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Born June 6, 1971, Ryan Cohan, was introduced to music very early in life by his mother, who was a music teacher as well as a classical pianist and guitarist. Although, he began reading music by age five, his formal training began at age nine on the violin. A few years later he switched to the keyboard, and by his second year in high school, Ryan knew that he wanted a life dedicated to music and began an intense daily practice regimen at the piano.
Wanting to deepen his jazz piano training led Ryan to DePaul University where he received his bachelor's of music degree in jazz performance in 1993. At DePaul, Ryan studied extensively with pianist Larry Novak and performed and recorded with the University's award winning Jazz Ensemble I. During two summer breaks between quarters at college, Ryan received full scholarships from Blue Note Records to study at a jazz institute at Skidmore College in New York, whose faculty included the late legend, Milt Hinton. After his collegiate training, Ryan was mentored further by his former DePaul professor, Cliff Colnot, on arranging concepts and techniques as well as by master jazz improvisation pedagogue, David Bloom.
Currently based in Chicago, IL, Ryan maintains a busy schedule as an in demand sideman and composer and has worked with master jazz artists such as: Freddie Hubbard, Regina Carter, Joe La Barbera, Pat La Barbera, Curtis Fuller, Jon Faddis, Kurt Elling, Nick Brignola, Michal Urbaniak, and Kent Jordan among others. Ryan's diverse resume also includes a substantial list of commercial studio performing credits for such clients as: Sears, Nissan, Toyota, Budweiser, and Oprah Winfrey, a guest artist appearance in 1999 with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and the 2001 music director position with the Chicago Human Rhythm Project.
As an educator, Ryan has been on the faculty of the New York Summer School Of The Arts program (1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2004) and an accompanist and instructor at the Bloom School Of Jazz (1997-2000). Ryan has also worked independently as a clinician as well as representing the Urban Gateways and MusicAlive! programs playing for and working with students both locally and nationally (1991-present). In 2000, The Illinois Arts Council awarded Ryan an artist's fellowship grant for his work as a composer.
Since 1995, Ryan has held the piano chair with trumpeter Orbert Davis' various ensembles. The group's recent itinerary has included international touring and performances at the Chicago Jazz Festival and Symphony Center in a variety of settings from duo to jazz quartet with a full orchestra. Ryan is featured on Orbert's highly applauded recording, "Priority" (labeled "one of the most persuasive jazz recordings" in 2001 by the LA Times), in addition to Orbert's latest CD on 316 Jazz, "Blue Notes". Ryan also appears on Orbert's video release, "Orbert Davis' With Strings Attached" As a solo artist, Ryan's recording career began in 1997 with the independent release of "Real World". Co-produced with Cliff Colnot, it featured many outstanding Chicago jazz instrumentalists as well as members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing a repertoire of all Cohan originals. Ryan cultivated and sharpened his voice over the next few years, and followed "Real World" with "Here and Now" late in 2001. For this second offering of brand new compositions, Ryan complemented his world class midwest cast with the brilliant woodwind talents of Los Angeles', Bob Sheppard. "Here and Now" was distributed internationally on the U.K. based Sirocco Jazz record label and was Ryan's premier release under his own name to the global jazz community. A rarity for a debut release, it was met with critical acclaim and unanimous praise from reviewers in Europe as well as the United States.
