Renowned pianist Emmet Cohen recently spoke to WBGO's Brian Delp about his new album Vibe Provider which is a heartfelt tribute to his late friend Funmi Ononaiye. Ononaiye was a beloved luminary of the NYC Jazz Scene.
Vibe Provider will be be released on August 23 via Mack Avenue Records.
Cohen quickly became great friends with Ononaiye, who died late last year.
"I got to know him my first year in New York City in 2013. I was like who is this guy showing up at every gig? How does he know everyone? How does he hear music? Why do the musicians play better when he's around? Why is he so nice to everyone? So we got a chance to know each other really well over the course of ten plus years. When the pandemic hit, he kind of came into our bubble. He was at more than 100 the live stream recordings 'Emmet's Place' shows that we did in Harlem and we became very close collaborators. He had such good ideas and always wanted the music to be as great as possible for everyone involved."
You can SEE Brian Delp's entire interview with Emmet Cohen here.
