Jesse Cook facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jesse Cook
Background information
Birth name	Jesse Arnaud Cook
Born	November 28, 1964 Paris, France
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	New flamenco, world music, ethno jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Classical guitar
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Narada, EMI, E1

Jesse Arnaud Cook is a super talented Canadian guitarist and composer! He's known for his unique style that blends New flamenco with world music and jazz. Jesse has won a Juno Award, which is like a big music prize in Canada. He also won a silver award from Acoustic Guitar magazine for his flamenco playing. Plus, he's been named Guitarist of the Year three times at the Canadian Smooth Jazz awards. Jesse's music has been released by big labels like EMI and Narada, and he has sold over 1.5 million albums around the world!

About Jesse Cook

Jesse Cook was born on November 28, 1964, in Paris, France. His parents, John and Heather Cook, were both Canadian filmmakers. Jesse grew up in Toronto, Canada.

He started learning guitar at a young age. Jesse studied classical and jazz guitar at famous music schools. These included the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada and Berklee College of Music in the United States. He often jokes that he later tried to "unlearn" some of his formal training. This was so he could explore the traditional music styles of Roma people.

In 1995, Jesse released his first album called Tempest. After playing at the Catalina Jazz Festival, Tempest quickly became popular. It even reached No. 14 on the American Billboard music charts!

Jesse Cook has created ten studio albums and five live concert DVDs. He loves to travel the world to learn about different musical traditions. He then mixes these sounds into his own special style of rumba flamenca.

Awards and Achievements

Jesse has received many awards for his amazing music. In 1998, he was nominated for a Juno Award. He was nominated again in 2001 for Best Male Artist. That same year, he won a Juno Award for Best Instrumental Album for his album Free Fall.

In 2009, Acoustic Guitar magazine gave him a silver award. This was in the Flamenco category. The gold award went to the legendary guitarist Paco de Lucia. Jesse has also won the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year three times.

Filmmaking and Music Videos

Jesse Cook is not just a musician; he's also a filmmaker! In 2011, he started directing and editing his own music videos. His first video was for his song Virtue.

Since then, he has directed and edited eight music videos. He also created 16 episodes of a series called Friday Night Music. Jesse even produced, edited, and mixed a special TV concert for PBS. It was called Jesse Cook, Beyond Borders.

Jesse describes his music as a "hybrid." He says, "If you go to Spain and you play [my] music, they’ll say, what is this? They don’t recognize it as Flamenco because it’s not; it’s a hybrid." He loves Flamenco, but he also enjoys mixing it with other styles. These include jazz, pop, Brazilian Samba, and Persian music.

Music Albums

Jesse Cook has released many albums over the years. Here are some of his studio albums:

• Tempest (1995)
• Gravity (1996)
• Vertigo (1998)
• Free Fall (2000)
• Nomad (2003)
• Montréal (2005)
• Frontiers (2007)
• The Rumba Foundation (2009)
• The Blue Guitar Sessions (2012)
• One World (2015)
• Beyond Borders (2017)
• Libre (2021)
• Love in the Time of Covid (2023)

Concert Videos

Jesse Cook has also released several concert videos and DVDs. These let fans experience his live performances.

Other Music Projects

Jesse Cook has also appeared on albums by other artists:

• Enchantment (2001) with Charlotte Church
• Camino Latino (2002) with Liona Boyd
• Seed (2003) with Afro Celt Sound System

See also

In Spanish: Jesse Cook para niños

• New Flamenco
• Flamenco rumba