Toby Cooper was born in Coushatta, Louisiana on September 21, 1942. He started playing clarinet in the High School Band led by M. I. Brumfield when he was 14. About 6 months later the band acquired an army surplus alto saxophone and Toby got permission from Mr. Brumfield to use the instrument. Within the first 8 months of playing he started his first jazz band which was comprised of Gloria Hunter (Piano), Gary Strat- ton (Tenor Sax), Toby (Sax, Clarinet). The band was named "The Saints" and was kept intact throughout Cooper's high school years. The personnel changed at times and it was mainly a rehearsal band, but they did work a few paying gigs. "We played a lot of popular tunes of the day, but there was always jazz in the repertoire," says Toby. O. C. Clinton (Drums), Ronald Smith(Piano), Sammy Giddings(Guitar), Charles Bamburg(Guitar, Vocal), Jerry Paine(Drums) were all members at one time or the other in this mu- sical group. "We learned from each other and from other musicians that we came in contact with. All of us loved playing, and played at every opportu- nity" Cooper remarked. The tv stations in Shreveport, Louisiana were in their infancy and during that time there was a lot of local programming. "I auditioned for a talent show, which aired on Sunday afternoons on KTBS-TV, at a sock hop, which was presented by the show's host, Hub Brandao. They wouldn't let me be in the talent portion of the show, but they hired me to be in the band which accompanied the talent. So, I was on tv every week-end and was also featured as a soloist occasionally," said Cooper. According to Cooper the band did sock hops at towns that had skating rinks and played stage shows in communities that were too small for a rink. "I was 15-17years old and on tv every week-end. When we played those dances and stage shows the people thought we were stars and even wanted our auto-graphs ! ! !" Toby has continued to love playing and singing all these years. It is his hope that you enjoy hearing his music as much as he en- joys playing for you.