American musician, composer and producer. A versatile jazz, rock and blues guitarist, he was a member of Captain Beefheart Band but prefers to play with many groups as a guest. Since 1996, he has been living in Cuba and helped produced the 1999 documentary “The Buena Vista Social Club.” The Grammy award winning musician has written and played musical scores for films such as “The Long Riders.”
Cooder began playing guitar at a young age and by age 17 was playing in a band with Jackie De Shannon. In 1965, not even 20 years old, he formed a group called “Rising Sons.” Although the group broke up soon after, Cooder caught the attention of a producer who paired him up with Paul Revere and the Raiders, a well-known rock group.
After the Captain Beefheart band made its debut album, Cooder went on to play with the likes of Randy Newman and the Rolling Stones. In 1970 he released his first solo album.
In the mid-’90s, having experimented with rock, soul and various other forms of music, he turned his attention to world music. In 1997, he collaborated with aging Cuban musicians known at The Buena Vista Social Club and in so doing incurred a $100,000 fine from the US for violating terms of the embargo against the island nation. Praise for Cooder’s work with the Cuban group outweighed the cost of the fine, however, and Cooder went on to manage three additional releases by the Cuban group as well as collaborating on the documentary which brought the modern Cuban music scene to the US.
Link to Wikipedia biography