Al Cohn

Al Cohn - © left: Al Cohn, right: Zoot Sims (www.jazzpolice.com)

born on 24/11/1925 in New York City, NY, United States

died on 15/2/1988 in Stroudsburg, PA, United States

Al Cohn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988)[1] was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist Zoot Sims.

Biography

Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York.[1] He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff. Unlike the better-known tenors Sims and Getz, Cohn contributed arrangements to the Herman band. Cohn had a reputation as a lyrical flowing soloist.

After leaving the Herman group Cohn went on to play with a variety of other musicians, but his best-known association was his long-term partnership with fellow Herman veteran tenor player Sims, beginning with the quintet they co-led in 1956. They continued to play together sporadically until the death of Sims. The high point of their recorded output can be found on You 'n' Me, a collection of standards and original compositions released on Mercury Records in 1960. The two also played on some of author Jack Kerouac's recordings. The rhythm section on their 1950s recordings included Mose Allison on piano.

In addition to his work as a jazz tenor saxophonist, Cohn was widely respected as an arranger. His work included the Broadway productions of Raisin' and Sophisticated Ladies, and his arrangements of his own compositions were recorded by big bands led by Maynard Ferguson, Gerry Mulligan, Terry Gibbs and Bob Brookmeyer. Also, Cohn did arrangements for unreleased Linda Ronstadt recordings from the 1980s.[2]

Cohn also appeared on stage with Elvis Presley in June, 1972, as a member of the Joe Malin Orchestra at Madison Square Garden.

Al Cohn died of liver cancer in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in 1988.[1]

Cohn's first wife was singer Marilyn Moore. His son, Joe Cohn, is a jazz guitar player. Granddaughter Shaye Cohn, Joe's daughter, is a musician who plays cornet with her band Tuba Skinny in New Orleans and at jazz festivals in Italy and Australia and elsewhere. Shaye also plays accordion, violin and piano. Al Cohn was also briefly married to singer Mary Ann McCall. Al Cohn was married to Flo Handy, a singer and composer, from the mid-60’s until his death.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

  • Al Cohn's Tones (Savoy, 1950)
  • East Coast-West Coast Scene (RCA Victor, 1954) split album with Shorty Rogers
  • Mr. Music (RCA Victor, 1955)
  • The Natural Seven (RCA Victor, 1955)
  • That Old Feeling (RCA Victor, 1955)
  • Four Brass One Tenor (RCA Victor, 1955)
  • The Brothers! (RCA Victor, 1955) with Bill Perkins and Richie Kamuca
  • From A to...Z (RCA Victor, 1956) The Al Cohn/Zoot Sims Sextet
  • The Sax Section (Epic, 1956)
  • Cohn on the Saxophone (Dawn, 1956)
  • The Al Cohn Quintet Featuring Bobby Brookmeyer (Coral, 1956) – with Bob Brookmeyer
  • The Four Brothers... Together Again! (Vik, 1957) with Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward
  • Al and Zoot (Coral, 1957) with Zoot Sims
  • Jazz Alive! A Night at the Half Note (United Artists, 1959) with Zoot Sims and Phil Woods
  • You 'n' Me (Mercury, 1960) – the Al Cohn/Zoot Sims Quintet
  • Son of Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1960)
  • Either Way (Fred Miles Presents, 1961) with Zoot Sims
  • Jazz Mission to Moscow (Colpix, 1962)
  • Al & Zoot in London (World Records Club, 1965)
  • Easy as Pie: Live at the West Bank (Label M, 1968) with Zoot Sims
  • Body and Soul (Muse, 1973) with Zoot Sims
  • Motoring Along (Sonet, 1974) with Zoot Sims
  • Play It Now (1975, Xanadu)
  • True Blue (Xanadu, 1976) with Dexter Gordon
  • Silver Blue (Xanadu, 1976) with Dexter Gordon
  • Al Cohn's America (Xanadu, 1976)
  • Heavy Love (Xanadu, 1977) with Jimmy Rowles
  • No Problem (Xanadu, 1979)
  • Xanadu in Africa (Xanadu, 1980 [1981]) with Billy Mitchell, Dolo Coker, Leroy Vinnegar and Frank Butler
  • Night Flight to Dakar (Xanadu, 1980 [1982]) with Billy Mitchell, Dolo Coker, Leroy Vinnegar and Frank Butler
  • Nonpareil (Concord, 1981) with Lou Levy, Monty Budwig, Jake Hanna
  • Tour De Force (1981) live in Japan, with tenor players Buddy Tate and Scott Hamilton
  • Standards of Excellence (Concord, 1984)
  • Rifftide (1987, Timeless) with Rein de Graaf (piano), Koos Serierse (bass), Eric Ineke (drums)

As sideman

With Manny Albam

With Mose Allison

  • Your Mind Is on Vacation (Atlantic, 1976)

With Trigger Alpert

  • Trigger Happy! (Riverside, 1956) also released as East Coast Sounds

With George Barnes

  • Guitars Galore (Mercury, 1961)

With Art Blakey

  • Art Blakey Big Band (Bethlehem, 1957)

With Bob Brookmeyer

  • Bob Brookmeyer featuring Al Cohn (Storyville, 1954[3])
  • Brookmeyer (Vik, 1956)
  • Kansas City Revisited (United Artists, 1958)
  • Stretching Out (United Artists, 1958) with Zoot Sims
  • Portrait of the Artist (Atlantic, 1960)
  • Gloomy Sunday and Other Bright Moments (Verve, 1961)

With Kenny Burrell

  • Earthy (1957, Prestige)
With Buck Clayton
  • How Hi the Fi (Columbia, 1954)
  • Jumpin' at the Woodside (Columbia, 1955)

With Jimmy Giuffre

  • The Music Man (Atlantic, 1958)

With Freddie Green

  • Mr. Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1955)
With Coleman Hawkins
  • The Hawk in Hi Fi (RCA Victor, 1956)

With Quincy Jones

  • Quincy Plays for Pussycats (Mercury, 1959-65 [1965])

With Jack Kerouac

  • Blues and Haikus (1960)

With Jimmy Knepper

  • Cunningbird (SteepleChase, 1976)

With Mundell Lowe

  • Satan in High Heels (Charlie Parker, 1961) soundtrack

With the Metronome All-Stars

  • Metronome All-Stars 1956 (Clef, 1956)

With Gary McFarland

  • The Jazz Version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" (Verve, 1962)

With Carmen McRae

  • Birds of a Feather (Decca, 1958)

With Gerry Mulligan

  • The Gerry Mulligan Songbook (World Pacific, 1957)

With Joe Newman

  • All I Wanna Do Is Swing (RCA Victor, 1955)
  • I'm Still Swinging (RCA Victor, 1955)
  • Salute to Satch (RCA Victor, 1956)

With Oscar Pettiford

  • Oscar Pettiford Sextet (Vogue, 1954)

With Lalo Schifrin and Bob Brookmeyer

  • Samba Para Dos (1963, Verve)

As arranger

With Maynard Ferguson

  • Come Blow Your Horn (Cameo, 1963) [1 track]

With Astrud Gilberto

  • Look to the Rainbow (Verve, 1966)

With Quincy Jones

  • The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
  • The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)

With Irene Kral

  • The Band and I (United Artists, 1958)
  • SteveIreneo! (United Artists, 1959)

With Gerry Mulligan

  • Holliday with Mulligan (DRG, 1961 [1980]) with Judy Holliday

With Mark Murphy

  • That's How I Love the Blues! (Riverside, 1962)

With Joe Newman

  • The Happy Cats (Coral, 1957)

With Herb Pomeroy

  • The Band and I (United Artists, 1958) with Irene Kral

References

This page was last modified 31.05.2018 08:20:12

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