Musical Biography

Since Childhood… Joel began studying piano as a child in the 1950’s with composer-pianist Avraham Sternklar, who taught Joel the basics of playing the piano, as well as introducing him to European classical music.

Joel’s first professional performances were as a bandleader in high school playing for school dances and at local nightclubs and rock clubs.
From there, Joel attempted to secure work as a solo artist and bandleader performing his own compositions; however when he was unable to find steady work, Joel started to offer his musical services as an accompanist and sideman.

During this period of time (the 1970’s) working mostly as a back- up musician, Joel was never closely associated with any one artist. That’s because Joel developed a reputation as a quick-study and as a result, he often worked as a substitute sideman, filling in temporarily for musicians who were ill or unavailable.

In this way, Joel had the unique experience of performing with a wide variety of artists who represented many different styles of music and approaches to making music. Some of the artists Joel worked for at that time included, Jaco Pastorious, Tim Hardin, Dave Sanborn, Koko Taylor, Paul Siebel, Michael Kamen, Gil Evans, Paul Butterfield, Toots Theilmans, Chuck Berry, Percy Heath, Rick Danko, Dizzy Gillespie, John Phillips, Van Morrison and many more. Working with these gifted artists served as an important learning experience for Joel that broadened his approach to composing, songwriting and arranging, allowing Joel to become a more versatile artist.

Joel also started to create musical scores for PBS television specials at this time.
Joel Cook has received grants from ‘Meet the Composer’ and the ‘National Endowment for the Arts’ to compose and perform his songs and compositions.
Joel has performed on television, radio and at music festivals across the country.

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