Jessie Allen Cooper - This Time Tomorrow (2019)

Accomplished musician, composer and producer, Jessie Allen Cooper, pays homage to his roots in blues music with his new CD, This Time Tomorrow, a blues album. The harmonica, known as a traditional blues instrument, was the first instrument he learned to play, which makes it all the more fitting that Cooper solely plays the harmonica on this album.

Cooper's American roots date back seven generations. His ancestors were on the Mayflower, making him a "son of the revolution". He is also a descendant of one of America's most beloved founding fathers, the great inventor and statesman, Benjamin Franklin. In the mid 1800s, Jessie's family was among one of the first to settle Everett, Washington where he was born.

Growing up in Everett, Jessie remembers hanging around the train tracks with his friends. The album cover artwork harkens back to those days inspired by Jessie's memories of hopping the trains passing through Everett and playing his harmonica in empty boxcars and tunnels.

Jessie listened to all types of music, but when he heard John Mayall play his blues harmonica at a concert, that was a defining moment for him. Soon after, he began studying blues harmonica players like Sonny Boyd Williamson, Little Walter and Paul Butterfield. This Time Tomorrow pays tribute to these and other blues legends such as Big Bill Broonzy and T-Bone Walker whose songs "Done Got Wise", "Your Funeral and My Trial", "Just a Dream" and "Stormy Monday" are all featured on this album.

Cooper was working on his Let's Connect CD in 2007 when he received a call from Paula Samonte letting him know that she was in LA. "She told me that she and Ed Reinhart were playing downtown and we agreed to meet."

They met and decided to record a blues jam session that would feature Jessie on harp, Ed on piano and vocals and Paula on vocals. Steve Reid would play the cajón and bongos, run the board and record all at the same time. Jessie and his blues band recorded songs such as "Let the Good Time Roll" by Louis Jordan along with original music by Paula and Ed, "Too Hot Blues," and by Jessie and Ed, "Jessie's Blue" and title track, "This Time Tomorrow".

In 2009, Cooper returned to his native Washington. He sold his home in LA and bought a house in Everett, while helping care for his elderly mother until her passing.

"Over the next 10 years, I listened to our blues-jam recordings from the Sonic Jungle Studio in LA. As, I heard them over and over, I realized they needed to have a more complete sound." So, Jessie asked Doug Ross to add bass guitar and his brother Jerry to add drums to the songs, thereby completing This Time Tomorrow, a blues album in 2018.

"Blues music not only paved the way for me, but virtually every major musician who's followed like: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and U2, to name a few."

As lead singer of his first band (Chrysalis) Cooper learned to play the harmonica. He joined bands that played a cross section of genres from hard rock blues (Mosehops) to blues (Rainbow Blues Band) to funk and R&B (Déjà vu). At 19, Cooper picked up the saxophone. With Aurora, pop rock, Jessie toured throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada.\

After studying jazz improvisation and composition at Western Washington State University, Cooper landed in Los Angeles (Santa Monica) ­ making it his home base for over 25 years.

Through the years, Cooper has written, composed, arranged and produced most of his own music, while assembling some of the finest talent for recording his albums. These artists include: percussionist Steve Reid (Miles Davis, Rippingtons, Supertramp), Ira Ingber (Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, The Eagles), bassist Vail Johnson (Stevie Nicks, Kenny G, Warren Hill), keyboardist Michael Railton (Flock of Seagulls, English Beat, General Public), Osamu Kitajima (Ottmar Liebert, Dan Siegel), Ricardo Silveira (Gilberto Gil, Herbie Mann, Babyface), Mark Portman (The Rippingtons, Celine Dion, Dave Koz, Josh Groban) and many others.

In 1983, Cooper released his first album, Heaven Sent, a live recording. While mixing the album, he added environmental sounds. Considered one of the first new age albums, it featured Jessie on soprano sax and Buddy Kithara on the kalimba.

It was followed by Softwave, a blend of smooth jazz and new age music. Released in 1987 on the Narada/Sona Gaia label and distributed by MCA records, it received nationwide and international airplay. Songs from Softwave appear on several multi-artist new age samplers including: Hallmark's Music to Shut Out The Rush Hour, Songs of the Dolphin, MCA/Sona Gaia's Collection One and Radioactive and Nuages under the Narada label.

Over the next five years, Cooper worked on a new CD, Moment in Time, falling in the smooth jazz genre. It incorporates countless stars, such as Russ Freeman, of Rippingtons fame, guitar on "Mystical Illusion", legendary Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Silveira, guitar on "Amazon" and Steve Bailey on bass.

Jessie spent the next eight years writing and recording music along with running his picture framing business, J Cooper Picture Framing.

By 2000, Jessie produced Sound of Feelings, with world renowned healer Dr. Lucia Capacchione, capturing nine different emotions. The CD accompanies Capacchione's book Living with Feeling. Jessie also released Visioning in 2008, a two CD-set which accompanies another Capacchione book, Visioning, Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

When September 11th occurred, Jessie felt compelled to act. As he watched the horrific events unfold on TV, he recorded the live news broadcasts. At the same time, he composed original music to tie it all together. Cooper then brought in musicians to embellish his compositions resulting in a poignant, non-visual, musical documentary 9-11-01, (Remembering the day the earth stood still).

2004 brought Sound Travels, primarily a smooth jazz CD, which also features new age music, world beat percussion, techno dance rhythms and funky blues-rock.

Cooper released Pacific Lounge in 2005. The disk features Jessie on saxophone and Tim Ponzek on piano in the classic tradition of ballad writing.

Let's Connect, Cooper's nineteenth CD, combines a variety of musical styles. With shades of blues and world beats, tracks range from wild, up-tempo jams to moody introspective ballads.

After 36 years of recording music, ironically This Time Tomorrow, is the first blues album by a blues-man at heart. Jessie considers the blues to be a major part of his music foundation and yet he has never dedicated an entire album to it - until now.