Review: Emmet Cohen's EMMET'S PLACE at Birdland Thrillingly Justifies Jazz

The Emmet Cohen Trio is in residency this week at Birdland, except they are the Emmet Cohen Quartet... for the week, at least. For this week of performances titled EMMET'S PLACE, the terrific trio has invited a series of guest artists who join them on the stage for two shows a night.

To be honest, the trio doesn't need guest artists because any voyage outside of the home to see the Emmet Cohen Trio (with Cohen on piano, Yasushi Nakamura on bass, and Kyle Poole on drums) is a voyage worth taking and, indeed, one this writer is never willing to miss. It isn't every day that a cabaret journalist has the luxury of seeing and reviewing a club act they have already covered, but this is a must-see for me, and any time Cohen and co. are in town, if it is at all possible, I have vowed to be there.

Yes, a person could buy the albums (advisable) or dial up Cohen on Spotify (easy), but the experience of seeing and hearing Mr. Cohen and his cohorts live and in person is simply too thrilling an experience to pass up. Simply being in the same space to see their antics, to watch their craftsmanship, to witness their camaraderie is worth the price of admission.

Until you have actually witnessed the sheer force of the physical effort that the threesome puts into playing their respective instruments, you don't know. Poole seems lost in a trance, laid-back, rather like a vessel for the music, while Nakamura seems to be playing a sporting event on his strings, and Cohen himself creates sounds so powerful that they couldn't possibly be coming from the fingers moving so fleetly over the keys as to appear simply floating.

Then, to further sweeten the deal, there is the matter of each musician's laser-like focus and absolute appreciation, as they stop what they are doing to fully absorb the artistry of their colleagues during their individual solos. In fact, it is more than a thrill, it is a joy.

When the trio took their place on the Birdland stage on Tuesday night, they kicked off their set with three numbers designed, solely, for their participation, but once completed with that portion of their program, engaging Emmet introduced jazz singer Lucy Yeghiazaryan into the proceedings.

Although the three gents had reached an early highlight in the evening with a performance of Ray Noble's "Cherokee," once Ms. Yeghiazaryan was on board, the musicality of the night moved to a new level. It isn't that those first three numbers weren't exceptional (they were), it's just that this added new element (that of a singer period, and that of a fascinating new personality) really livened things up for the crowd, a healthily-sold one, at that.

Ms. Yeghiazaryan confessed to the audience that this was her first time playing Birdland, and, given her skills and the audience response to those skills, it is clear that a solo show must be put into the works, post haste. Of course, should Lucy play Birdland without Cohen, it might not be as fun - the chemistry between the two colleagues is off the charts, as they and the other two fellows on stage worked their way through treatments of classics like "Easy Street" (it was insane) and "Isn't It a Pity" (this was spectacular), and the evening highlight "Perdito."

Actually, it's a highlight toss-up because Ms. Yeghiazaryan introduced a performance of "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" that, she explained, she recently recorded but that she is considering not releasing. From his seat behind the piano, Mr. Cohen urged the audience to encourage her to reconsider and, indeed, put out the single. His suggestion did not fall on deaf ears because the reaction to the performance was considerable and the message was clear: release the single. Please.

Each of the performers who worked the room at Tuesday night's opening at Birdland is a talent worth catching, a gifted performer at the top of their game (though it would have been nice if they weren't performing in the dark, an unhappy pattern for the Birdland lighting designer), but at the end of the day, the name on the bill is Emmet Cohen, and even if he were on the stage playing all by himself, it would be worth the money paid and the trip into the cold night air to see him live. Irving Berlin once wrote about the excitement of being invited 'to hear a long-haired genius play." Well, this is it. It's what he was talking about, the long hair, the excitement, the genius, the playing. Whoever Emmet Cohen invites up to the stage to join in his Merry Band of Music Makers this week, he is the long-haired genius leading the band, and he will see to it that the audience gets what they came for.

And then some.

The remaining guests for Emmet's Place will be:

3/31 George Coleman

4/1 Houston Person

4/2 Joel M. Ross

Emmet's Place: Emmet Cohen Trio Featuring Special Guests will play Birdland through March 2nd, two shows nightly. For information and reservations visit the Birdland website HERE.

THIS is the Emmet Cohen website.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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