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Ryan Cohan: Originations
by Paul Rauch
There is a risk in creating art that reflects in essence, one's own personal journey. What that journey reveals within the context of one life may not carry the same value to a collective audience. In the case of Chicago based composer/pianist Ryan Cohan, his explorative delve into his own bi-cultural roots as presented on his new release, Originations (Origin, 2020), would not resonate with listeners if the music itself was not thrilling. Music provides unity like no other communicative ...
read moreRyan Cohan: The River
by Glenn Astarita
Looking back, there must be hundreds or perhaps thousands of album titles that designate some reference to a river, regardless of their genre. But talented pianist Ryan Cohan does impart a distinctive stylization within the grand scope of this thoroughly modern jazz oeuvre, inspired by a recent U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of East Africa, and intersected with his Chicago roots. His septet seamlessly binds soul blues, African pop, and the jazz idiom, via concise, razor-sharp arrangements, often executed with the ...
read moreRyan Cohan: Another Look
by Alex Marianyi
Unlike many of his past releases, Ryan Cohan's Another Look focuses heavily on group interaction and improvisation. Penning all but two of the tunes on the album, the pianist's arrangements allow his musicians maximum flexibility. That the CD's main quartet has been playing together since 2003, and was on the road for six straight weeks before this session, further adds to the group identity found on this recording. The main quartet does, indeed, make this album come ...
read moreRyan Cohan/Geof Bradfield: Chicago, IL, August 11, 2011
by Alex Marianyi
Ryan Cohan, Geof BradfieldMillennium Park Pritzker Pavilion Chicago, ILAugust 11, 2011 The heat wave broke in Chicago and, weather-wise, the night was shaping up to be one of the best all summer. African Journeys, featuring Ryan Cohan and Geof Bradfield, began as saxophonist Bradfield's group took the stage to perform his extended work, “African Flowers." Shortly after a brief musical introduction, Bradfield reminded the audience of the trip that had inspired his set and pianist ...
read moreRyan Cohan: Another Look
by AAJ Italy Staff
Ci sono diversi motivi per apprezzare il nuovo lavoro in studio del pianista Ryan Cohan, a cominciare dalla guizzante melodia dell'iniziale “Monk'n Around," brano che a grandi linee determina le atmosfere che caratterizzeranno anche gli altri dieci passaggi del suo Another Look. Tempi spesso medio-veloci, colori di fondo affidati ai tasti del leader ed esposizioni tematiche messe in evidenza ora dal vibrafono di Joe Locke, poi dal sax di Geof Brandfield (protagonista di un solo importante in “Joshua"), il tutto ...
read moreRyan Cohan: One Sky
by AAJ Italy Staff
Strumentista di solida formazione accademica, il trentaseienne Ryan Cohan vanta già una corposa serie di collaborazioni, che lo hanno portato a suonare con diverse eminenze jazzistiche (Freddy Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling) ed arrangiare la musica di Ramsey Lewis . A giudicare dal disco in esame, egli si dimostra leader di buona personalità nonché compositore coraggioso. Una sua lunga suite occupa buona parte di One Sky, dove si intravede una precisa scelta di fondo, che investe il sound ...
read moreRyan Cohan: One Sky
by J Hunter
In 2005, Ryan Cohan received a grant from Chamber Music America to create one long-form composition on a subject of his choosing. One year later, he debuted the piece during a free concert at Skidmore Jazz Institute in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he has been both student and educator. The audience heard a work of stunning scope, color, nuance and energy that night; One Sky captures that lightning in a bottle, and Cohan's liner notes give the listener a ...
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