Fuck, fucking fuck. RIP Josh
- Thread starter VLM
- Start date
Jayson Cohen
Jayson Cohen
F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Such a tough loss. Dougherty introduced me to him I believe around '97-'98. Those two were cut from the same cloth in so many ways. Singular wits, both a wealth of knowledge in all things and they opened my eyes to so many things wine and food wise. Just devastating to have lost both way, way too early. I'm glad I was able to see him in December at our end of the year dinner, a tradition we started in the early aughts.
Jonathan Loesberg
Jonathan Loesberg
Like Maureen, I remember him from Pearsons. Sorry to hear this.
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
I'm pretty much with VLM and Jayson on this. This hits like a relative passing. You know it's going to happen to all of us one day, but some people you're more prepared to get the news.
I first met Josh back in the 90s (80s maybe?) on his first west coast trip for Rosenthal. He was taking the Brovia sisters and the Ferrando brothers around to meet accounts and we connected for dinner at some long-forgotten Italian joint in Santa Monica (no, not Valentino -- everyone remembers that one). When I told him I'd recently left the music biz we started comparing notes and we were both surprised that I'd worked with bands he'd actually heard of. We stayed in touch after he decamped to Tanzer and get together when he was in Southern CA or I was in NYC. Tromps through the dive bars of Lower Manhattan were educational (particularly in dodging flying pitchers of beer) and the tour of the best jukeboxes was interesting. Late nights at Jimmy's Corner were rewarding if not deafening) and a good time was had by all, regardless of the Richter scale level of the next morning's hangover, that "next morning" usually within a couple of hours of the end of the previous night.
After I'd moved to Texas he'd pass through Dallas for various Texsom festivities and pre-covid we were sitting in an incredible street Thai restaurant at the farmer's market and he was raving about this book he'd just read called "Genius & Heroin." A couple of days later, a copy arrived in the mail.
In the intro, author Michael Largo writes "An inherent compulsiveness is often required in art to master a level of original thought and superlative skill." I always thought of Josh as being a curious, inspired genius. No rabbit hole was too narrow or deep to investigate, no concept, subject, or media too arcane or low rent to ponder how it fit in with everything else that came up in the course of conversation. He was to a great extent an autodidact; I thought of him as an analogue of Professor Irwin Corey, but basing his authority on everything on facts and opinions, along with appropriate intellectual background and experience to argue either side of any subject and ultimately be forceful in whichever side he believed correct. And yeah, he was opinionated and we often disagreed, but wtf, it was usually worth arguing about. A lot of this was just that he wanted to share the things and ideas that kept his brain moving.
I rarely disagreed with his taste in wine, booze, or beer. Fast food preferences were a different story, but wtf, the man knew his BBQ and Chinese cuisine and could have taken over for Jonathan Gold in terms of overall knowledge of great not-so-fine dining options. I took his wine reviews and ratings as gospel, given the 20 or so years of consistency. He struck me as one of the very few critics who look for the good attributes of wine, rather than trying to document its flaws. I'll miss the 3 AM texts from who-knows-where touting some Italian horror movie director or sending a series of five YouTube vids of some forgotten-by-everyone-but-Josh 1970s power pop band he'd followed growing up. I learned a lot and maybe he got something out of my more roots-oriented musical recommendations. I think it all connected in Tulsa somehow.
So this totally sucks, and maybe I'll order the salad instead of the fries next time and I'll dig out my Leon Russell and JJ Cale LPs. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he alluded to some health concerns but said he'd call me back in a couple of days. If I knew then what I know now I would have said a proper goodbye.
-Eden (fuck)
I first met Josh back in the 90s (80s maybe?) on his first west coast trip for Rosenthal. He was taking the Brovia sisters and the Ferrando brothers around to meet accounts and we connected for dinner at some long-forgotten Italian joint in Santa Monica (no, not Valentino -- everyone remembers that one). When I told him I'd recently left the music biz we started comparing notes and we were both surprised that I'd worked with bands he'd actually heard of. We stayed in touch after he decamped to Tanzer and get together when he was in Southern CA or I was in NYC. Tromps through the dive bars of Lower Manhattan were educational (particularly in dodging flying pitchers of beer) and the tour of the best jukeboxes was interesting. Late nights at Jimmy's Corner were rewarding if not deafening) and a good time was had by all, regardless of the Richter scale level of the next morning's hangover, that "next morning" usually within a couple of hours of the end of the previous night.
After I'd moved to Texas he'd pass through Dallas for various Texsom festivities and pre-covid we were sitting in an incredible street Thai restaurant at the farmer's market and he was raving about this book he'd just read called "Genius & Heroin." A couple of days later, a copy arrived in the mail.
In the intro, author Michael Largo writes "An inherent compulsiveness is often required in art to master a level of original thought and superlative skill." I always thought of Josh as being a curious, inspired genius. No rabbit hole was too narrow or deep to investigate, no concept, subject, or media too arcane or low rent to ponder how it fit in with everything else that came up in the course of conversation. He was to a great extent an autodidact; I thought of him as an analogue of Professor Irwin Corey, but basing his authority on everything on facts and opinions, along with appropriate intellectual background and experience to argue either side of any subject and ultimately be forceful in whichever side he believed correct. And yeah, he was opinionated and we often disagreed, but wtf, it was usually worth arguing about. A lot of this was just that he wanted to share the things and ideas that kept his brain moving.
I rarely disagreed with his taste in wine, booze, or beer. Fast food preferences were a different story, but wtf, the man knew his BBQ and Chinese cuisine and could have taken over for Jonathan Gold in terms of overall knowledge of great not-so-fine dining options. I took his wine reviews and ratings as gospel, given the 20 or so years of consistency. He struck me as one of the very few critics who look for the good attributes of wine, rather than trying to document its flaws. I'll miss the 3 AM texts from who-knows-where touting some Italian horror movie director or sending a series of five YouTube vids of some forgotten-by-everyone-but-Josh 1970s power pop band he'd followed growing up. I learned a lot and maybe he got something out of my more roots-oriented musical recommendations. I think it all connected in Tulsa somehow.
So this totally sucks, and maybe I'll order the salad instead of the fries next time and I'll dig out my Leon Russell and JJ Cale LPs. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he alluded to some health concerns but said he'd call me back in a couple of days. If I knew then what I know now I would have said a proper goodbye.
-Eden (fuck)
Pavel Tchichikov
Pavel Tchichikov
we've got a burgundy lover friend, and when i say burgundy i mean the guy barely drinks anything else.
furthermore, we'd joke regularly that even in burgundy he only drinks 3 appellations for the reds ( actually i believe it's 4 - vosne, chambolle, morey, volnay ), going for the most ethereal weightless style of wine one could imagine.
so of course we'd treat the whole thing with a sense of humor, but also with respect as the guy is a good friend, incredibly generous, and great to taste with.
So at one of his tasting in which he pulls 20 red burgs from the latest released vintage, Josh insists on blinding him from a paper bag: "you have got to taste this, it's incredible!"
incredible it was - 2005 mollydooker carnival of love.
the expression on the host's face upon tasting was for the ages.
Only Josh.
furthermore, we'd joke regularly that even in burgundy he only drinks 3 appellations for the reds ( actually i believe it's 4 - vosne, chambolle, morey, volnay ), going for the most ethereal weightless style of wine one could imagine.
so of course we'd treat the whole thing with a sense of humor, but also with respect as the guy is a good friend, incredibly generous, and great to taste with.
So at one of his tasting in which he pulls 20 red burgs from the latest released vintage, Josh insists on blinding him from a paper bag: "you have got to taste this, it's incredible!"
incredible it was - 2005 mollydooker carnival of love.
the expression on the host's face upon tasting was for the ages.
Only Josh.