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1977 · Album

Al Cohn's America

↑ Al Cohn

Recorded 1976 · Xanadu Records

Late Freedom: Cohn Lets Loose on Xanadu

Freed of his usual writing duties, Cohn sounds exuberant jamming through seven songs.

By 1976, Al Cohn had spent decades as a workhorse—composer, arranger, sideman, bandleader. He'd earned respect but not always breathing room. Al Cohn's America (1976) arrived as something unexpected: a late-career record where Cohn simply played, unshackled from the arranging and composing that had defined him. The seven tracks move with the ease of musicians who know what they're doing and are enjoying themselves. There's no overthinking, no complex charts to navigate. Just tenor saxophone meeting rhythm section with the directness that jazz promises but doesn't always deliver. The Xanadu label, which housed many of Cohn's finest records in this period, gave him space to do exactly this—blow freely, respond to what his bandmates offered, explore without agenda. What makes this stand out is the lightness of it. Not lightweight—exuberant is the right word. Cohn had played like this thousands of times before, but rarely on record this late in his career with so little scaffolding around him. For listeners curious about Cohn beyond his composer-arranger reputation, this is more immediate than many of his earlier efforts. It captures a musician who'd earned the right to simplicity and chose it anyway.

Who's playing
Listen next
By Al Cohn
Jazz Alive! A Night at the Half Note 1959
More Bebop
Hello Herbie 1970
Herb Ellis
Recording Info
Track listing
1America The Beautiful4:59
2Night And Day8:31
3My Shining Hour8:32
4Bright5:08
5Skylark6:17
6Woody 'N' You5:53
7Comin' In Home6:10
Musicians
Further Reading
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Where next?

More by Al Cohn
Jazz Alive! A Night at the Half Note 1959
The Four Brothers… Together Again! 1957
The Al Cohn Quintet 1956
♫
Al Cohn’s Tones 1956
All 32 albums →
More Bebop
Hello Herbie 1970
Herb Ellis
Free Ride 1977
Dizzy Gillespie
Two for the Road 1985
Joe Pass
Magnificent! 1969
Barry Harris
All 90 Bebop artists →

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