b. 27 February 1940, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Although a self-taught pianist, Hooper studied composition at Louisiana State University before entering the advertising business as a writer of jingles. In Chicago in the mid-70s he formed a big band which made a fine album, Look What They’ve Done, and was beaten to a Grammy by Woody Herman. Examples of his assimilation of current musical thought can be heard on charts that he wrote for Don Ellis. Hooper’s advertising career ran from the mid-60s until the late 70s, when he became a studio musician in Los Angeles. An occasional big band under Hooper’s leadership has demonstrated his arranging skills with their blend of swing era principles and contemporary sounds. These charts have attracted the attention of many young musicians playing in college and university bands on both sides of the Atlantic, many of whom use Hooper’s arrangements.