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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCOHN, Al(b Alvin Gilbert Cohn, 24 November 1925, Brooklyn NY; d 15 February 1988) Tenor sax, arranger; also played other reeds. An exuberant, highly-rated bop-influenced player, originally influenced by Lester Young, but his tone acquired a darker colour over the years. He recorded for Savoy (Al Cohn's Tones, The Progressive Al Cohn); Broadway '54 was later on Fantasy OJC; he played solos on Manny Albam's The Jazz Workshop '55 on RCA and on the marvelous Albam/Ernie Wilkins RCA album Drum Suite '56. More albums as leader included several with Zoot Sims: on RCA '57, Epic '58, Coral '57 and '59; Zim '61 (Either Way); Muse '73 (Body And Soul, with Jaki Byard); Sonet '74 (made in Stockholm); also Happy Over Hoagy on Stash, Motoring Along on Gazell. Thanks to CD many fine LPs from the '50s reappeared: Natural Rhythm with Freddie Green; From A To Z and Natural Rhythm with Sims on RCA Bluebird; Al And Zoot on MCA. Albums on Concord Jazz since '81 included a quartet Nonpareil with Jake Hanna on drums; two-disc Tour de Force, a septet with Hanna, piano, bass, guitar and three tenors: Cohn, Scott Hamilton and Buddy Tate; a quintet Overtones with Hank Jones, George Duvivier; Standards Of Excellence, a quartet with Herb Ellis; also two volumes of Concord Jazz All Stars at the Northsea Festival. Tenor Gladness '86 on Gemini had Totti Bergh on the other horn. He played on In Oblivion '86 on Jazz Mark, an album of his own arrangements played by the Al Porcino Big Band. Gigged '87 with Mose Allison; quartet album Rifftide that year was on Timeless. Al Porcino (b 14 May 1925; d 31 December 2013) was a well-known lead trumpet player, then lived in Munich from the 1970s, leading a big band in Europe. |