Jon Cowherd is an American pianist, composer, arranger, and record producer. Cowherd is most well known for his partnership with

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

Brian Blade Brian Blade (born July 25, 1970) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and session musician. Early life Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Blade was exposed to gospel and praise music while attending Zion Baptist Church at which his ...

, with whom he co-founded the Brian Blade Fellowship. When not recording and touring with the Fellowship, Cowherd works extensively with a broad array of players and singers from the

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 ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

worlds.Jon Cowherd
Bio: Jon Cowherd
Jon Cowherd, Referenced November 2013.ArtistShare
ArtistShare FeaturedArtists
ArtistShare.com, Retrieved November 2013.

Biography

Cowherd was born and raised in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Born to a trombone player (father) and classically trained violinist (mother), both of whom were also educators, Cowherd began piano lessons at the age of five and trumpet and violin lessons at ten years of age. Cowherd began music at an early age singing, playing the piano,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

. He moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

to attend Loyola University, where he studied jazz piano and improvisation under Ellis Marsalis,

John Mahoney Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-American actor. He played retired police officer Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' from 1993 to 2004, receiving nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two P ...

, and Steve Masakowski. The Brian Blade Fellowship album ''Season of Changes'' was released around 2008.Chinen, Nat
Critics' Choice-New CDs Review
NYTimes, May 12, 2008. Cowherd also worked with Brian Blade in his debut singer-songwriter album ''Mama Rosa'', which was released in 2009 on

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

.Kelman, Joh
Brian Blade: Mama Rosa
AllAboutJazz.com, April 21, 2009. As a producer, Cowherd has overseen albums by

Lizz Wright Elizabeth LaCharla Wright (born January 22, 1980) professionally known as Lizz Wright, is an American jazz and gospel singer. Early life and education Wright was born in the small town of Hahira, which is northwest of Valdosta, Georgia, one ...

, Alyssa Graham and The Local NYC. Cowherd's debut album as a leader, ''Mercy'', was released in 2013 on

ArtistShare ArtistShare is the internet's first commercial crowdfunding website.Crowd-Funding 101: What Every Musician Needs for a Successful Campaign It also operates as a record label and business model for artists which enables them to fund their proje ...

. It features

John Patitucci John Patitucci (born December 22, 1959) is an American jazz bassist and composer. Biography John James Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began playing the electric bass at age 10, performing and composing at age 12, and at age 15, s ...

, and

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...

. Reviewing the album for allaboutjazz, John Kelman wrote: "With music this well-conceived and a band so telepathically connected, it may have taken Cowherd a long time to release an album under his own name, but with ''Mercy'' as the result, it's been well worth the wait; hopefully there won't be such a long one for the follow-up."

Discography

As leader

* ''Mercy'' (2013,

) * ''Pride & Joy'' (2023)

As a co-leader

With Brian Blade Fellowship * '' Brian Blade Fellowship'' (1998,

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

) * ''

Perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

'' (2000, Blue Note Records) * '' Season of Changes'' (2008,

) * ''Landmarks'' (2014, Blue Note Records) * ''Body and Shadow'' (2017, Blue Note Records) * ''Kings Highway'' (2023, Stoner Hill Records)

As sideman

Meg Okura Meg Okura (born August 9, 1973) is an American jazz violinist, composer, erhu player, and leader of the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, based in New York City. She is also a member of the band Pharaoh's Daughter, Emilio Solla y La Inestable de Bro ...

: ''Peace In My Heart'' (1995) * Swing: ''The Original Broadway Cast Recording'' (1999) * Mark Olson and the Creek Dippers: '' Zola and the Tulip Tree'' (2000) * Steve Sacks: ''Look to the Sky'' (2001) * Ari Ambrose: ''Waiting'' (2003,

SteepleChase Records SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, w ...

) * Liz Wright: ''Salt'' (2003,

) *

The Local ''The Local'' is a multi-regional, European digital news publisher targeting expats, labour migrants and second home owners. It has nine local editions: The Local Austria, The Local Denmark, The Local France, The Local Germany, The Local Italy, ...

: ''Just Show Up'' (2004, Budron Records) *

Marshall Gilkes Marshall Gilkes (born September 30, 1978) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. Biography Marshall Gilkes was born in Camp Springs, Maryland to a musical family; his mother was a classical vocalist and pianist and his father was a Eupho ...

: ''Edenderry'' (2005, Alternate Side Records) * Kingsborough Hymns: (2005) *

Jack Wilkins Jack Rivers Lewis (June 3, 1944 – May 5, 2023), known professionally as Jack Wilkins, was an American jazz guitarist. Career A native of New York City, Wilkins grew up listening to his parents' music, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, a ...

: ''Until It's Time'' (2005, Maxjazz) * Metta Quintet: ''Subway Songs'' (2006,

Sunnyside Records Sunnyside Records is an American jazz record company and label initially established by François Zalacain in 1982 to release an album by pianist Harold Danko. Albums by Kirk Lightsey and Lee Konitz soon followed, beginning a sequence of releases ...

) * Mariel Larsen: ''Mariel Larsen'' (2007, Coco Jazz) *

Chris Tarry Chris Tarry (born 24 August 1970) is a Canadian bass guitarist who is a member of the band Metalwood. Since 1993 he has led the Chris Tarry Group. Discography As leader * ''Unition'' (Adam, 1996) * ''Sponge'' with Dylan van der Schyff (Spool, 1 ...

: ''Sorry to be Strange'' (2007) * Nicolas Thys: ''Virgo'' (2008, Pirouette Records) * Myron Walden: ''In This World'' (2008, Demi Sound Records) *

: ''Lost Words'' (2008, Alternate Side Records) * Pamela Luss: ''Your Eyes'' (2008, Savant) * Alyssa Graham: ''Echo'' (2008,

/Walrus) *

: ''Mama Rosa'' (2009,

) * Matt Lemler: ''New Orleans Revival Project'' (2009) *

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

: ''

Préliminaires ''Préliminaires'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop, released in Europe on May 25, 2009 by record label Astralwerks, and in the US on June 2. It was inspired by the singer's reading of Michel Houellebecq's novel ''L ...

'' (2009,

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

) * Marcus Strickland: ''Open Reel Deck'' (Strick Muzik, 2009) *

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash. Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws f ...

: ''We Three Kings'' (2010,

) *

Marc Cohn Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song " Walking in Memphis", from his 1991 album '' Marc Cohn'', which was a To ...

: ''Listening Booth 1970'' (2010, Saguaro Road Records) * Chrissi Poland: ''Songs From the Concrete'' (2010, Danben Records) * Kevin Kinney: ''Good Country Mile'' (2011) * Davy Mooney: ''Perrier Street'' (2011,

) * Maria Logis: ''Room for Something New'' (2012) *

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wit ...

: '' Coming Forth by Day'' (Legacy, 2015)

References

External links

Official Jon Cowherd Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowherd, Jon Living people Manhattan School of Music alumni Grammy Award winners Record producers from Kentucky Jazz record producers American jazz musicians Year of birth missing (living people) American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians ArtistShare artists