Ryan Cohan

A master of both electric and acoustic jazz styles, pianist Ryan Cohan has made his greatest mark as a composer. The recipient of a fellowship in composition from the Illinois Arts Council, in 2000, Cohan is best known for his involvement with jazz pianist/bandleader Ramsey Lewis, who has recorded ten of Cohan's tunes. "I couldn't believe how in sync we were," Lewis said of his collaboration with Cohan. "He's more of the Bud Powell – Chick Corea school while I'm more of the Nat Cole, Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson school. But, we really work well together." Following his graduation from the DePaul School of Music, where he studied piano with Larry Novak, arranging with Cliff Colnot and jazz with David Bloom, in 1993, Cohan worked as a session pianist for such top-notch jazz musicians as Freddie Hubbard, Milt Hinton, Michael Urniak, Regina Carter and Richie Cole. He toured internationally with trumpet player Orbert Davis. Cohan has released two impressive solo albums – Real World, in 1997, and Here And Now, in 2001.