Aaron Cohen will be speaking about the connections among Chicago’s great soul and jazz musicians and the cultural forces that shaped their work.
Aaron Cohen teaches humanities at City Colleges of Chicago where his classes emphasize Latin American culture in Chicago and throughout the world. His book, “Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power” (University of Chicago Press), looks at the social and musical changes that shaped R&B in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s. He also co-authored the late pianist Ramsey Lewis’ memoir, “Gentleman of Jazz: A Life In Music” (Blackstone Publishing). Cohen’s first book, “Amazing Grace” (33 1/3; Bloomsbury), analyzes Aretha Franklin’s popular 1972 soul-gospel album. His articles regularly appear in the Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune and DownBeat. Cohen has been a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar, DownBeat editor and is a two-time recipient of the Deems Taylor Award for outstanding music writing from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
This is an in-person program, which will be recorded for on-demand viewing on the Galena Public Library Youtube channel after the presentation.
