Ryan Cohan

Jazz Showcase

Throughout his critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and as a collaborator with numerousleading jazz figures and world-class ensembles, Ryan Cohan has masterfully walked the line ofwriter and player, proving himself time and again to be a composer of rare vision as well as ahighly versatile, powerfully expressive pianist.Recognized for his “ingenuity and virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), Cohan’s expansive body ofwork ranges from solo piano pieces to arrangements for symphony orchestra and scores forindependent films. He has produced six albums of original music: Real World; Here and Now;One Sky; Another Look (called “a model for modern jazz piano albums” by ICON magazine);and The River which features Ryan’s sixty-minute suite inspired by his travels throughoutAfrica.Scored for an eleven-piece chamber jazz ensemble, Cohan’s latest recording Originations(Origin Records) dynamically synthesizes Middle Eastern and other world music influences,classical compositional elements and improvisation. The project received unanimous criticalpraise on its release including being a Downbeat Magazine Editor’s Pick and was chosen a“Best Jazz Recording of 2020” by the Chicago Tribune and other prominent globalpublications.Cohan has embarked upon multiple international tours representing the U.S. Department ofState in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Leading his quartet, Cohan traveled acrossAfrica, Eastern Europe and the Middle East performing and collaborating with local musicianswith the mission of fostering empathy and connection between cultures through music.A Chicago native, Cohan has worked with such jazz luminaries and elite large ensembles asFreddie Hubbard, Joe Locke, Andy Narell, Jon Faddis, Paquito D’Rivera, Kurt Elling, GregoryPorter, Victor Lewis, Bob Cranshaw, Jeff Hamilton, Steve Wilson, The Chicago SymphonyOrchestra, MusicNOW Ensemble, Orbert Davis’s Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, The Chicago JazzEnsemble, The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra with Otis Clay and The Chicago ChamberMusicians among others. Both as a sideman and fronting his various ensembles, Cohan hasperformed at premier venues worldwide. He has collaborated extensively with Ramsey Lewis,contributing more than twenty compositions and arrangements to the NEA Jazz Master’srecorded and live performance repertoire and penning the theme song for his nationallysyndicated television series, The Legends of Jazz. Cohan provided the orchestral writing formaster vibraphonist Joe Locke’s live concert recording, Wish Upon A Star (Motéma) featuringLincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, and he was commissioned to arrange music for The ScottishNational Jazz Orchestra led by Tommy Smith.Thus far in his career, Cohan has received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship incomposition, Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Music and Sound Design Fellowship, threeNew Jazz Works commissioning grants from Chamber Music America and The Doris DukeCharitable Foundation, multiple Aaron Copland Recording Grants, Composer AssistanceAward from New Music USA and two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships.As an educator, Ryan held the position of Artist-in-Residence at The University of LouisvilleSchool of Music’s Jamie Aebersold Jazz Studies Program and Purdue Univeristy and has beenon the music faculty at the University Of Illinois at Chicago, The Skidmore Jazz Institute in NewYork and was a teaching mentor for the Jazz Institute of Chicago. He has also workedextensively as an artist clinician at dozens of universities, high schools and other notable musicprograms locally, throughout the U.S and abroad.

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Ryan Cohan

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