Cooling was born into a musical family. Integrating the polyrhythms of West African music with her passion for melody and harmony, Cooling focused her attention on guitar and taught herself to play by ear. Cooling's and Wagner's chemistry and passion for songwriting resulted in their first collaboration,
Cameo (1989), recorded with members of Viva Brasil. Cooling's sixth album,
Revolving Door, was released by Narada Jazz when it merged with
Blue Note in 2006. Although Cooling had been a member of the
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), she became a national advocate for the organization with
Revolving Door. She has performed at NAMI national and regional events across the country. She and Wagner donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their albums to NAMI. They released their song "It's Feeling Like Christmas" in 2008 with an accompanying music video produced by Progressive Pulse. ==Discography==