Join me for the Feb. 22, 2023, edition of After Hours on KRBD Rainbird Radio as I’m joined in conversation with jazz pianist Emmet Cohen.
A multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer, Cohen is one of his generation’s pivotal figures in music and the related arts.
Leader of the Emmet Cohen Trio and creator of the Masters Legacy Series, he is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist, a dedicated educator, the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, and a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition.
Cohen headlines regularly at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, and Birdland, and has appeared at the Newport, Monterey, and North Sea jazz festivals. His artistry has taken him to venues and festivals in more than 30 countries. Cohen’s entrepreneurial energies led to his developing “Live From Emmet’s Place,” a live-streamed “Harlem rent party” that unites a worldwide audience via tens of millions of internet views.
Cohen has released more than 10 albums as leader and has performed or recorded with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, and Kurt Elling.
Join me for After Hours Alaska at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23, on KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with jazz pianist Christian Jacob.
Christian is a multi-Grammy-nominated pianist and arranger and first gained widespread exposure as music director for Maynard Ferguson and later as leader of the Christian Jacob Trio and co-leader of the Tierney Sutton Band.
“A post-bop modernist touched by the souls of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. … Pianist Christian Jacob is a wonderful player whose crystalline melodies and expansive harmonies mark him as someone to keep an ear on.” ~ JAZZ TIMES
Born in Lorraine, France, Christian fell in love with classical music at age 4 and discovered jazz at age 9. After graduating with “First Prize” from the Paris Conservatory, Jacob came to America to focus on improvisation at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While attending Berklee, Christian won a number of awards, including the Oscar Peterson Jazz Masters Award, the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and “Downbeat” magazine’s distinction as Top Collegiate Jazz Soloist. He went on to teach at Berklee, tour with Maynard Ferguson, perform and record with a number of jazz legends and was listed by The Japan Times as one of the best-selling foreign jazz pianists in Japan. His extensive discography includes five critically acclaimed trio recordings and seven Grammy nominations from his alliance with vocalist Tierney Sutton, drummer Ray Brinker and bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt. Christian also received a Grammy Nomination as an arranger with The Phil Norman Tentet.
While Christian performs year round, his arranging skills are also highly sought after. He has been arranging for the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra since 1990 and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra since 2005, featuring such talented artists as John Scofield, Billy Cobham, Charlie Haden, Phil Woods, Joe Lovano, Ron Carter and Gary Burton. Christian’s latest collaboration has been with renowned Japanese composer Kunihiko Murai and Maestro Jorge Calandrelli.
In 2014, Christian released his first solo piano recording, Beautiful Jazz: a private concert, aptly titled as this intimate solo recording is a dedication to the music that drew him away from the classical world and introduced him to the beautiful world of jazz. Recorded in pure analog and available as a limited edition vinyl LP.
In 2016, the original score to director Clint Eastwood’s box-office smash “Sully”, was created by Christian, The Tierney Sutton Band and Clint Eastwood. It was a fulfilling moment, to orchestrate his and the band’s music for a 70-piece orchestra and hear it live with the brilliant Conrad Pope conducting. The following year Eastwood asked Christian to compose the music for his next film, “The 15:17 to Paris.”
Join me for the Feb. 3, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as I’m joined in conversation with the great American jazz double bassist, Ron Carter.
His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most recorded jazz bassist in history. Ron is also a cellist who has recorded numerous times on that instrument. He was a member of the Miles Davis Quintet in the mid 1960s, which also included pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and drummer Tony Williams.
He was elected to the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2012. In 1993, Ron won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group and another Grammy in 1998 for an instrumental composition for the film “Round Midnight.” Be sure to tune into this incredible and unforgettable conversation.
Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Ron Carter, originally broadcast on Feb. 3, 2020. Click here to visit Ron’s personal website.
After Hours Alaska 