Pianist Emmet Cohen, who reached locked-in audiences throughout the world in his acclaimed “Emmet’s Place” concerts, streamed from his Harlem apartment during the COVID-19 pandemic, will appear with his quintet on March 22 at 3 p.m. at the Miller Center for the Arts in Reading as part of the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest.
He and drummer Joe Farnsworth, bassist Ruben Rogers, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and saxophonist Tivon Pennicott will perform music by Miles Davis and John Coltrane in honor of their joint centenary.
Cohen, whose prodigious keyboard skills won him third place in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition and first place in the 2019 American Piano Awards, can communicate with both audiences and other musicians in a deep way that goes far beyond fabulous chops.
As those who followed “Emmet’s Place” already know, Cohen makes it evident that he is playing for the sheer love of the art, and everyone in the room has the best time exploring that art together.
When, after years of studying classical piano, he began learning jazz, Cohen said: “I wanted to get more and more into it from every direction, and that’s still happening to this day. But it’s also about the community, and the people that I’m around and playing with.
“In classical music, you’re locked up in a practice room all day, trying to figure out this passage by yourself. In jazz, you’re in a room with five other people trying to figure it out together. But it’s beyond just playing the music. You have a special bond with the people who love jazz and who hang out at the jazz clubs.”
One such person, who convinced him that the jazz community is where he belonged, was his friend Funmi Ononaiye, an A&R director, event producer, artist manager, musician and mentor who was a constant, beloved presence in the jazz scene in New York City.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ononaiye came to New York when his father became the Nigerian ambassador to the United Nations. He was a member of Jazz at Lincoln Center as an advocate, and was programming manager at Dizzy’s Club, which was how Cohen met him.
“Funmi would come to the apartment for more than 100 ‘Emmet’s Place’ shows and help with putting it together,” Cohen said.
Sadly, after years of being central to the New York jazz community, Ononaiye passed away in December 2023 of cancer at the age of 53. Cohen dedicated his 2024 album, “Vibe Provider,” to Ononaiye.
Pianist Emmet Cohen has performed in more than 40 countries. (Photo by John Abbott)
Cohen, who was born in Miami and raised in Montclair, N.J., started classical piano lessons at age 3, with the Suzuki Method. He was encouraged by his father, who was very musical, and his mother, a talented sculptor, to pursue creativity, and he listened to recordings of jazz pianists from Scott Joplin to Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, Ahmad Jamal and Marcus Roberts from his father’s collection.
When he was in middle school, he took clarinet and saxophone lessons and was exposed to the music of Davis and Coltrane.
“I felt like I understood the language,” he said. “When I started learning jazz, the Suzuki Method came in handy because it was all about learning by ear.”
After completing a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and his master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, Cohen moved to New York.
While still a student at Frost, he recorded his first album, “In the Element” (2010), and because the APA came with a Mack Avenue Records recording contract, he was able to release three more albums in quick succession: “Future Stride” (2021), “Uptown Orbit” (2022) and “Vibe Provider.”
He will release his newest album, “Universal Truth,” featuring the music of Coltrane and Davis, “in a couple of weeks,” he said.
It is the latest in his ongoing Masters Legacy Series of recordings honoring jazz icons like Ron Carter and Houston Person.
“One of my goals as a jazz musician is to bring together the elder musicians with the younger musicians,” Cohen said. “With my Masters Legacy Series I am bridging the gap and preserving the legacy of older musicians. In our concert, we will be honoring Davis and Coltrane’s artistry and the paths they have formed, and digging deep into ourselves as well so we can push it forward into the future.”
Cohen has performed in more than 40 countries, in major venues like Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard and the Newport Jazz Festival. He said he often runs into people who know him through “Emmet’s Place,” which continues monthly, now from Power Station NYC.
He serves as Hammond B-3 organist in-residence at Harlem’s SMOKE Jazz Club, and has participated in Herbie Hancock’s International Jazz Day celebrations, broadcast worldwide.
He serves as host of The Jazz Cruise and helps with its programming, and he has been chosen as Artistic Partner of the 2027 American Piano Awards. He has recently returned from two weeks of bringing tour groups to Cuba, for cultural and humanitarian experiences and to support Cuban musicians.
And speaking of closing the generation gap: Opening for the Emmet Cohen Quintet will be the New Jazz Standard, featuring Berks County’s own jazz pianist Noah Gibney, leader of the band So What? and now a Berklee College of Music student. This new band also includes Austin Snavely, Aiden Peterson, Jacob Merrill and James Weaver, all of them still in college.
For complete information about Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest and how to purchase tickets, visit www.berksjazzfest.com.