A year and a half before Al Cohn's death of liver cancer in Feb. 1988, the tenor saxophonist was on tour in Europe. In June 1986, he was in Monster, the Netherlands, recording Rifftide with Dutch jazz musicians Rein de Graaff (p) Koos Serierse (b) Eric Ineke (d) at Studio 44 for the Timelss label. It's one of the finest albums of Cohn's late period and a document that marvelously illustrates what made Cohn special.
Cohn was a powerful post-war big-band and small-group player, composer and arranger. His ability to swing was formidable and he often teamed with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, with whom he first recorded in Alvino Rey's orchestra in 1945. Like a character in a Charles Dickens novel, Cohn turns up in nearly every conceivable plot line in the story of post-war jazz over four decades, either as a player or arranger. He's with Boyd Raeburn, Georgie Auld, Buddy Rich, Red Rodney and Woody Herman in the 1940s, receiving his first arranging credit with Auld in Oct. 1946, on It Had to Be You. In 1944, he was already regarded as a superb soloist and so well respected that George Handy and Hal McKusick quit Raeburn's band and left for Los Angeles after Raeburn kept giving the solos to Johnny Bothwell. Cohn replaced Herbie Steward in Herman's “Four Brothers" sax section in 1947, helping to further establish Herman's harmony-rich reed sound.
Throughout the 1950s, Cohn was easily the most prolific studio player and arranger in New York. He was as comfortable penning bop charts as he was ghosting scores for major recording artists. For example, he arranged for the Ernie Kovacs and Sid Caesar shows. Ray Charles' signature George on My Mind (1960),with it's pastoral string opening, was arranged by Cohn. He also was an arranger for the musicals Raisin and Sophisticated Ladies and played behind Elvis Presley at Madison Square Garden in 1972.
What's fascinating about Rifftide is the sound of Cohn's attack on the tenor sax. By 1986, his approach had changed markedly from the smooth sound he had developed in the 1940s and '50s. As we hear on Speak Low, for example, there's a gruff, huffy bluesy sound reminiscent of Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis, only sanded down a bit. In fact, Cohn's soloing had only gotten better as he swings away on the album's tracks.
Cohn would be recording only two more times before his death in '88—on a studio session for Capri in June 1987 and during a live concert in Scotland that August. One of his final concerts was a tribute to Woody Herman at New York's Cooper Union with the American Jazz Orchestra in December '87. And that was it. In his New York Times obit, C. Gerald Fraser quoted Cohn on his playing style in the 1980s: ”In the last couple of years I've become more selective about taking writing assignments and I practice my horn every day.” Rifftide is a superb example of an artist at the tail end of his career, swinging as hard as ever and at the top of his game.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Al Cohn's Rifftide here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Al Cohn's bossy tenor sax on Speak Low...
Cohn was a powerful post-war big-band and small-group player, composer and arranger. His ability to swing was formidable and he often teamed with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, with whom he first recorded in Alvino Rey's orchestra in 1945. Like a character in a Charles Dickens novel, Cohn turns up in nearly every conceivable plot line in the story of post-war jazz over four decades, either as a player or arranger. He's with Boyd Raeburn, Georgie Auld, Buddy Rich, Red Rodney and Woody Herman in the 1940s, receiving his first arranging credit with Auld in Oct. 1946, on It Had to Be You. In 1944, he was already regarded as a superb soloist and so well respected that George Handy and Hal McKusick quit Raeburn's band and left for Los Angeles after Raeburn kept giving the solos to Johnny Bothwell. Cohn replaced Herbie Steward in Herman's “Four Brothers" sax section in 1947, helping to further establish Herman's harmony-rich reed sound.
Throughout the 1950s, Cohn was easily the most prolific studio player and arranger in New York. He was as comfortable penning bop charts as he was ghosting scores for major recording artists. For example, he arranged for the Ernie Kovacs and Sid Caesar shows. Ray Charles' signature George on My Mind (1960),with it's pastoral string opening, was arranged by Cohn. He also was an arranger for the musicals Raisin and Sophisticated Ladies and played behind Elvis Presley at Madison Square Garden in 1972.
What's fascinating about Rifftide is the sound of Cohn's attack on the tenor sax. By 1986, his approach had changed markedly from the smooth sound he had developed in the 1940s and '50s. As we hear on Speak Low, for example, there's a gruff, huffy bluesy sound reminiscent of Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis, only sanded down a bit. In fact, Cohn's soloing had only gotten better as he swings away on the album's tracks.
Cohn would be recording only two more times before his death in '88—on a studio session for Capri in June 1987 and during a live concert in Scotland that August. One of his final concerts was a tribute to Woody Herman at New York's Cooper Union with the American Jazz Orchestra in December '87. And that was it. In his New York Times obit, C. Gerald Fraser quoted Cohn on his playing style in the 1980s: ”In the last couple of years I've become more selective about taking writing assignments and I practice my horn every day.” Rifftide is a superb example of an artist at the tail end of his career, swinging as hard as ever and at the top of his game.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Al Cohn's Rifftide here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Al Cohn's bossy tenor sax on Speak Low...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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