St. Cecilia Music Center Jazz Series features Emmet Cohen's Master Legacy Series with World-Renowned Jazz Legend Benny Golson this Thursday, January 16, 2020

St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) in Grand Rapids is proud to present Emmet Cohen’s Master Legacy Series featuring Benny Golson this Thursday, January 16, 2020. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the world-renowned composer, arranger, lyricist, producer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson with the Emmet Cohen Trio. With a mission to celebrate the last remaining legendary jazz artists, 28 year old jazz prodigy Emmet Cohen has created the "Masters Legacy Series," a celebratory set of recordings, interviews and live performances honoring legendary jazz musicians. Benny Golson is one of the most revered jazz musicians in the world and it will be an honor to have him on stage at St. Cecilia Music Center. 

St. Cecilia Music Center Executive Director Cathy Holbrook says, “We are very excited to bring the Emmet Cohen Trio with Benny Golson together at St. Cecilia Music Center to celebrate an evening of jazz at its finest. Emmet Cohen has hit the mark with his superb understanding of what jazz is all about and by bringing the legendary jazz master Benny Golson on tour, the blending of creative talent will be electricifying. It is an honor to have them here in Grand Rapids.” 

Concert tickets for Emmet Cohen’s Master Legacy Series featuring Benny Golson are $40 and $45 and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.scmc-online.org.   A post-concert party with dessert, coffee and wine is open to all ticket-holdersto meet the artists, obtain autographs and CD purchases. 

Emmet Cohen’s Master Legacy Series

Emmet Cohen’s mission is to celebrate the last remaining legendary jazz artists by documenting, featuring, and preserving their artistry and excellence in the later stages of their careers. His signature professional undertaking is the "Masters Legacy Series," a celebratory set of recordings and interviews honoring legendary jazz musicians. He serves as both producer and pianist for each album in the series. The goal of this landmark, ongoing project is to provide musicians of multiple generations a forum to transfer the unwritten folklore that is America's unique musical idiom. Volume one of the "Masters Legacy Series" features drummer Jimmy Cobb, and volume two spotlights bassist Ron Carter. Future "Masters Legacy Series" releases will include Cohen's recordings with Benny Golson, Tootie Heath, and George Coleman.

Benny Golson is a Multitalented and internationally famous jazz legend, - a composer, arranger, lyricist, producer - and tenor saxophonist of world note. He is also a prolific teacher at some of the finest conservatories and universities, as well as, an international statesman. A live performer who consistently knocks audiences off their feet, Benny Golson has given hundreds of performances in the USA, Europe, South America, the Far East and Japan for decades.He has recorded over 30 albums for many recording companies in the United States and Europe under his own name and innumerable ones with other major artists. A prodigious writer, Golson has written well over 300 compositions.For more than 60 years, Golson has enjoyed an illustrious, musical career in which he has not only made scores of recordings but has also composed and arranged music forCount Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass Elliott, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Diana Ross and many others. Golson has also written musical scores for many hit TV series and films including M*A*S*H, Mission Impossible, Mod Squad, The Partridge Family, The Academy Awards, Television specials for ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as BBC in London, Copenhagen and Denmark. He has also written music for national radio and television spots for some of the major advertising agencies in the country representing numerous household brands like Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Nissan, MacDonald's, Mattel Toys and Pepsi Cola. 

Emmet Cohen has emerged as one of his generation's pivotal figures in music and the related arts. Possessing a fluid technique, an innovative tonal palette, and an extensive repertoire, Cohen plays with the command of a seasoned veteran and the passion of an artist fully devoted to his medium. A recognized prodigy, Cohen began Suzuki method piano instruction at age three, and his playing quickly became a mature melding of musicality, technique, and concept. Downbeatobserved that his "nimble touch, measured stride and warm harmonic vocabulary indicate he's above any convoluted technical showmanship." In the same spirit, Cohen himself has noted that playing jazz is "about communicating the deepest levels of humanity and individuality; it's essentially about connections," both among musicians and with audiences. He leads his namesake ensemble, the "Emmet Cohen Trio," as a vibrant solo performer, and is in constant demand as a sideman

SCMC Spectacular Jazz Series Concerts remaining this Season

Full Bio – Benny Golson

Multitalented and internationally famous jazz legend, - a composer, arranger, lyricist, producer - and tenor saxophonist of world note, Benny Golson was born in Philadelphia, PA on January 25, 1929. Raised with an impeccable musical pedigree, Golson has played in the bands of world famous Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic and Art Blakey.

Few jazz musicians can claim to be true innovators and even fewer can boast of a performing and recording career that literally redefines the term "jazz". Benny Golson has made major contributions to the world of jazz with such jazz standards as: Killer Joe, I Remember Clifford, Along Came Betty, Stablemates, Whisper Not, Blues March, Five Spot After Dark, Are you Real?

Benny Golson is the only living jazz artist to have written 8 standards for jazz repertoire.
These jazz standards have found their way into countless recordings internationally over the years and are still being recorded.

He has recorded over 30 albums for many recording companies in the United States and Europe under his own name and innumerable ones with other major artists. A prodigious writer, Golson has written well over 300 compositions.

For more than 60 years, Golson has enjoyed an illustrious, musical career in which he has not only made scores of recordings but has also composed and arranged music for Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass Elliott, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Shirley Horn, David Jones and the Monkees, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, Itzhak Perlman, Oscar Peterson, Lou Rawls, Mickey Rooney, Diana Ross, The Animals (Eric Burden), Mel Torme, George Shearing, and  Dusty Springfield

His prolific writing includes scores for hit TV series and films including M*A*S*H, Mannix, Mission Impossible, Mod Squad, Room 222, Run for Your Life, The Partridge Family, The Academy Awards, The Karen Valentine Show, Television specials for ABC, CBS and NBC. Television specials for BBC in London and Copenhagen, Denmark. Theme for Bill Cosby's last TV show, A french film 'Des Femmes Disparaissent" (Paris)

Golson has written music for national radio and television spots for some of the major advertising agencies in the country. Some of these commercials were forBorateem, Canada Dry, Carnation, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Clorox, Dodge, General Telephone, Gillette, Heinz Foods, Jack in The Box, Liquid Plum'r, MacDonald's, Mattel Toys, Monsanto, Nissan, Ohrbachs, Ore-Ida Frozen Potatoes, Parliament Cigarettes, Pepsi Cola, and Texaco.

Benny Golson has absolute mastery of the jazz medium. He has not only blazed a trail in the world of jazz but is passionate about teaching jazz to young and old alike. He has lectured at the Lincoln Center through a special series by Wynton Marsalis. He has lectured to doctoral candidates at New York University and to the faculty at National University at San Diego.

Honored with doctorates from William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ and Berklee School of Music, Boston, MA, Dr. Golson has also conducted workshops and clinics at numerous schools and universities. 

Appalachian University, Boone, NC
Berklee School fo Music, Boston, MA
Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY
Howard University, Washington, DC
Julliard School of Music, New York, NY
Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY
New England Conservatory
Paris Conservatory, Paris, France
Rutgers University, New Orleans, LA
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
University of Denver, Denver, CO
University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, WI
William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ

Golson's musical odyssey has taken him around the world. In 1987, he was sent by the US State Department on a cultural tour of Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Singapore. Later, Philip Morris International sent him on an assignment to Bangkok, Thailand to write music for the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra.

A live performer who consistently knocks audiences off their feet, Benny Golson has given hundreds of performances in the USA, Europe, South America, the Far East and Japan for decades.

Benny is also working on a major college textbook and his autobiography

This humble musical giant continues to impress critics, fans and fellow musicians with his prodigious contributions to the world of jazz.

Full Bio – Emmet Cohen 

Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen has emerged as one of his generation's pivotal figures in music and the related arts. A recognized prodigy, Cohen began Suzuki method piano instruction at age three, and his playing quickly became a mature melding of musicality, technique, and concept. Downbeatobserved that his "nimble touch, measured stride and warm harmonic vocabulary indicate he's above any convoluted technical showmanship." In the same spirit, Cohen himself has noted that playing jazz is "about communicating the deepest levels of humanity and individuality; it's essentially about connections," both among musicians and with audiences. He leads his namesake ensemble, the "Emmet Cohen Trio," is a vibrant solo performer, and is in constant demand as a sideman. Possessing a fluid technique, an innovative tonal palette, and an extensive repertoire, Cohen plays with the command of a seasoned veteran and the passion of an artist fully devoted to his medium.

Emmet Cohen is committed to the intergenerational transfer of artistic knowledge, history, and traditions. His signature professional undertaking is the "Masters Legacy Series," a celebratory set of recordings and interviews honoring legendary jazz musicians. He serves as both producer and pianist for each album in the series. The goal of this landmark, ongoing project is to provide musicians of multiple generations a forum to transfer the unwritten folklore that is America's unique musical idiom.  Cohen has observed that playing jazz "is enriched immeasurably by connecting and studying with jazz masters, forging backward to the very creation of the art form."  Volume one of the "Masters Legacy Series" features drummer Jimmy Cobb, and volume two spotlights bassist Ron Carter. Future "Masters Legacy Series" releases include Cohen's recordings with Benny Golson, Tootie Heath, and George Coleman.

Emmet Cohen's exacting keyboard artistry has garnered numerous accolades from the international jazz community. He placed first in both the American Jazz Pianists competition (2014) and the Phillips Piano Competition at the University of West Florida (2011). He was a finalist in the prestigious American Pianists Association's Cole Porter Fellowship (2015, 2011) and the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition (2011). Cohen has appeared in world-renowned jazz events, including the Newport, Monterey, North Sea, Bern, Edinburgh, Detroit, and Jerusalem jazz festivals, as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. He has also performed at the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Jazz Standard, London's Ronnie Scott's, Jazzhaus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Lincoln Center's Rose Hall, the Cotton Club in Tokyo, and the Kennedy Center, and was received in the Oval Office by President Obama. He is currently Hammond B-3 organist-in-residence at Harlem's SMOKE jazz club.

Besides leading the "Emmet Cohen Trio," Cohen has appeared regularly with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart, and Brian Lynch, among others. Cohen is also a member of Christian McBride's trio "Tip City," the "Herlin Riley Quartet," and the "Ali Jackson Trio," and serves as pianist and music director for jazz vocalist and television personality Lea DeLaria. His recordings include Masters Legacy Series featuring Ron Carter (2018); Masters Legacy Series featuring Jimmy Cobb (2017); New Directions (2016) with Herlin Riley; Questioned  Answer (2014), co-produced with Brian Lynch; Infinity (2013), featuring his Italian Trio; and his acclaimed debut CD In the Element (2011), with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Rodney Green (2018).