Kenny Kosek

Last updated

Kenny Kosek
Kennykosek.jpg
Kenny Kosek
Background information
Born1949 (age 7374)
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Genres Bluegrass, country, folk, klezmer
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) Fiddle
Years active1970s–present
Website kennykosek.com

Kenny Kosek (born 1949 in The Bronx, New York), is an American fiddler who plays bluegrass, country, klezmer, folk music and roots music. In addition to his solo career, he has performed with many other well-known performers and contributed to film and television soundtrack music. He is also a musical educator. Beyond the field of music, he is also known for his humor. He is a graduate of Bronx High School of Science and City College of New York.

Contents

Influences and performing career

Kenny Kosek's early musical influences included Clark Kessinger, Vassar Clements, The New Lost City Ramblers, [1] Kenny Baker and the May Brothers - Andy and Henry. While attending college, he played with The Star Spangled String Band and The Livingstone Cowboys, and freelanced in the Bleecker Street folk scene. His first post-collegiate professional work was as a member of the David Bromberg Band, and with a short-lived rock band, White Cloud, led by legendary hipster producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye. With Citizen Kafka and John Goodman, he wrote for and performed in the Citizen Kafka Show, a monthly improv and sketch comedy show that ran on WBAI-FM in New York City through the 1980s, [2] [3] and as "Johnny Angry Red Weltz" was part of Citizen Kafka's influential newgrass group, the Wretched Refuse String Band. [4] He is similarly a part of Margot Leverett's fusion quintet The Klezmer Mountain Boys. [5]

Musical backup and background music

Kosek has played backup on hundreds of albums, soundtracks, and jingles. He has recorded with James Taylor, Jerry Garcia, [6] Vassar Clements, [5] David Byrne, Chaka Kahn, Boy George, [1] Willie Nelson, Steve Goodman, Tom Chapin, Tony Trischka, David Bromberg, Bill Keith, Doug Sahm, Leonard Cohen, and John Denver and performed with the Late Night Band on Late Night with David Letterman and in Sting's annual benefit for the rainforests at Carnegie Hall. [1] His distinctive roots-music-inspired sound has been part of the soundtracks of many documentaries including The Way West, The Donner Party, Harlan County, U.S.A., The High Lonesome Sound, and the television shows Another World (NBC), The Guiding Light (CBS), and The Kirby Kids (Fox).

As a musical educator

Kosek is deeply involved with music education. His musical instruction videos Learning Country Fiddle, Learning Bluegrass Fiddle, and Bluegrass Classics are available from Homespun Tapes and Videos. He has been a guest instructor at the Falun Folk Festival, Sweden, Tonder, Denmark Festival, the Sore Fingers Music camp, Cotswolds, England, the Big Apple Bluegrass Festival (19982002), and the Rathcoole, Ireland Folk Arts Festival (2004). He is a staff instructor in country fiddle at the Turtle Bay Music School in New York City. With Stacy Phillips, he co-authored Bluegrass Fiddle Styles, sometimes called the "yellow Bible" of bluegrass. [7]

Stage and film performances

In addition to performing music, Kosek has appeared in many dramatic productions: in the movies They All Laughed and The Stepford Wives ; on Broadway, in The Robber Bridegroom , Platinum , Play Me A Country Song, Foxfire , Big River , Jerry Garcia on Broadway and Footloose ; and off-Broadway, in Feast Here Tonight, Das Barbecü, That and the Cup of Tea, A Celtic Christmas, Lost Highway, and Picon Pie .

Humor

Kosek is also known as a humorist; he has written for the National Lampoon , contributed to numerous radio programs, and written liner notes for many fellow performers.

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Rice</span> American musician (1951–2020)

David Anthony Rice, known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bromberg</span> American singer-songwriter

David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Nelson (musician)</span> American musician, singer, and songwriter (born 1943)

David Nelson is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as a co-founder and longtime member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band (JGAB) was a band formed by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. They played a number of concerts in 1987 and 1988, and subsequently released two live albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim & Jesse</span> American bluegrass duo

Jim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo composed of brothers Jim McReynolds and Jesse McReynolds. The two were born and raised in Carfax, a community near Coeburn, Virginia, United States. Their grandfather, Charles McReynolds, had led the band "The Bull Mountain Moonshiners", who recorded at the Bristol Sessions in 1927.

<i>Almost Acoustic</i> 1988 live album by Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

Almost Acoustic is a live album by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. Held in high esteem by fans for superb sound quality and fine musical selection, it contains songs that were recorded from late November to early December 1987 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. It was released on December 6, 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Glaser</span> American bluegrass and jazz violinist

Matt Glaser is an American jazz and bluegrass violinist. He served as the chair of the string department at the Berklee College of Music for more than twenty-five years. He is now the founder and artistic director of Berklee's American Roots Music Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Hanway</span> American musician

Tom Hanway was born on August 20, 1961 in Cleveland, Ohio, grew up in Larchmont, Westchester County, New York, and attended Hampshire College. He is an American 5-string banjoist, composer, author, and an originator of "Celtic fingerstyle" banjo. In 1998, he and luthier Geoff Stelling co-designed the Stelling Tom Hanway SwallowTail banjo, available in both standard and deluxe models, used in bluegrass, folk, and Celtic music around the world.

Citizen Kafka was the stage name of New York-based radio personality and folk musician Richard Shulberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Statman</span> American musician

Andy Statman is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margot Leverett</span> American clarinet player

Margot Leverett is a New York-based clarinettist. Born in Ohio, she lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York before studying at Indiana University School of Music. At Indiana, she was classically trained. Leverett later became interested in klezmer, a traditional musical style of the Jews of Eastern Europe. She studied with klezmer clarinettist Sidney Beckerman and was a founding member of The Klezmatics in 1985. The Klezmatics, a band associated with the Klezmer revival would later become the first klezmer band to win a Grammy Award.

<i>Ragged but Right</i> (album) 2010 live album by Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

Ragged but Right is the second live album by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. It was recorded in October and December 1987 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City, the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, and the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco. It was released on November 16, 2010, twenty-two years after the band's first album, Almost Acoustic.

<i>Demon in Disguise</i> 1972 studio album / Live album by David Bromberg

Demon in Disguise is an album by David Bromberg. His second album, it was released by Columbia Records in 1972. It was released as a CD by Wounded Bird Records in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Rothman</span> American bluegrass musician (born 1946)

Sandy Rothman is an American, San Francisco Bay Area bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He plays mandolin, dobro and banjo, and he also sings. Rothman was a friend and colleague of Grateful Dead bandleader Jerry Garcia, and a member of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. He played bluegrass with Garcia and David Nelson as the Black Mountain Boys in 1964, and has played with Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, Earl Taylor, Red Allen, Jimmie Skinner, Larry Sparks, the Kentucky Colonels, Country Joe McDonald, Kathy Kallick and Clarence White, among other musicians. He has been described as "one of the chief biscuits when and where bluegrass music is discussed, scribed, or performed in northern California."

<i>Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, October 31, 1987</i> 2004 live album by Jerry Garcia Band and , Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, October 31, 1987 is a four-CD live album by Jerry Garcia. It features performances by both the Jerry Garcia Band and the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. It contains two complete concerts, both recorded at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City on October 31, 1987. The second in the Pure Jerry series of archival concert albums, it was released in November 2004.

<i>Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, The Best of the Rest, October 15–30, 1987</i> 2004 live album by Jerry Garcia Band and , Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, The Best of the Rest, October 15–30, 1987 is a three-CD live album by Jerry Garcia. It features performances by both the Jerry Garcia Band and the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. It contains selections from a series of 18 concerts performed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City in October 1987. The third in the Pure Jerry series of archival concert albums, it was released in November 2004.

<i>Live: New York City 1982</i> 2008 live album by David Bromberg Quartet

Live: New York City 1982 is an album by the David Bromberg Quartet. As the title indicates, it was recorded live in New York City in 1982. It was released by Appleseed Recordings on July 14, 2008.

<i>On Broadway: Act One – October 28th, 1987</i> 2015 live album by Jerry Garcia Band and Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

On Broadway: Act One – October 28th, 1987 is a three-CD live album by the Jerry Garcia Band and the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, two music groups led by Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia. It contains three complete sets of music, recorded at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City on October 28, 1987. It was released by ATO Records on June 23, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Garcia discography</span>

Jerry Garcia was an American musician. A guitarist, singer, and songwriter, he became famous as a member of the rock band the Grateful Dead, from 1965 to 1995. When not touring or recording with the Dead, Garcia was often playing music in other bands and with other musicians.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stacy Phillips, "Gigging fiddler: Kenny Kosek: Life without a day job", Strings, 1 January 2000, online [ dead link ].
  2. Jackie Lyden, "Citizen Kafka's Most Important Contribution? Himself", NPR Weekend All Things Considered, 21 March 2009, transcript online at Highbeam.
  3. Robert Siegel and Linda Wertheimer, "Profile: Citizen Kafka's career in radio", NPR All Things Considered, 17 April 2001, transcript online at Highbeam.
  4. Ken Hunt, "Richard Shulberg", The Independent , 23 March 2009, online at Highbeam.
  5. 1 2 Jon Kalish, "Mixing Mountain Musics; How One Band Combines Klezmer and Bluegrass", The Forward , 14 November 2003, online at Highbeam.
  6. Jackson, Blair (3 August 2000). Garcia: An American Life. Penguin. p. 373. ISBN   978-0-14-029199-5 . Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  7. New York: Oak, 1978, ISBN   9780825601859; Janet Farar-Royce, "Stacy Phillips Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp.(Video Recording Review)", Sing Out!, 22 September 2003, online at Highbeam.