Joe Cohn/The Emeryville Sessions, Volume 2 S’POSIN’
With Noel Jewkes and John Wiitala


I don’t know if you’ve noticed it but in the last five years there has been an increase in the number of trios in jazz. Of course the piano-bass-drum configuration has been with us for a long while and new ones are continually cropping up, but I’m talking about the trios that leave out piano, or bass or drums. That is the make up of the Emeryville three: Joe Cohn, guitar; Noel Jewkes, tenor sax; and John Wiitala, bass. All that matters is, “Does it work?”
With everyone taking serious care of their solo roles and ensembles, creating moving backgrounds for one another, trading “fours”, etc. and in general on the same page with passion and poise, these attributes are more than adequately provided in these offerings.
A key factor in their inspiration is the roster of composers and the list of songs chosen to play. Producer Akira Tana, a noted, longtime professional drummer, explained that