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Richard Cook | |
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| Born | Richard David Cook 7 February 1957 |
| Died | 25 August 2007(2007-08-25) (aged 50) London, England |
| Other names | R. D. Cook |
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| Notable work | Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia |
Richard David Cook (7 February 1957 – 25 August 2007) was a Britishjazz writer, magazine editor and former record company executive. Sometimes credited asR. D. Cook, Cook was born inKew,Surrey,[1] and lived in westLondon as an adult. A writer on music from the late 1970s until he died, Cook was co-author, withBrian Morton, ofThe Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings,[2] which lasted for ten editions until 2010. His other books includedRichard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia,Blue Note Records: The Biographyand, andIt's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off the Record.[3]
Cook began as a staff writer forNew Musical Express (NME) in the early 1980s.[3]NME's editor at the time,Neil Spencer, commented that he "would take on the pieces that the fashion-oriented shunned – a Roxy Music review, an audience with a fading star, a piece on the emergent sounds of Africa".[4] He was later the jazz critic forThe Sunday Times and a music writer for theNew Statesman. Cook was formerly editor ofThe Wire, when it was a jazz-centred periodical (it broadened its coverage towards the end of his editorship), and editedJazz Review magazine from its foundation in 1998.Jazz Review continued for a time after his death, using Cook's approach to the music as continuing inspiration; it did not name a specific successor (Morton) for six months. Cook also presented a programme on jazz forBBC local radio GLR.
Cook was the UK jazz catalogue manager forPolyGram (1992–97) and also produced albums by the trumpeterGuy Barker.[5] During his spell at PolyGram, Cook launched the short-lived "Redial" re-issue line of classicBritish jazz albums. In 2002, he was responsible for issuing a 10-CD limited-edition set by the American avant-garde pianistCecil Taylor of 1990 recordings,2 Ts for a Lovely T, on the Codanza label.
Cook died from bowel and livercancer on 25 August 2007, aged 50, inLondon, a year after diagnosis.[6]
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