Josh Cohen

Josh Cohen is a Toronto-based composer, electric bassist, bandleader, author, and professor of music at Humber Polytechnic. His work has expanded from solo electric bass performance into composition, improvisation, and ensemble writing, drawing from jazz, counterpoint, groove, odd-meter writing, and electronic music.

Cohen has performed on two JUNO Award-nominated albums. He earned first place in the 2020 NAMM Phil Jones Bass Solo Bass Competition and second place in the competition’s 2016 edition. He was also named a 2018 Madison Magazine honoree for Innovation in the Arts and received No Treble’s No. 1 Bass Video of the Year in 2015. In 2022, he was included in Titans of Bass, a book profiling 130 bassists from around the world.

Earlier in his career, Cohen developed a solo electric bass approach using tapping, counterpoint, chordal playing, independent parts, harmonics, and extended techniques to create complete arrangements and original compositions without loop pedals. That work can be heard on his albums Out of the Bassment and Freedom. His solo bass compositions and arrangements have been performed by musicians internationally, including in university recital settings.

Cohen has performed and presented clinics throughout North America, including appearances at Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, the Beaches International Jazz Festival, Markham Jazz Festival, T.U. Jazz Fest, Glenn Gould Studio, and Harbourfront Centre.

His album We Are Home marks his first full-ensemble recording as a leader. Supported by the Ontario Arts Council, the album features Jeremy Ledbetter on piano and keyboards, Rob Christian on woodwinds, Lucian Gray on guitar, and Mateo Mancuso on drums.

Much of the album was written with these musicians in mind. Its compositions use odd meters, layered rhythmic structures, counterpoint, improvisation, and electronic textures. The project represents Cohen’s move from music created primarily through solo electric bass toward compositions shaped through collaboration and ensemble interaction.

Cohen is the author of two bass transcription and instructional books, Tapping Grooves: Vol. 1 and Josh Cohen – Freedom Solo Bass Transcriptions. He holds a Master of Arts in Music Composition from York University and a Bachelor of Music with Honours from Humber College, where he received the Mike Downes Bass Award.

Alongside his work at Humber, Cohen maintains an online teaching studio focused on instrumental study, improvisation, composition, and music theory.

We Are Home will be released on September 25, 2026.

Awards

1. First Place, NAMM Phil Jones Bass Solo Bass Competition — 2020
2. Madison Magazine M List Honoree for Innovation in the Arts — 2018
3. Second Place, Phil Jones Bass Solo Bass Competition — 2016
4. No Treble No. 1 Bass Video of the Year — 2015
5. Performed on the JUNO Award-nominated album A New Tradition, Vol. 2: Return of the Kúlshedra by Beny Esguerra — 2016
6. Performed on the JUNO Award-nominated album Time to Move by Blake McGrath — 2010
7. Co-writer of “Table Dancer,” nominated for a JUNO Award for Video of the Year — 2010
8. Ontario Arts Council Music Recording Projects Grant — 2024
9. Dane Arts Artist Grant — 2021 and 2020
10. Jeff Healey Award for Musical Excellence, Humber College — 2012
11. Mike Downes Bass Award for Outstanding Achievement, Humber College — 2008

Gear

Josh Cohen plays a Ken Smith BSR6EG six-string electric bass through a Phil Jones Bass BP-800 amplifier and two C4 cabinets. He uses La Bella strings and Gruv Gear products, including the GigBlade, Kapsule, FretWraps, and other accessories.

Tags