The old-time music community lost one of its great champions yesterday. John Cohen died at the age of 87. He was a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, singing and playing guitar and banjo. Cohen was also a photographer, filmmaker and musicologist. From 1972 to 1997, he was a professor of visual arts at SUNY Purchase College in Harrison, New York.
In addition to his notable work as a musician, Cohen was instrumental in documenting old-time musicians through his photography and films. He is credited with "discovering" Roscoe Holcomb and featured him in his 1962 documentary, The High Lonesome Sound. He co-produced the influential album High Atmosphere in 1975, which included Cohen's field recordings of Dillard Chandler, Wade Ward, Gaither Carlton, Frank Proffitt, Fred Cockerham, Estil Ball and others. His photography has been published in numerous books over the years, including one just released on Sept. 10, called Speed Bumps on a Dirt Road: When Old Time Music Met Bluegrass.
Over the last decade, Cohen had been playing with younger old-time musicians in New York City, most notably the Down Hill Strugglers (formerly known as the Dust Busters). I had the great fortune of seeing Cohen twice perform in Northeast Ohio. The first time was in October 2010 at the Palace Theater in Canton, Ohio, to promote a gallery show based on his book, There Is No Eye. He played with a group of local musicians that went by the name of Brady's Run, from Kent, Ohio. The second time was about a year later with the Dust Busters in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I wrote about that show here, and that's also where the photo above was taken. Both performances were preceded by the showing of his 2010 film, Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky.
Here's a video from that 2010 performance with Brady's Run:
There are some excellent remembrances of Cohen out there. Here are a couple that caught my eye:
Cohen was a many-splendored talent as a musician and visual artist. He was one of the pioneers of the folk revival period in the 1950s and '60s and helped preserve the art and lives of those musicians he encountered in Southern Appalachia and beyond. He will be missed.
Here's a video from that 2010 performance with Brady's Run:
There are some excellent remembrances of Cohen out there. Here are a couple that caught my eye:
Cohen was a many-splendored talent as a musician and visual artist. He was one of the pioneers of the folk revival period in the 1950s and '60s and helped preserve the art and lives of those musicians he encountered in Southern Appalachia and beyond. He will be missed.
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