Emmet Cohen Trio

At the beginning of the pandemic, then 29-year-old Emmet Cohen established the live stream "Live from Emmet's Place", broadcast from the small living room of his apartment on the sixth floor in Harlem. There he invited musicians from environments he frequents. The broadcast eventually became a huge success, with tens of millions of viewers from all over the world, and is today the world's most visited online jazz show.

Pianist Cohen highlights both established names and relatively unknown musicians, young talents as well as veterans. The music is spontaneous, loose and often moody. The intimate and relaxed atmosphere when the musicians play tunes from jazz's core repertoire will be transferred to the stage at Moldejazz, even though the audience here will not be allowed to sit sprawled out in lounge furniture, like the ten or so listeners there is room for in Emmet's living room.

In an interview with The Guardian, Cohen talks about the importance of the live broadcasts, and says that when he sells out jazz clubs like Birdland, he reaches 250 people. After just one week, the first live broadcast from Emmet's place on 22 March 2020 had reached 40,000:

Now I have a stack of fan mail a foot high, people thanking us for helping them get through the pandemic. I try to answer every email. It's a full-time job. Lots of people were really lonely and depressed during this time. The fact that we're a family, Kyle (Poole) and Russell (Hall – drummer and bassist) and me, showed the brotherhood and what it means to be a band in a time of crisis. I think it really touched and changed people's lives.”

Now the Emmet Cohen trio is in demand around the world. In Molde, it eventually receives a visit from violinist Ola Kvernberg, who has followed many of Cohen's broadcasts. And who knows, maybe there will be more guests?