Cohen, Tom: Joyride

Newark, New Jersey born Tom Cohen has been involved with the Philadelphia music scene for over forty years. Although he has delved in a number of different styles his first love is jazz and on his new album Joyride that is certainly what you get. Throughout the years Cohen has worked with jazz luminaries such as Shirley Scott, Sid Simmons, Donny McCaslin and Ben Monder to name but a few. Here the drummer is joined by Mike Boone and Kris Funn (bass), Benito Gonzalez (piano) and Tim Ries (tenor and soprano saxophone).

The album contains sixteen tracks including seven short drum interludes showcasing the exceptional talent Cohen possesses. The rest of the songs are mostly standards with one original composition written by Ries.

Joyride is another excellent jazz album from 2016. The first track is a short drum exercise where Cohen very briefly shows his considerable chops. Next is Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile", a swinging piece of nostalgic jazz with a superb groove and excellent piano and drums. The players have that innate talent for subtlety and more robust musical excursions and know precisely when to ease off and when to light it up. The flurries of drums and piano are exceptional. "Cymbolic Dream" showcases Cohen's cymbal work, hence the title, whereas "What Will We Tell Our Children" is more darker in scope with the sax adding a slight esoteric quality and the piano carrying the melody. The sax work here is some of the best on the disc and is definitely an album highlight. Two of the more melodic tracks include Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance" and Bronislaw Kaper's "On Green Dolphin Street" with both tracks featuring Cohen's finesse and power behind the kit. The beautiful sax solo in the slow and serene "Peace" is another high point.

I found Joyride to be a highly enjoyable listen and although the band delivers the chops to groove with the best of them it's the melodies that continuously reeled me in. I hope you dig this as much as I do.

Track Listing:
1. Desi/Lucy (0:30)
2. Black Nile (7:13)
3. Cymbolic Dream (1:19)
4. What Will We Tell Our Children (6:58)
5. LD (For L. DiTommaso) (0:41)
6. Dolphin Dance (7:24)
7. Distant Small Fries (0:31)
8. On Green Dolphin Street (6:17)
9. Peace (5:46)
10. One Finger Snap (4:30)
11. Bahia Interlude (0:53)
12. John/Wayne (5:01)
13. EJ (0:35)
14. Old Folks (5:16)
15. Funky Tony (0:40)
16. Beatrice (6:45)

Added: January 14th 2017
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1594
Language: english

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