Doyle “Red” Cooper grew up in a family steeped in traditional New Orleans jazz — both his grandfather and mother were performers — and picked up the trumpet at age 10, following what he's described as a foregone conclusion. He made his New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival debut at just 12 years old; by the time he turned 30, he had played the festival nearly 50 times, and his total now exceeds 50 appearances since his 2004 debut, including the band's first set in the festival's Economy Hall tent in 2017.
A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Cooper went on to earn a music education degree from Loyola University. He founded the Red Hot Brass Band, a traditional brass band made up of young music students, at age 13, and the group has performed at benefits for Easter Seals, Goodwill, NOCCA, the Kidney Foundation, and Tulane's Hospital for Children, among others. Cooper has also volunteered extensively with youth music education, teaching through Music for All Ages at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and serving as a student teacher for the Young Leadership Council's Project Prodigy, spending part of every summer teaching trumpet to fifth-graders.
Cooper's main vehicle today is the Doyle Cooper Jazz Band, which he assembled after years of playing in other groups around the city. He also performs regularly with the Storyville Stompers and SOUL Brass Band, in addition to his own Red Hot Brass Band. A fixture at Buffa's Bar & Restaurant and a regular at the Jazz & Heritage Festival's Economy Hall tent, Cooper has built a career on the same principle he teaches to his students every summer: that New Orleans jazz is a living tradition, worth handing down.
