Emmet Harley Cohen (born May 25, 1990 in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
) is an American pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator.
Early life and education
Emmet Cohen was born in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
He began studying piano at the age of three using the
Suzuki method
The Suzuki method is a music curriculum and teaching philosophy dating from the mid-20th century, created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki (1898–1998). The method aims to create an environment for learning music which para ...
. Cohen was raised in
Montclair,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and attended
Montclair High School. While in high school, he was a part of The Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Ensemble where he met future collaborators
Bryan Carter
Bryan Carter (born July 11, 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American drummer, vocalist, composer, arranger, orchestrator and bandleader.
Early life and education
Bryan Carter was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was introduced to the drums by ...
,
Benny Benack III,
Grace Kelly and
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown
Chad LB (born September 8, 1989) is a New York-based saxophonist and recording artist recognized for his work as a soloist in the genres of jazz and pop music. He was a member of the multi Grammy winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) and has ...
. Cohen received a
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...
from the
Frost School of Music
Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music.
Academics and programs
The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...
at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in 2012 and a
Master of Music from the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...
in 2014.
According to Cohen, listening to and learning from other jazz artists has been a hallmark of his development from a young age. He frequented jazz clubs on his own and with his father, often talking with the artists or sitting in on sessions. Cohen learned to play the Hammond B-3 organ at Cecil's Jazz Club in West Orange, NJ, run by
Cecil Brooks III
Cecil Brooks III (born 1959) is an American jazz drummer and record producer who has worked with Arthur Blythe, Russell Gunn, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Roseanna Vitro, Marvin Peterson, and Jimmy Ponder.
A native of the Homewood neig ...
, where he regularly played the B-3 during sessions led by saxophonist Bruce Williams.
Career
Cohen is primarily known for his work in
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, although he also studied European art music (
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
) extensively earlier in his career, and this influence is apparent in his technique, occasional improvisational "quotes," and general technical mastery of the keyboard. He has performed with
Christian McBride,
Herlin Riley,
Brian Lynch,
Ron Carter
Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...
,
Jimmy Cobb
Wilbur James "Jimmy" Cobb (January 20, 1929May 24, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. He was part of Miles Davis's First Great Sextet. At the time of his death, he had been the band's last surviving member for nearly thirty years. He was a ...
,
Albert "Tootie" Heath
Albert "Tootie" Heath (born May 31, 1935) is an American jazz hard bop drummer, the brother of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and the double-bassist Percy Heath.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, he first recorded in 1957 with J ...
,
Joe Lovano,
Eddie Henderson, and
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master.
Early life
Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...
. As a bandleader, Cohen tours with his band, the "Emmet Cohen Trio," most frequently with his close collaborators bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole.
In 2010, while still a student at Frost School of Music, Cohen recorded and self-released his debut album ''In the Element''. In April 2011, then in his senior year, he won the Kathleen T. and Philip B. Phillips, M.D. Jazz Piano Competition, a nationally recognized jazz performance competition for undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities throughout the United States, sponsored by the
University of West Florida in Pensacola.
In 2011, after placing third in the
Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, held annually at the
Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C.
Cohen and the two other finalists were invited to a meet and greet at the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval-shaped room ...
on September 13, 2011 with
President Barack Obama.
After graduating from the University of Miami in 2012, Cohen returned to the NY City area and completed a Master of Music (MM) in 2014 at the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...
in New York City, NY, which he also attended on a full merit scholarship.
While there, he released his second and third albums, ''Infinity'' (2013), recorded in Italy, and ''Questioned Answered'' (2014). Bryan Lynch in ''
Jazz Times
''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store.
Coverage
After a decade of growth ...
'' wrote, “Lots of young pianists have chops and energy, but Cohen also has an instinct for meaningful aesthetic form. His spilling runs and chiming resolutions are necessary to an overall design."
Since becoming a professional musician, Cohen has become a “high-in-demand jazz pianist and recording artist."
He has performed at jazz clubs, festivals and music venues throughout the United States and in more than a dozen countries, including the
SF Jazz Festival,
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...
,
Newport Jazz Festival,
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...
(Holland), Bern Jazz Festival (Switzerland).
According to his website, live venues have included, among others, the
Village Vanguard, the
Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola,
Birdland,
Jazz Standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...
, and
Lincoln Center's Rose Hall in New York City; the
Kennedy Center in Washington DC;
Ronnie Scott's
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959.
History
The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...
in London;
Jazzhaus Montmartre in Copenhagen; and the Cotton Club in Tokyo. For many years he was Hammond B-3 organist-in-residence, hosting a weekly late night session at the Smoke Jazz and Supper Club in New York City.
In 2019, Cohen received first-place in the American Pianist Awards, earning him the 2019 Cole Porter Fellowship from the
American Pianists Association
The American Pianists Association is a performing arts organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, that holds two national, quadrennial piano competitions in alternating 2-year cycles: the Classical Fellowship Awards and the Jazz Fellowshi ...
, which included a $50,000 grant, a recording contract with
Mack Avenue Records, and a two-year Artist-in-Residence at the
University of Indianapolis.
In October 2020, during the Coronavirus pandemic, with the help of his booking agency, Cohen “managed to revive a European tour originally scheduled for May and string together a dozen dates over 16 days, visiting Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria." According to Cohen, he set out to provide “something that the world is lacking—not only jazz, but joy."
In 2021, Cohen released his first album on Mack Avenue records, ''Future Stride'', to strong reviews. According to ''The Guardian'', the reference to stride in the title “refers to a piano style that evolved in 1920s Harlem, and the piece features bursts of stride barging into passages of later styles."
Cohen often discusses his passion for honoring jazz masters, and in a 2021 interview on WVEW FM, he relates the influence of jazz history on his work, and the naming of ''Future Stride'' in honor of learning from jazz masters.
Live from Emmet's Place
''Live from Emmet's Place'' is a weekly video-streaming broadcast and concert produced by Emmet Cohen, most often consisting of Cohen and his trio, bassist Russell Hall, and drummer Kyle Poole, along with invited guest soloists. Guests on ''Live From Emmet’s Place'' represent a multigenerational cross section of jazz from the jazz masters such as
Houston Person,
Joe Lovano,
Christian McBride,
Eddie Henderson,
Steve Davis,
Sheila Jordan
Sheila Jordan (born Sheila Jeanette Dawson; November 18, 1928) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pionee ...
and
Victor Lewis
Victor Lewis (born May 20, 1950) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.
Early life
Victor Lewis was born on May 20, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Richard Lewis, who played saxophone and mother, Camille, a pianist-vocalist ...
as well as newcomers such as tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover and vocalist Samara Joy. Cohen has featured a variety of jazz musicians and vocalists on 92 livestreams, based on an June 7, 2022 listing of episodes posted on YouTube.
Established during the covid-19 pandemic, the viewership has grown from a few hundred to over 1,000 in real time on Facebook and YouTube, with total video views for “Emmet Cohen (weekly)" growing from 1.6M in January 2021 to 11.4M in April 2022 according to
SocialBlade
Social Blade (sometimes spelled SocialBlade) is an American social media analytics website. Social Blade most notably tracks the YouTube platform, but also has analytical information regarding Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Trovo, ...
.
The weekly livestreams have been called “noteworthy for employing sophisticated production values that set the standard for live internet jazz performance."
According to ''Downbeat'', “On the webcasts, the trio swings deeply, often delivering hairpin turns, starts and stops that might lead one to think they are playing well-rehearsed charts. But, in reality, as Poole explained, the musicians’ seeming telepathy is a result of living and working together for five years—and, more recently, quarantining together."
Chris Robinson wrote, “Perhaps no other album or live performance I’ve recently experienced has hit this sweet spot of fun balanced with serious artistry more than pianist Emmet Cohen’s YouTube series ‘Live from Emmet’s Place’
..Cohen, Hall, and Poole’s chemistry and the joy they share in making music is simply infectious."
In December 2021, Cohen initiated ''Emmet’s Place Education'', an ongoing series of free online master classes presented by a variety of jazz artists.
Cohen has said that one of his greatest passions is teaching and putting new concepts in front of students, and working with them at their level. He also visits schools, provides lessons to students, teaches master classes, hosts performances, conducts clinics, and gives lectures often in connection with his tour schedule.
On May 3, 2022, the Jazz Journalists Association voted Cohen their 2022 "Live-Stream Producer of the Year". The JJA 2022 Jazz Journalism Awards, their 27th annual poll of professional journalist members, received nearly 300 nominations in 12 categories.
Master Legacy Series
Starting in 2016, Cohen produced a series of albums, live interviews, and performances as part of the ''Master Legacy Series'' featuring recognized jazz masters. Cohen played on the four albums released as of 2021, featuring collaborations with
Jimmy Cobb
Wilbur James "Jimmy" Cobb (January 20, 1929May 24, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. He was part of Miles Davis's First Great Sextet. At the time of his death, he had been the band's last surviving member for nearly thirty years. He was a ...
,
Ron Carter
Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...
,
Benny Golson
Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launch ...
,
Albert “Tootie" Heath, and
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master.
Early life
Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...
.
According to Cohen, the series aims to “share the unwritten folklore that is America's unique artistic idiom."
Cohen reported that his impetus for this project was a five-hour bus ride in 2013 talking with jazz musician
Jimmy Heath
James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually co ...
who told stories about many older jazz masters:
I felt like there was an urgency and there was a big generation gap. … I wanted to create an artistic project that would allow for the collaboration between the oldest generation and the youngest generation, and really hone in on what that apprenticeship is and should be – with the intergenerational transference of knowledge and passing of the torch…. what it feels like and how we can contribute to the history and the idiom.
About these older jazz musicians Cohen frequently expresses gratitude as well as admiration:
They are all very emphatic about the music, and how it’s guided their lives, and how it’s guided the shape of America. That’s another thing – they’ve lived through the 1950s and the 1960s, and toured in the South in the time of segregation, and were really inventing America’s music in a place where America didn’t accept them. And that story to me is really, really powerful because they gave so much to people… the culture and the society and environment of what it means to be an American.
Recognition
* 2009 Young Arts award (jazz) from the National YoungArts Foundation.
* 2011 First Place, Kathleen T. and Phillip B. Phillip’s Piano Competition, a nationally recognized jazz performance competition for undergraduate and graduate students throughout the United States.
* 2011 Finalist for the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship.
* 2011 Third-place prize in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition held annually at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (now the Herbie Hancock Institute).
* 2014 First place in the American Jazz Pianist Competition.
* 2015 Finalist in the American Pianists Awards.
* 2019 First place in the American Pianists Awards; receiving the Cole Porter Jazz Fellowship valued at over $100,000 (a cash prize, career consultation and concert booking, and a contract with Mack Avenue Records).
* 2019 Named UIndy Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis.
* 2021 Featured in JAZZIZ Editors’ Choice playlist for the week of February 1 – Future Stride.
* 2021 Recognized in Jazz Week’s Year End Jazz Chart: 2021 - Future Stride most played album on the radio.
* 2021 Selected by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) as Up and Coming Musician of the Year.
* 2021 Lied Center of Kansas 2021–22 IMPACT Award for distinguished service to the performing arts.
* 2022 Featured in 2021 JazzTimes Readers’ Poll: Artist of the Year - 4th Place; Acoustic Small Group/Artist - Tied for 3rd Place; Pianist - Tied for 2nd Place.
* 2022 DownBeat 70th Annual Critics Poll - #1 Rising Star Pianist and #4 Rising Star Jazz Artist
* 2022 DownBeat 87th Annual Readers Poll - #3 Pianist
Discography
As leader
* ''In the Element'' (2011)
* ''Infinity'' (Skidoo Records, 2013)
* ''Questioned Answer'' (Hollistic MusicWorks, 2014)
* ''Masters Legacy Series Volume 1: Jimmy Cobb'' (Cellar Live, 2017)
* ''Masters Legacy Series Volume 2: Ron Carter'' (Cellar Live, 2018)
* ''Emmet Cohen Trio Dirty in Detroit'' (2018)
* ''Masters Legacy Series Volume 3: Benny Golson & Albert "Tootie" Heath'' (2019)
* ''Masters Legacy Series Volume 4: George Coleman'' (2019)
* ''Future Stride'' (
Mack Avenue Records, 2021)
* ''Uptown in Orbit'' (
Mack Avenue Records, 2022)
As sideman
With Herlin Riley
* ''New Direction'' (Mack Avenue Records, 2016)
* ''Perpetual Optimism'' (Mack Avenue Records, 2019)
With Benny Benack III
* ''One of Kind'' (BB3 productions, 2017)
With Veronica Swift
* ''Confessions'' (Mack Avenue Records, 2019)
* ''This Bitter Earth'' (Mack Avenue Records, 2021)
With others
* Troy Roberts, ''Days Like These'' (Troy Robot Music, 2019)
* Ashley Pezzotti, ''We’ve Only Just Begun'' (2019)
* Jean John, ''A Love Lane Nocturne'' ( Zan Tetickovic, 2019)
* Anaïs Reno, ''Lovesome Thing'' (Harbinger, 2021)
* The Four Freshmen, ''The Four Freshmen: Featuring Emmet Cohen, Russell Hall, And Kyle Poole'' (CD Baby, 2022)
Critical reception
Cohen has received numerous reviews and accolades in the press, and in a variety of jazz community blogs for his recordings and live performances. Often noted are his innovative interpretations of jazz standards, his skills as a composer, and his energetic style, while maintaining clean and precise technical skills. Giovanni Russonello of the New York Times describes his “breezy, phlegmatic command at the keyboard, and a deep well of historical jazz references at his fingertips."
Jeff Tamarkin of JazzTimes writes “Cohen’s skill on his instrument is matched by his inventiveness. His mastery of mainstream-jazz language and his wide-ranging technical facility are pronounced."
Dave Gelly of The Guardian suggested in his review of Future Stride that it “has the rare and elusive quality of charm," and that, although a serious piece, it includes “little eccentricities and the occasional wink."
Writing for Jazziz Magazine, Suzanne Lorge adds, “his originals brim with spontaneity and stylistic allusions without devolving into disarray or languishing in clichés; that he can interpolate so many fleeting musical notions into one mutating composition is astonishing."
Further reading
''Introducing Emmet Cohen'' by American Pianists AssociationEmmet Cohen performs at NPR Music''Emmet Cohen: Hail the Piano Player,'' interview by AllAboutJazz''Emmet Cohen Interview: Jazz Across Generations,'' interview with St. Paul DJ and writer Larry Englund at Twin Cities Jazz FestivalBef''ore & After: Emmet Cohen,'' interview with Jazz Times’ Ashley Kahn
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Emmet
1990 births
Living people
American jazz pianists
American jazz composers
Musicians from Miami