The Cohen Brothers are a UK band formed in 2008 in Worcestershire.
Contents
As at 2010 the line-up consists of Julian Crook (vocals, keyboards), Sean Griffin (guitar), Brian Richards (bass), Dave Smaylen (drums), and Peter Cottom (electronic percussion).
Background
The Cohen Brothers play a mixture of original material and carefully selected songs from other artists who have inspired and influenced them. The band's style ranges from blues and soul to rock, jazz and Americana. They regularly are compared to Steve Winwood, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan and Paul Weller (with whom they share many 70's influences).
The band recorded and released their debut album Moving On in 2009. The title track "Moving On", written in 2009, reflects the passing of time and the renewing of old friendships. Other songs such as "Your Ways" written by Julian Crook took longer to develop, this song was originally written in 1993 and has become a live favourite of audiences combining an infectious chorus with Sean Griffin's Santana-influenced guitar, Brian Richards funky bass and Latin-tinged percussion. There are shades of jazz, funk, rock, blues and soul throughout the recording – reflecting the many musical influences within the band.
The album features bass player Russ Sargeant http://www.russsargeant.co.uk/ who joined the band to record, in between other solo projects. In early 2010, the band welcomed bass player Brian Richards as the newest member of The Cohen Brothers and joined the band for concerts and festivals. The band plan to return to the studio in 2011 to record this new line-up.
The band have been played regularly by Andrew Marston on BBC Hereford & Worcester who have established an artist page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/e4531eda-9cd3-4444-8bae-16ffb194831d
BBC sessions
The Cohen Brothers have appeared three times on BBC Hereford & Worcester in 2009, interviewed ahead of the release of "Moving On" and subsequently playing a live session on BBC Introducing in Hereford & Worcester, which showcases musicians established in the region. Pictures from the session are here => http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/image_galleries/cohen_brothers_session_gallery.shtml?6 and the session is archived here => http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/realmedia/friday_session/cohen_brothers_session.ram
At the end of 2009, "The Roof Blew Off" was voted as one of the "Top 10 Tunes 2009" by BBC Hereford & Worcester and the band invited to open the live BBC Hereford & Worcester broadcast for the 2010 Worcester Music Festival.
The band's third appearance on the Beeb was as opening act for the BBC H&W live broadcast to launch the Worcester Music Festival – after which they ran across town to play a headline gig on the banks of the River Severn.
The BBC's Andy O'Hare reviewed the band in March 2010 at a "Help For Haiti" fundraiser – commenting:
"There was complete and utter quality of the highest order to follow from the supremely polished Pershore outfit The Cohen Brothers and their sparkling numbers like Caledonia, Moving On and The Roof Blew Off. Words fail me every time I see these guys as they're completely different in terms of sound and sheer musicianship from just about any other outfit doing the rounds. If you've got the chance to hear this lot in the next month or so you should grab it quick as once again the general consensus was that the Jools Crook-fronted five-piece deserve a far far bigger stage – like SXSW!" (Andy O'Hare BBC H&W 26 March 2010)
Early days: 1970s–1990s
The genesis of The Cohen Brothers can be traced back to 1978 when Julian Crook and David Smaylen played in Birmingham band Lautrec. Winning the Midlands semi-final and receiving comparisons to The Average White Band from judges, Lautrec reached the national final of the Melody Maker annual "Battle of the Bands" in June 1979, held The Venue in Victoria Street (owned at the time by the Virgin group). Judges for the final included Sting who was just beginning his highly successful musical career.
Based in Birmingham, Lautrec shared stages and rehearsal rooms with notable local bands UB40, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Duran Duran – all beginning their musical careers in the late 1970s in Birmingham.
Lautrec, UB40 and Dexy's Midnight Runners all held weekly residencies at The Imperial Hotel in the centre of Birmingham. Lautrec were joined in this residency, a number of times, by Chris Wood, a founder member of Traffic. Chris, would join the band on flute and saxophone. Chris had been suffering with bad health and the opportunity to jam and improvise with the band aided his recovery at the time, supported by friends and relatives. Sadly, Chris's health continued to fluctuate and planned recording sessions at Chris' studio in Birmingham with the band were postponed.
Lautrec split up in 1980, Julian and Dave continued to write and record at Zella Studios in Birmingham with guitarist Gary Crump, sax player Sean Stafford & Geoff Blythe (the latter of Dexy's Midnight Runners) and engineer/producer Alec Price until the studio was acquired by rock band Magnum in the 1980s and Alec joined Magnum's live sound engineering team.
The songs and music being written and recorded by Julian and Dave had strong American "West Coast" influences, at the time at odds with the increasing punk and new wave movements popular in the UK in the late 1970s / early 1980s, leading Julian and Dave to take a break from music. But not before Dave auditioned for an embryonic Duran Duran !
During the 1980s and 1990s Julian continued songwriting and occasionally collaborated with other local musicians including bass player Chris Beddowes with whom he worked on demos for Donna Lewis (who went on to achieve No. 1 single in US with "I Will Love You Always Forever") and around this time Julian began to collaborate with future Cohen Brother percussionist, Peter Cottom.
Thirty years after disbanding Lautrec, a chance meeting resulted in David inviting Julian to play keyboards and backing vocals with Worcester band Marina Del Ray with whom he was playing drums. The pair recorded an unreleased album, played live at local festivals and performed a live session on BBC WM in Birmingham with Marina Del Ray in 2007, before departing to form The Cohen Brothers with guitarist Sean Griffin in autumn 2008.
Studio recordings
The Cohen Brothers' debut album "Moving On" features original compositions: "Moving On"; "The Roof Blew Off"; "You Want It All"; "Don't Stop"; "I Dont Care"; Your Ways" and an instrumental reprise of "Moving On".
The album also featured three covers of songs from the 1970s by artists who were a major influence on the band:
The album Moving On was recorded at John River's Woodbine Street Recording Studios in Leamington Spa. John is a well-known producer/engineer having worked on many of the Ocean Colour Scene albums and receiving a gold disc for his work on the 1981 song "Ghost Town" by The Specials.