Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEW July 16, 2020

Ryan Cohan: Originations

Read "Originations" reviewed 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 ...

ALBUM REVIEW July 19, 2013

Ryan 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 ...

ALBUM REVIEW October 4, 2011

Ryan 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 ...

LIVE REVIEW August 26, 2011

Ryan 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 ...

ALBUM REVIEW January 9, 2008

Ryan 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 ...