Born in
Louisville, he first worked as a composer and arranger in
Detroit before moving to
Chicago around 1910. Cook became resident leader of the orchestra at
Paddy Harmon's Dreamland Ballroom in Chicago from 1922 to 1927, acting as conductor and musical director. The ensemble recorded under several names, such as Cookie's Gingersnaps, Doc Cook and his 14 Doctors of Syncopation, and Doc Cook's Dreamland Orchestra. Among those who played in Cook's band were
Freddie Keppard,
Jimmie Noone,
Johnny St. Cyr,
Zutty Singleton, ,
Andrew Hilaire, and
Luis Russell. After 1927 Cook's orchestra played in Chicago at the
Municipal Pier and the
White City Ballroom. In 1930, Cook moved to
New York City and worked as an arranger for
Radio City Music Hall and
RKO, working there into the 1940s. A proponent of
ragtime, he also worked frequently with
Eubie Blake, supplying the arrangements for the 1952 revival of
Shuffle Along. ==Recordings==