Ryan Cohan, Motema recording artist and Guggenheim Fellow, has established himself as an original voice among the top young composers/pianists on today’s global music scene. Ryan Cohan has performed as a leader and sideman in his own bands and with other jazz greats such as Curtis Fuller and Joe Locke, Paquito d’Rivera and Bob Cranshaw, Victor Lewis and Orbert Davis, Kurt Elling, Jon Faddis and The Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. He has also worked with Pat La Barbera and Andy Narell. Ryan is a NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis’s composer and has toured extensively with him. Ryan contributed more than a dozen songs to Lewis’s albums as well as the theme music for Lewis’s nationally syndicated television program, The Legends Of Jazz. Ryan composed orchestral arrangements for Joe Locke’s concert recording Wish Upon A Star, Motema Music featuring Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra. He recorded the album with Locke’s quartet, Lay Down My Heart, Blues and Ballads Vol. 1. Ryan Cohan Quartet twice received Jazz at Lincoln Center’s highly-competitive Rhythm Road program, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. His group embarked upon multiple extended tours throughout Africa, Europe, and the Middle East as cultural ambassadors. Four albums featuring all original compositions were produced by Ryan. They are: Real World (Real World Music 1997), Here and Now (Sirocco Jazz 2001); One Sky(Motema Music 2007), which was hailed by the Chicago Tribune and other publications as one of the greatest recordings of 2007. Another Look (Motema Music 2010), was called “a model of modern jazz piano albums” (ICON magazine). Motema Music released Ryan’s fifth CD, The River. It features a concert-length suite that was inspired by his African travels. The album was recorded July 9, 2013. Ryan, a prolific writer over the past twenty years has written original pieces ranging from solo piano pieces and full orchestral arrangements. He has also scored two independent films. Ryan was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship For Composition, three grants from Chamber Music America, The Aaron Copland recording grant, two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships and the Composer Assistance grant of American Music Center. He also received three Creative Arts Grants from The City Of Chicago. Ryan was an educator and served as the assistant director of jazz ensembles at The Bloom School Of Jazz in New York. He continues to be an artist clinician at high schools and universities across the U.S. and abroad. http://ryancohan.com
