After hearing Jimi Hendrix at age 11 Elliott Cohn knew that singing and playing the guitar was for him. He developed a great love for the blues and by age 18 had already jammed with such greats as John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Big Daddy Kinsey and Lucky Peterson. This was due in part to Donald Kinsey (Big Daddy's son) and Ron Prince, both excellent guitarist, showing him the ropes in the south side Chicago blues arena.
Elliott also enjoyed a ton of on stage collaborations at Skippers Smokehouse in his home town of Tampa,FL. thanks to the watchful eye of owner/booking agent Tom White and a buzz in the local press raving about "this hot shot kid on guitar." In his early 20's Cohn fell in love w/ funk music. He has since performed all over the country in a variety of bands from small clubs in New York City to giant festival stages in New Orleans! In fact the only time Elliott wasn't rollin' full steam ahead was for a brief time in 2001 when he took some time out to hone his musical production skills and to work on his first solo album "The Stem" with the help of his friend Felix Pastourious.
The current group, "Elliott Cohn's Cosmic Sweat Society" was formed when Cohn moved to New Orleans in early 2003. Rooted in funk, rock, blues, and jazz, this band has caught the attention of fans and fellow musicians. Elliott has been invited to share the stage and/or record with Galatic, MoFro, The Lee Boys, Papa Mali, Pappa Grows Funk, Col. Bruce, Vince Wellnick, George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, Hot 8 Brass Band, The Soul Rebels Brass Band and many others.
In 2005 Sammie "Big Sam" Williams (trombone for Dirty Dozen Brass Band/B.S.F.N.) turned to Elliott to help him create his "take me back" cd. Cohn Produced and engineered the album, played lead/rhythm guitar on all tracks, sang back up vocals,and brought his C.S.S. lineup including Kenny Green (bass), Ian Hodge (drums) and Adam Matasar (keys) into the studio for 8 of the 11 tracks!! Elliott and the boys then played live w/ Sam thru 2006 moonlighting as the funky nation. This caught the attention of Shamarr Allen (trumpet for Rebirth brass band/solo artist) who recorded a fusion version of the War classic - "The world is a ghetto" utilizing the exact same c.s.s. lineup w/Cohn producing, engineering, playing guitar and singing, once again.
This tune and many others were then performed live at a series of shows billed as Shamarr Allen w/Elliott Cohn and the Cosmic Sweat Society. These shows eventually resulted in the formation of the New Orleans all star band "The UnderDawgs" after attracting "Mean" Willie Green (drums for the Neville Bros./Bob Dylan/etc.) who had been friends w/ Elliott since he moved to the crescent city, Byron "Flee" Bernard (sax for Rebirth brass band) who had been friends w/Shamarr for years and Mike Burkart (keys for The Revealers).
The UnderDawgs have yet to record a studio album, but when Elliott, Kenny, Willie, Mike, Shamarr and Byron all hit the stage together, it's a great live show! With all of this collaboration in the studio and on stage (plus a little bitch named Katrina) an "Elliott Cohn's Cosmic Sweat Society" cd is long overdue, but it will debut this year at the 2008 Jazz Fest, on line and in stores. The album features many of the musicians mentioned above, plus Jeff Watkins (lead sax for James Brown/Joss Stone) and many more!!!
Hope ya got big ears....
pre-orders are finally available for our new album, which is out in less than two weeks. if you pre-order it's ONLY $7. after it's released it will be more expensive
Hey there EC! been a while! glad to see you out there living your dream! ~ found a CD with you and KLH during a lesson you gave her back in the day on Davis Island! Can't believe its really her! Gotta love yah for keeping up the groove! Tell your papa' hey! Moving to the islands and will be opening up a gathering spot in the tropics! the door is open for all to visit! check out my bamboo house on my blog! ~ peace Elliot! oh... can I upload that little snippet of you? Wanted to ask before just putting it out there! ~ shine on! lah
Hey baby!! You have a date with Mckenzy Brooke and I on the 29th--club floor at the Sheraton!! I am sooo excited!!! See you VERY soon!!!!!!! Peace and Love---Not gonna have to miss you much longer!!!
Hey darlin! I had a blast hanging with your boys up here in North Ms!! The only thing missing was you! I did add you an Shamarr video to my profile! Love you and hope to see you really soon! I miss the hell outta you!
I'll be in town Weds 4/22 to Tues 5/5 will reach out when I am in the city :) ! U gotta chase the $$ honey !! indeed!! Saw you are listed 4/30 at Banks St on the Jazzfest grids? http://www.jazzfestgrids.com if this is not happening?? let me know and I'll have it changed ....
U were at LOKI ??? If I had known I maybe wouold have been more likely to have attended :) Happy Holidays my Friend!! Hope to be in NOLA in January if I work it out will definitely get in touch and even better try to catch a gig!! Hope you are groovy! Hugs D
