Al Cohn

Al Cohn
Al Cohn at the Village Jazz Lounge (L.Kolb)
Background information
Birth name	Alvin Gilbert Cohn
Born	(1925-11-24)November 24, 1925 Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died	Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Big band West coast jazz
Occupation(s)	Composer, bandleader, saxophonist
Instruments	Tenor saxophone
Years active	1940s–1980s
Labels	Coral Records, Mercury Records
Associated acts	Woody Herman, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz

Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) 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. 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 an arranger. His work included the Broadway productions of Raisin' and Sophisticated Ladies. Also, Cohn did arrangements for unreleased Linda Ronstadt recordings from the 1980s.

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.

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.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

• Cohn's Tones (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 trombonist 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 Mission to Moscow (Colpix, 1962) - Eddie Costa's final recording
• Play It Now (1975, Xanadu Records)
• True Blue (1976, Xanadu) - with Dexter Gordon
• Silver Blue (1976, Xanadu) - with Dexter Gordon
• Al Cohn's America (1976, Xanadu)
• Heavy Love (1977, Xanadu) - with Jimmy Rowles
• No Problem (1979, Xanadu)
• Nonpareil (1981, Concord Records) - 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 (1984, Concord)
• Rifftide (1987, Timeless Records) - with Rein de Graaf (piano), Koos Serierse (bass), Eric Ineke (drums)

As sideman

With Mose Allison

• Your Mind Is on Vacation (Atlantic, 1976)

With Trigger Alpert

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

With George Barnes

• Guitars Galore (1961, Mercury)

With Art Blakey

• Art Blakey Big Band (Bethlehem, 1957)

With Bob Brookmeyer

• 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 Jimmy Giuffre

• The Music Man (Atlantic, 1958)

With Freddie Green

• Mr. Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1955)

With Mundell Lowe

• Satan in High Heels (1961, Charlie Parker) - 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 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 Lalo Schifrin and Bob Brookmeyer

• Samba Para Dos (1963, Verve)

With Zoot Sims

• From A to Z (1956)
• Al and Zoot (1957)
• Either Way (1960)
• Blues and Haikus (1960) - playing behind Jack Kerouac's poetry reading
• You 'n' Me (1960)
• Body and Soul (1973) - with Jaki Byard (piano), George Duvivier (bass), Mel Lewis (drums); produced by Don Schlitten
• Motoring Along (1975) - with Horace Parlan (piano), Hugo Rasmussen (bass), Sven Erik Norregaard (drums); produced by Rune Ofwerman
• Hoagy Carmichael Sessions and More
• Easy as Pie: Live at the Left Bank (1968) - live in Baltimore, with pianist Dave Frishberg

As arranger

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 Mark Murphy

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

With Joe Newman

• The Happy Cats (Coral, 1957)