Jazz Piano
Simon Cook is a jazz piano player active in the south east of England. He does regular solo gigs (e.g. at the Lightbox, Woking) and also appears with his trio. The Simon Cook Trio is the house rhythm section for the Chobham jazz events. As a late starter in jazz, he is particularly well-placed to help students tackling the transition from classical playing.
Simon was originally trained as a classical musician. He also plays harpsichord, trombone and a number of early brass instruments: sackbut, ophicleide and serpent. He has collected several unusual instruments which he very occasionally plays in public: theremin, claviola, melodica, zanzithophone. Simon also trained as an ethnomusicologist, making a special study of gamelan music of Indonesia (where he lived for 12 years). He directs the Sundanese gamelan ensemble Sekar Enggal (www.sekarenggal.co.uk), the Royal Holloway-based Gamelan Puolganti and is a leading authority on the music of West Java.
