Todd Cochran

ACCLAIMED PIANIST, COMPOSER, ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN, CONCEPTUAL ARTIST

The more avenues an artist can draw upon, the more original their music will tend to sound. With years devoted to classical music study, followed by tutelage from American jazz masters, pianist, composer, conceptual artist Todd Cochran’s music reflects a wide-ranging musical palette.  In his art, he has continued to build upon this foundation, incorporating diverse musical influences from the traditions of African and Asian diaspora, the blues aesthetic, global pop, and contemporary art music culture. Todd's happenstance was growing up in San Francisco during the peak of the civil rights era, a transformative time in America’s story.  The city was multi-dimensional, and the echoes of being a child of the cultural revolution have never left him.  

Classically trained, Todd's formal training was in the piano performance and theory degree program of Trinity College of Music in London. The combination of Todd's endless curiosity and fortuitous opportunities to collaborate with adventurous artists shaped the philosophy behind his unique approach to music. At the age of 11, Todd began performing recitals, and he has remained passionate about the magic of live performance since those early days. His connections with renowned musicians began at 17 when he joined the band of alto saxophonist John Handy, an alumnus of Charlie Mingus. His development in Handy’s rooted rigorous environment led to Todd becoming a member of Bobby Hutcherson’s quartet and making an auspicious recording debut, composing and performing on Hutcherson’s album “Head On” on the Blue Note label. Jazz is an apprentice art form. Duke Pearson, playing with Woody Shaw, Rashaan Roland Kirk, and recording with Herbie Hancock on the soundtrack of the film “The Spook Who Sat Behind The Door,” inspired him to dig deeper and look beyond the ordinary. He later wrote and performed on albums for saxophonist Hadley Caliman, “Iapetus” (Mainstream), and Julian Priester’s classic ECM album, “Love, Love.”

Todd’s debut solo album, “Worlds Around the Sun” (Prestige), marked a significant step in establishing his voice within an evolving creative community that drew upon and fused multiple elements of the blues aesthetic. It reached #1 on the jazz charts. The recording featured acoustic and electric sounds, with jazz textures that included a track titled “Free Angela,” which he wrote in homage to activist and writer Angela Davis.  The rock band Santana re-recorded it on the “Lotus” album, and the song later joined the hip-hop zeitgeist, with artists De La Sol, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Electronica, and many others sampling it.

Embedded in the concept of “Worlds Around the Sun” is the cipher for the musical journey Todd undertook, where the endless quest and exploration of various musical worlds fueled the trajectory of his art. His interest in synthesizers and electronic sounds influenced his attraction to the pop culture ecosystem. The formation of the innovative band Automatic Man, with drummer Michael Shrieve, guitarist Pat Thrall, and bassist Doni Harvey, marked his entry into the world of edgy, electric progressive rock. This led to collaborations with Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Brand X, Joan Armatrading, and Stewart Copeland, among others. 

Living mainly in London from the late 1970s to the early 1980s defined his expatriate period. This extended time away from his native soil proved invaluable, allowing him the freedom to explore the deeper meaning of his experiences while embracing new concepts. At this crossing, his attitudes toward jazz, synthesizers, and electric keyboards, along with his love of progressive pop and the creative traditions of world cultures, merged into a philosophy of music-making, broadening the range of his work.

Relocating to Los Angeles and immersing himself in its creative landscape, he was always aware of the rules governing the musical setting he had entered. His ensuing productivity expanded to include recording, arranging, and producing for other artists. A brief list of his collaborations features Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Clarke, Maya Angelou, Hubert Laws, The Fuse One Project (CTI), Grover Washington Jr., Arthur Blythe, Mtume, Burt Bacharach, Natalie Cole, Neil Diamond, Airto Moreira, Stanley Turrentine, and the Staple Singers. Authentic and multifaceted, this period of productivity marked a milestone in Todd's professional reputation. 

Writes jazz journalist Yugen Rashad, “In his discography, Todd Cochran explores tropes to bring a testimony of freedom from 'isms' of convention, and music as an allegorical punctuation and futurism. He uses music to propose a stream running through a narrative, to stage a speculative commentary on the human search for purpose and meaning.”            

Sought-after for his wide-ranging palette and fluid juxtapositions, Todd’s music came to the attention of filmmakers seeking a novel viewpoint to enhance their storytelling. A people person and a well-spoken advocate for improving the human condition through art, his outlook aligns with the language of filmmakers, and he has scored projects with historical and socially relevant themes. He is captivated by the inventive possibilities of sculpting music that connects sounds to visuals and enlarges the drama.

Selected TV and motion pictures include Damon Wayans’ Waynehead (Warner Bros.), The Hurricane (directed by Norman Jewison and starring Denzel Washington, Universal Pictures), Keep the Faith, Baby (the story of U.S. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and pianist Hazel Scott) (Showtime/Paramount), and “Woman Thou Art Loosed” (Magnolia).

Todd’s musical tastes have always stretched across boundaries, and in his playing, he captivates listeners with his expressive range. Influenced from a young age by pianists Ahmad Jamal, Thelonious Monk, Andrew Hill, and Bill Evans, Todd has always been drawn to artists who create at the margins.

His recent recording, “Then and Again, Here & Now” (Sunnyside) features his trio, TC3, with bassist John Leftwich and drummer Michael Carvin. It marks his first album of jazz standards with a nod to the milieu of melody, rhythm, and harmonic shaping.  Musically, he effectively creates a narrative that retells the places, times, and sentiments of when the songs were originally crafted, offering an impressionistic representation of these pieces against today's chaotic reality. Downbeat Magazine premiered the short film that he produced, titled “Three Days Before” – a high-concept live performance and mixed-media piece that visually conveys the underlying story.

“Cochran is historically grounded, extravagantly pianistic, and instinctively lyrical. His sense of style is so personal and deep it becomes art in itself.” –Thomas Conrad, Stereophile

Todd melds the ‘energy-sound’ cadences of the experimental, avant-garde, free jazz, and concert music tradition into the forward-thinking contemporary classical framework he calls art music. He builds on a palette of synchronous stylings that enable him to follow a creative path free from formal rules. The magic of this music lives in its transitory nature – music that appears and vanishes in a single breath, while its essence lingers.

His involvement has been distinct, and his music has been performed widely. Pianist André Watts programmed his music. He has collaborated with musicians in Southeast Asia, performing his solo piano composition, “The Secret Gardener,” and with principals of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, on his allegorically themed quintet, “Tales of the Sundial.” Of note, he wrote and produced the album “I Play French Horn” (MSR) for Los Angeles Philharmonic hornist Bob Watt, which featured his composition “Missing Miles.” His frequently performed “Soul-Bird” for clarinet and piano was originally recorded by master clarinetist Marcus Eley (Naxos). Last season, a commissioned reworking of “Soul-Bird” for clarinet, cello, and piano was premiered by the de Guise-Atapine-Park Trio at the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center in New York City. The piece was also recorded and appears on the album “Wavelength” (MSR Classics). Additional commissioned longform works include “The Ring Around the World,” his far-reaching homage to women, and “The Longer Now,” a seven-movement tone suite for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

The through line of Todd’s creativity reinforces his belief that “Music is an Instrument of Peace.”  Focusing on live performance, creating new music, and education, his hope is that his art will inspire others to contribute to a healthy dialogue that collectively leads to solutions and improves the human condition.