Mike Cohen
Jazz great Ray Vega says “When you listen to the music of Mike Cohen, you’re quickly made aware of the fact that you’re on a musical journey that celebrates hope, joy and discovery. Cohen’s knowledge of the masters along with his very personal vision for tomorrow places him as an artist worth checking out”
Mike Cohen is a versatile saxophonist and woodwind player based in New York City. He has performed with the Duke Ellington Band, Eric Person big band, Ray Vega, Hank Jones, Harvey S, Jeff “Tain” Watts and Eddie Allen to name a few.
Cohen performs throughout the country in venues as diverse as Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Coca Cola, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall , the Sarasota Opera House and Core Center arena in Philadelphia. He has also been heard in many pit orchestra’s on and off Broadway .
Besides jazz, Cohen is an in demand clarinetist on the klezmer scene. He was on faculty at the klezmer festival “klezkamp” for many years and is the clarinetist ,bandleader and main composer for the Kleztraphobix whose album “Another Bottle of Vodka” has been described as “defining an exciting driving sound that makes New York the place to listen to klezmer.” (Klezmershack)
Mike also made two trips to Uganda for CD’s he produced and recorded with a Jewish Village. “I Love to Sing, music of the Ugandan Jews” and “When I Wake Up , Music from Putti” feature the choir of the village of Putti singing their melodies for many of the Psalms as well as prayers and original Jewish songs.
As a leader, his first Jazz recording “Open Window” featured 8 original tunes and 1 standard. Cohen led a quintet for that recording that featured Amanda Monaco on guitar, Peter Brendler on Bass, Soren Muller on Piano and Rich Huntley on drums.
Additional credits include composer Bill “Apollo” Brown, Rebecca Garfein’s “Golden Chants in America”, Fado singer Fatima Santos’ “Nostalgia”, R&B band Ellis Island, Klezmer Drummer Matt Temkin, as well as a number of film scores. He has also collaborated with choreographer Rina Rinkowitch for the dance company “Return of the Sun”. He also performed the chamber opera “Harlot’s Progress” which was performed in Nantes France.
His latest recording will be released in the spring of 2020. All original compositions, through jazz, it tells the story of the a challenge Cohen faced at the age of 13. He was diagnosed with AML , a deadly form of Leukemia at the time. It took decades to reach a point where he felt ready to talk about it and play this music. Without planning it the compositions ended up being sketches of the initial hospitalization.The initial round of chemo kept him hospitalized for about 9 weeks and was a brutal fight. Finally able to talk about this time, the music has done the talking for him.
GEAR
“My LaBeau Clarinet is fantastic. I played a show on it and did a Klezmer gig the next day. It held its own in two completely different playing situations. I perform regularly with a tango group, playing with a classical guitarist and violinist and I had no problem blending with such a soft group. I didn’t feel like I was working hard to match pitch or dynamics. It’s easy blowing and has a big sound that pops. The scale is great and I love the action. It really feels effortless. My LaBeau has done everything I’ve asked of it and it is quickly becoming my everyday instrument.”