"19th Street Red" is the moniker and alter ego of Randy Cohen.
I go into a phone booth as a mere mortal, and 19th Street Red comes out with a cape and super-powers. This is real; I channel my music from the spirits. I am the medium, the music is the message.
I perform as a one-man band all over this country at fairs, festivals, sporting events and basically anywhere I feel my music is needed and there's a dollar to be made. I also perform in a band setting in nightclubs, concert venues, festivals, etc. I think one of my gifts is playing and interacting with other musicians so I savor these opportunities.
Influences
My past lovers, T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Rice Miller, Hound Dog Taylor, the last kiss I've had, Elmore James, Charley Patton, Robert Lockwood, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Guitar Slim, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Mississippi John Hurt, the piercing glance of a beautiful woman............... I think ya'll get the idea.
Sounds Like
The Blues........ this is a human condition thing...........
19th street red’s blues is not “polite” blues. It is the low down, razor’s edge gutbucket blues that makes dancers want to sweat and shake their butts. This gritty style reminds you of the street music of Chicago’s Jew-town and is a close cousin to the blues of red’s good friend and jamming partner, T-Model Ford…..
In Clarksdale, Mississippi, 19th Street Red is a celebrity. Presiding over his street spot next to “Ground Zero” blues club, and raising the bar at his favorite juke joint, “red’s lounge”, 19th street red is an integral part of this scene. The 6-hour drive from his New Orleans home is a ritual. The ghosts of his influences, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters are conjured with his raw and raspy but musical vocal style and the lashing of his Les Paul slide guitar.
Randy “19th Street Red” Cohen first musical jobs as a leader were in a little juke joint called “Alva’s lounge” in the Washington D.C. “hood”. Red’s mentors, Nap Turner, “Bowling Green John” Cephas, the legendary John Jackson, the legendary Bobby Parker, O.C. Nunn, Warner Williams and unknown blues singers “16th Street Pete”, “Hatchet” and “Country” joined in on the jam sessions. The african-american tradition of the blues was happening here and this was red’s “university of the blues”.
Next, it was a move to Oakland, California to absorb the moody, low-down stylings of Jimmy McCracklin, Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker. At Eli’s mile high club, the scene was thriving; but the very bad neighborhoods of East Oakland was where red learned his craft. “Fillmore Slim”, Craig Horton, “Little Frankie” Lee and “Country Pete” McGill were his running partners. These players possessed the fire and intensity he was seeking……..
In the late nineties Red joined forces with the “Chicago Brother and Sister Blues Band”. Bruce Brooks and Julliette Valentine came to the West Coast from Chicago’s Maxwell Street, “Jew-town” street scene that was once the stomping grounds of Robert Nighthawk, “Little Walter” Jacobs and “Little” Pat Rushing. Their ghosts were smiling…….
Next, traveling the United States with his one-man band Red earned a reputation as a hard-core street singer with many thousands of fans. This also brought him back to New Orleans and Mississippi ……His home.
…The newest record, “Wine, Women and the Blues” like the one before it, “Street dog”, is raw and accessable. It was a labor of love, bringing the raw blues of the American south to Europe. Recorded in Chateau l’Evec, France, live in the studio, it shows the passionate, raunchy vibe of sweaty juke joints and the searing emotion and rhythms of Mississippi delta blues resonates wherever randy “19th street red” Cohen sets up shop……….
Contact:
Randy Cohen ..
828 Royal Street 264
New Orleans, LA 70116
Ehi Randy!!!!!! I came to see you at Torrita Blues Festival!!! Fantastic performance, I hope to see you soon in Italy, (maybe in Rome the city where I live, not only a beautiful place but also full of people that would like to see a bluesman like you playing the guitar and harmonica!!!!)
Hola 19th Street Red! Visiting to send U LOVE! Hey, the brand new SPELLBOUND album "United Front" is available now! Join our United Front to help support the Funk! Hear the new funk track "Witch Doctor" @: www.myspace.com/spellboundbandlosangeles Sample all new songs @: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/Spellbound8 Or download on iTunes!
