Augusta, Georgia (1914-19) and studied further at Columbia University (1926-28). He settled in New York during the 1920s and because of his skills in making rolls for player pianos picked up the nickname Piano Roll Cook. He was one of the first black recording artists hired by the QRS Company (the...