Kenny Kosek 

Kenny Kosek is one of the most recorded fiddlers in America today, having been the feature soloist on hundreds of albums, soundtracks, and jingles. He can be heard on recordings by James Taylor, Jerry Garcia, David Byrne, Chaka Kahn, Willie Nelson, and John Denver. He has been a frequent guest player with the Late Night Band on Late Night with David Letterman. Kenny's distinctive roots music-inspired compositions have been used in the documentaries The Way West, The Donner Party, Harlan County, U.S.A., The High Lonesome Sound, and the Broadway musicals Big River and Foxfire, NBC's Another World, CBS's Guiding Light, and Fox's Kirby Kids. His most recent CD, Angelwood on Rounder Records was called "a lovely piece of work with a strong hint of the spiritual" (David Hinkley, Daily News); "an album that will surprise and delight fans of fiddle music in all its many forms" (Bluegrass Unlimited); and "Kosek's signature sound—a swinging, smooth, and creamy hot rise that is as hard as it rocks, has exponentially enhanced every project he's lent it to" (Village Voice).

Kenny's music instruction has been prolific. His teaching can be found on Homespun Tapes and Videos' Learning Country Fiddle, Learning Bluegrass Fiddle, and Bluegrass Classics. He was a guest instructor at the Falun Folk Festival, Sweden, Tonder, Denmark Festival, the Sore Fingers Music camp, Cotswalds, 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. Kenny appeared in the movies They All Laughed, and The Stepford Wives. On Broadway, Kenny's theatrical work includes The Robber Bridegroom, Platinum, Play Me A Country Song, Foxfire, Big River, Jerry Garcia on Broadway, and Footloose. Off-Broadway, he performed in Feast Here Tonight, Das Barbecu, That and the Cup of Tea, A Celtic Christmas, Lost Highway, and Picon Pie, among other theatrical endeavors.

As a writer and humorist, Kenny has contributed to The National Lampoon and has been in demand as a writer of liner notes for a variety of artists from 1980 to the present.

Discography:

Angelwood - Rounder Records
Breakfast Special - Rounder Records
Country Cooking - Rounder Records
Barrel of Fun - Rounder Records
Hasty Lonesome - Rounder Records
Margot Leverett & The Klezmer Mt. Boys - Traditional Crossroads Records
Song of the Hills - Shanachie Records
Almost Acoustic (The Jerry Garcia Band) - Consensus Reality Records
White Cloud - Good Medicine Records
Welcome to Wretched Refuse - Betrayal Records

Selected Discography as a sideman:

That’s Why I’m Here - James Taylor
Dead Skunk - Loudon Wainwright III
Red Hot and Blue - David Byrne
Best in the West - Chaka Kahn
Please Come Home for Christmas (A Very Special Acoustic Christmas) - Willie Nelson
Demon in Disguise - David Bromberg
Doug Sahm and Band - Doug Sahm
Somebody Else’s Troubles - Steve Goodman
Read in Between the Lines - Steve Goodman
Playdate with Blue - Blue’s Clues
Around the World and Back Again - Tom Chapin
Family Tree - Tom Chapin
Various Positions - Leonard Cohen
I’m in Love - Rory Block
Pronto Monto - Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Heroes - Tom Paxton
Days of Horses - Aztec Two Step
Peter Rowan and the Wild Stallions - Peter Rowan
Working Girl Blues - Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard
Something Auld - Bill Keith
Andy’s Rambles - Andy Statman
Flatbush Waltz - Andy Statman
Early Years - Tony Trischka
World Turning - Tony Trischka
None But One - Jean Richie
Out of the Frying Pan - Jon Sholle
Long Expectant Comes at Last - Cathal McConnell
When the Roses Bloom Again - Laura Cantrell
Frank Wakefield with CountryCooking - Frank Wakefieled
Gloryland Way - The Singing Conquerors
Original Cast Album - Big River
Original Cast Album - Footloose
Original Cast Album - Das Barbecu
Original Cast Album - The Robber Bridedgroom
Original Cast Album - Singing the Moon Up
Original Sound Track - The Way West
Music Issue - National Lampoon
Sing America - The Broadway Kids

Video:

Kenny Kosek You Tube Videos

Minglewood- The Jug Band with Geoff & Maria Muldaur

Richland Woman Blues - The Jug Band - Geoff & Marie Muldaur

Hippies Playing Roanoke - The New Deal String Band

Reviews:

“Mr. Kosek...is a delightfully facile fiddler who, despite a city upbringing, has absorbed the country tradition to such an extent that it seems second nature.”

- John S. Wilson - The New York Times

“Angelwood .....is a lovely piece of work, with a strong hint of the spiritual - a tour of music and fiddle styles from Cajun to Nashville and back to Austin”

- David Hinckley - New York Daily News

“Kosek’s signature sound - a swinging, smooth and creamy hot rise that bops as hard as it rocks - has exponentially enhanced every project he’s lent it to”

- Leslie Berman - The Village Voice

“Angelwood is a riotously versatile showcase for Kosek’s talents as a fiddler and singer”

- Henry Koretzky - Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange

“Kenny Kosek must be New York City’s best fiddler, and is versatile enough to make the transition between styles easily”

- Kathy Kaplan - The Village Voice

“A style that is clean and tasteful and slightly understated and makes for some really fine listening.”

- Jim McGuire - The Village Voice

“A super - sideman of today’s session scene”

- Frets Magazine

“Kenny’s clean, authentic and inventive style is heard nationally through the studio work he is called to do”

- Richard D. Smith - Pickin’ Magazine

 

 
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