Stix Hooper

Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (born August 15, 1938, Houston, Texas, United States) is an American drummer, best known as a founding member of the seminal jazz band, The Crusaders. He and Hubert Laws, who left the group to attend Juilliard in 1960, are the only surviving members of the original group, Jazz Crusaders, which became The Crusaders. Stix retired from the Crusaders in the early-2000s.

A native of Houston, Texas, Stix developed an interest in music, drums and percussion at a very early age. Starting in junior high, under the direction of George Magruder, the school's band director, Stix began devoting much of his time to the study of all aspects of music including composition, song writing, etc. Studying at Phillis Wheatley High School, spearheaded by band director, Sammy Harris, Stix eventually formed a band called the Swingsters, later on the Modern Jazz Sextet. While matriculating at Texas Southern University, Stix received continual coaching from members of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and other local professional musicians. Upon moving to the west coast, he studied music at California State University, Los Angeles, and also received coaching from well-known private instructors and his personal mentors. During this time the Jazz Crusaders were formed eventually becoming the Crusaders, a world-renowned entity.

This intensive musical education helped Stix polish his artistry and enabled his craftmanship to be so diverse that he's been able to perform and collaborate with a wide range of artists in the mainstream of pop and contemporary music. Stix has performed, collaborated, composed with and produced for a wide range of music greats, including Arthur Fiedler, George Shearing, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, B.B. King, Grant Green, Grover Washington, Jr., Quincy Jones, Marvin Gaye, Nancy Wilson, Rolling Stones and many more.

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