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Kenny Kosek (born 1949 in The Bronx, New York), is an American who plays Bluegrass music, Country music, klezmer, folk music and roots revival. 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. He is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and City College of New York.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> transcript online at Highbeam.Robert Siegel and Linda Wertheimer, "Profile: Citizen Kafka's career in radio", NPR All Things Considered, 17 April 2001,
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> transcript online at Highbeam. and as "Johnny Angry Red Weltz" was part of Citizen Kafka's influential newgrass group, the Wretched Refuse String Band.Ken Hunt, "Richard Shulberg", The Independent, 23 March 2009, online at Highbeam. He is similarly a part of Margot Leverett's fusion quintet The Klezmer Mountain Boys.Jon Kalish, "Mixing Mountain Musics; How One Band Combines Klezmer and Bluegrass", The Forward, 14 November 2003,
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> online at Highbeam.
/ref> On their second album (1972), the band played with veteran mandolinist Frank Wakefield, and was later joined by Andy Statman (mandolin, saxophone, percussion) for the third album (Barrel of Fun, 1974), with Nondi Leonard doing the vocals on these last two albums. In 1974, Russ Barenberg recorded a solo guitar album with the other members of Country Cooking (Greg Root on mandolin). Tony Trischka and Peter Wernick went their separate ways, but Kenny Kosek accompanied them on their first albums, and would continue to play occasionally with Tony Trischka for the next fifty years.
Between 1976 and 1978, Kenny Kosek joined banjoist Bill Keith, with whom he recorded an album in the USA ( Something Auld, Something Newgrass, Something Borrowed, Something Bluegrass, Rounder, 1976) and an album in France (with Jim Collier, Hexagone, 1978). While in France, he also played some fiddle parts on French banjo player 's first solo album, banjoistiquement votre, and performed at the 1978 International Folk Festival in Courville-sur-Eure, France, both with Bill Keith and Jim Collier, and with his former fellow musicians Tony Trischka and Russ Barenberg, as well as with French mandolin player and bassist Lionel Wendling, who joined the two bands. et Charley Sifaoui, "Courville 78", L'escargot Folk, N° 57 septembre 1978, pp.20-21.
From the mid-1970s onwards, Kenny Kosek also worked as a studio musician7, recording with Steve Goodman (1976), Steve Goodman Words We Can Dance To pistes 4 - Between The Lines et 8 - Death Of A Salesman Chaka Kahn (en), Chaka Khan WBR 92. 3729-1, 1982 pistes 3 - Best In The West et 4 - Got To Be There James Taylor (1985), David Byrne (1990),participation in the anti-AIDS album “Red, hot and blue (A Tribute To Cole Porter To Benefit AIDS Research And Relief)”, track 8 on a cover of the song Don't fence me i. Boy George, Willie Nelson, Tom Chapin, Doug Sahm, Leonard Cohen, and John Denver. He performed with the Late Night Band on the Late Night with David Letterman and at Sting's annual benefit concert for the at Carnegie Hall.
In the eighties, Kenny Kosek replaced Richard Greene on the fiddle in the “New Blue Velvet Band”, with Jim Rooney, Eric Weissberg and Bill Keith, to tour major folk festivals in Canada, continental Europe, Great Britain, Ireland and the northeastern United States. ERIC WEISSBERG, by Jim Collier Posted on April 15, 2020/ On October 15, 1987, the Jerry García Acoustic Band began a series of concerts on Broadway theatre. Bluegrass multi-instrumentalist Sandy Rothman, a long-time friend of Jerry Garcia, was also a friend of Kenny Kosek, who was invited to join the band. After a fortnight of concerts in New York, the Jerry García Acoustic Band returned to California for more concerts at the end of 1987, where they recorded two albums, the first released at the end of 1988, and the second in 2011, twenty-two years later.Ragged but Right and Almost Acoustic This short collaboration helped Kenny Kosek to make a name for himself beyond studio and bluegrass circles, particularly with the Deadhead (fans of the Grateful Dead). The New York recordings were released in 2004 and 2015, together with the electric recordings of the Jerry Garcia Band.
In 2001, Klezmer clarinettist Margot Leverett founded the band Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, which fuses klezmer and bluegrass styles. The band is made up of Kenny Kosek,
His distinctive roots-music-inspired sound has been part of the 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).
In 2024, Kenny Kosek released “ Twisted Sage” (Shefa Records), a set of fifteen fiddle tracks recorded over ten years ago (mostly between 2013 and 2017), most of them with banjo player Tony Trischka. A few other close friends are occasionally involved: Andy Statman on mandolin, banjo player Marty Cutler and guitar player Mark Cosgrove. There are many traditional tunes, but also a handful of original works by Kenny Kosek. According to Donald Teplyske: Kenny Kosek with Tony Trischka- Twisted Sage review, Published by Donald Teplyske, posted 09/11/2024
Kenny Kosek said: Bluegrass Today: NY fiddler Kenny Kosek talks Twisted Sage, and a life long passion for bluegrass, Posted on August 30, 2024 by Lee Zimmerman
sur Arts & Culture:Taylor-made Klezmerbluegrass 11/03/2005 sur jweekly.com
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 (1998–2002), 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.New York: Oak, 1978, ; Janet Farar-Royce, "Stacy Phillips Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp.(Video Recording Review)", Sing Out!, 22 September 2003,
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> online at Highbeam.
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 theatre, in The Robber Bridegroom, Platinum, Play Me A Country Song, Foxfire, Big River, Jerry Garcia 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
Solo albums
Permanent member of a Bluegrass band
Membre du Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band
Klezmer Mountain Boys
Occasional participation in Folk, Bluegrass & Klezmer recordings
Some of the references as a session musician
Publications
External links
Categories: Kennykosek.com Official Website, 1949 Births, Musicians From The Bronx, American Bluegrass Fiddlers, American Country Fiddlers, 20th-century American Fiddlers, 21st-century American Fiddlers, Folk Fiddlers, Klezmer Fiddlers, American Folk Musicians, American Humorists, Living People, Country Musicians From New York, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band Members
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