Jeremy Cohen and his ensemble Violinjazz shine new light on the music of one of the greatest jazz violinists of all time, Eddie South, giving new insight on the man know by many as the “Dark Angel of the Violin”.
Eddie South was one of the most widely recorded jazz violinists of his time. He was truly one of the greats, and the greats all knew him – Joe Venuti, Stephane Grappelli, Stuff Smith, Ray Nance, Sven Asmussen, and Paul Nero. In fact composer and violinist Paul Nero dedicated his classic jazz fiddle tune, Hot Canary, to Eddie South. But his name and his music aren’t known to all violin-loving musicians, historians, and seasoned music buffs.
Born in 1904, South would have been poised to be one of the great classical violinists of his time had it not been for the dreadful inequality apparent during that era. Graduating from the Chicago Music College, this violin virtuoso learned to play jazz (violin being a more common jazz instrument during the formative years of the genre) due to the lack of orchestra positions for African-Americans. South thrived in this world playing with the greats. He traveled the world and during a trip to Europe was heavily influenced by the Gypsy melodies of Budapest, which he later incorporated into his music. Upon returning to the United States, South formed his group The Alabamians. Though he never had major commercial success South recorded for Mercury and Chess records, and has been well known by true Jazz aficionados from then until now.
Violinjazz breathes new life into Eddie South’s works, by both paying homage to South’s solo styles as well as adding their own improvisations. The group consists of master violinist Jeremy Cohen (founder of the group and 1st violin of the GRAMMY® nominated ensemble Quartet San Francisco), world renowned performer, session pianist and arranger for the group Larry Dunlop, Jim Kerwin of the David Grisman Quartet on bass, and Dix Bruce on guitar, who beyond being a well know performer has had over 35 instructional books published by Mel Bay Publications. The group is joined by the preeminent jazz drummer Harold Jones, whose credits include performing and recording with Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Sarah Vaughn and is currently playing with Tony Bennett.
Combine the excitement of this music, performed by such a star studded ensemble with Dorian Sono Luminus staff recording the album at world famous Skywalker Sound, and you know this album is ready to jump out of its package! The album’s technical proficiency and acoustic nature will crossover to the classical listener and will excite every jazz enthusiast. Promotional videos of the recording sessions and interviews with members of the group will support the album.
