Cooder, Ry(land) Peter (1947– )

US guitarist, singer, and composer. Cooder began his career in the 1960s playing blues and folk music, before developing his interest in other forms of American (rock, jazz, Tex-Mex, Hawaiian) and World music, while also adding to his skills as a master of the bottleneck slide guitar. His solo records include Into the Purple Valley (1972) and Paradise and Lunch (1974). Cooder's career, reflecting his fascination with a variety of musical traditions, has also embraced numerous collaborations with the likes of US blues singer and songwriter Taj Mahal (Rising Sons, 1992), West African blues guitarist and singer Ali Farka Toure (Talking Timbuktu, 1994), a host of leading Cuban musicians (Buena Vista Social Club, 1997), and Cuban guitarist Manuel Galbán (Mambo Sinuendo, 2003). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Cooder also specialized in composing film soundtracks, emerging as a master of the form, with his numerous credits including Paris, Texas (1984), Crossroads (1986), Trespass (1994), and The End of Violence (1997).