Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist, arranger and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. 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 Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. 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. Cohn also appeared on stage with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

in June, 1972, as a member of the Joe Malin Orchestra at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. 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 guitarist. Granddaughter Shaye Cohn, Joe's daughter, is a musician who plays cornet with her band Tuba Skinny.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* '' Al Cohn's Tones'' (

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, 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 Records, 1956) * '' The Al Cohn Quintet Featuring Bobby Brookmeyer'' (

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, 1956) – with Bob Brookmeyer * '' Tenor Conclave'' ( Prestige, 1957) – with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, Hank Mobley and Zoot Sims * '' The Four Brothers... Together Again!'' ( Vik, 1957) with Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward * '' Al and Zoot'' (

, 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 In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, 1973) with Zoot Sims * '' Motoring Along'' (Sonet, 1974) with Zoot Sims * '' Play It Now'' ( Xanadu, 1975) * '' 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 981 with Billy Mitchell, Dolo Coker, Leroy Vinnegar and Frank Butler * '' Night Flight to Dakar'' (Xanadu, 1980 982 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) *''The Claw'' ( Chiaroscuro, 1986) with Flip Philips * ''Rifftide'' ( Timeless, 1987) with Rein de Graaf (piano), Koos Serierse (bass), Eric Ineke (drums)

As sideman

With Manny Albam * '' The Drum Suite'' (RCA Victor, 1956) with Ernie Wilkins 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) * '' 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'' (Prestige, 1957) With Buck Clayton *'' How Hi the Fi'' ( Columbia, 1954) *'' Jumpin' at the Woodside'' (Columbia, 1955) With

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

* The Compositions of Al Cohn (Prestige, 1953) * Miles Davis and Horns (Prestige, 1956) With Jimmy Giuffre * '' The Music Man'' (Atlantic, 1958) With Freddie Green * '' Mr. Rhythm'' (RCA Victor, 1955) With Urbie Green *'' All About Urbie Green and His Big Band'' (ABC-Paramount, 1956) With Coleman Hawkins *'' The Hawk in Hi Fi'' (RCA Victor, 1956) With Woody Herman * ''The Thundering Herds'' (Columbia, 1945-1947 966 * ''Keeper Of The Flame (The Complete Capitol Recordings Of The Four Brothers Band)'' ( Capitol, 1948-1949 992 With

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

*'' Quincy Plays for Pussycats'' (Mercury, 1959-65 965 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 Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Music of Latin America, Lati ...

and Bob Brookmeyer * '' Samba Para Dos'' (1963, Verve)

As arranger

With Maynard Ferguson *'' Come Blow Your Horn'' (Cameo, 1963) trackWith Astrud Gilberto * '' Look to the Rainbow'' (Verve, 1966) With

* '' 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 980 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

External links

Al Cohn recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Al 1925 births 1988 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Bebop saxophonists Mainstream jazz saxophonists Cool jazz saxophonists Jewish American musicians Savoy Records artists Red Baron Records artists RCA Records artists Vee-Jay Records artists Muse Records artists Prestige Records artists Timeless Records artists Xanadu Records artists Gemini Records artists Musicians from Brooklyn Jazz musicians from New York City Erasmus Hall High School alumni Jewish jazz musicians 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians