Emmet Cohen Trio at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest at Plaza De César Chávez

Bassist Christian McBride and drummer Herlin Riley both snatched up Emmet Cohen for their respective bands, recognizing the Florida native’s deep knowledge of jazz history and awe-inspiring playing. Now the pianist leads his own trio as a quickly rising star on the straight-ahead scene.

A tasteful technician and a master of swing, Cohen earned his undergraduate degree from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and his Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He is currently the organist-in-residence at Smoke, the hip jazz club in Harlem, and also placed third in the 2011 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Jazz Piano Competition....

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Bassist Christian McBride and drummer Herlin Riley both snatched up Emmet Cohen for their respective bands, recognizing the Florida native’s deep knowledge of jazz history and awe-inspiring playing. Now the pianist leads his own trio as a quickly rising star on the straight-ahead scene.

A tasteful technician and a master of swing, Cohen earned his undergraduate degree from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and his Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He is currently the organist-in-residence at Smoke, the hip jazz club in Harlem, and also placed third in the 2011 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Jazz Piano Competition.

Cohen has produced and played on the Masters Legacy Series of recordings that spotlights jazz legends who continue to create and inspire. Vol. 1, released in mid-January 2107 on Cellar Live Records, features drum titan Jimmy Cobb. Vol. 2, from early March, boasts double bass legend Ron Carter.

His work also extends to other performing arts disciplines as well as education: Cohen has worked with choreographers Bill T. Jones and Debbie Allen, and also enlightens the next generation of players—and listeners—through his participation in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Jazz for Young People” in-school hour-long concert-and-narration program.

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