Critic's Review
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
The Cooker was released in 1957 when Lee Morgan was a tough, forward-thinking young trumpeter of nineteen. This session placed him in the company of veteran players such as baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, swinging pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The music, a collection of boppers such as Dizzy's "A Night in Tunisia," and standards like Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things" and "Lover Man." While Morgan wails in the Gillespie tune and offers fiery, flawless evidence as to why he ranked so high in the Downbeat Poll -- behind Dizzy and Miles, respectively -- and amazing sensitivity on the ballads. But it was on his own compositions, the hard bopping blues in "Heavy Dipper," and the forward-thinking, "New -Ma," that offer the most satisfaction. Morgan was in the process of ushering in his own take on the developing hard bop scene, one that found him playing with an utterly new sense of phrasing and blues-specific soulfulness that are of the greatest import here. This CD edition remastered by Rudy Van Gelder, contains a bonus cut, unearthed in 1995 on the Mosaic box set; it's an alternate take of "Just One of Those Things."
