Adrian Cohen was born in Niagara Falls NY to a jazz bassist father and music loving mother. Although he was constantly surrounded by music, instruments, and musicians, he didn’t begin his musical journey until moving to Albany NY as a teenager.
His first experiences with collective music making centered around free improvisation in the family basement with his brothers jonathan (electric bass), and Jordan (drums). Adrian also spent countless hours learning many styles of music by ear. It was this discipline plus these early unstructured improvisations which would become the foundation of his approach to learning and teaching music. The work started paying off and he was soon playing in rock bands, developing solid performance skills by gigging throughout the northeast during his teens.
After high school Adrian enrolled in the Berklee School of Music to get a more solid foundation in music theory and composition. Berklee was Adrian's first experience with formal music training; Outside of a few high school classes and a six month crash course in technique with pianist Morey Hall, he was a self taught musician. Berklee and living in Boston was a great experience, and after 5 years Adrian decided to pull up stakes and head out west to Oregon. During this period he took a break from piano to learn drums, and recording technology, which was something he had been involved with since his early tinkerings with tape recorders and 4 track recorders. An invitation to play piano in the University of Oregon jazz band rekindled Adrian's interest in piano, and it was after this rediscovering of the instrument that he decided to head back east where there were more musical opportunies. Back with a new zeal for music and the piano in particular, Adrian worked as many gigs and learned as many styles as possible including reggae, rock, blues, R&B, funk, and country. He began to seek out new challenges, including a stint with a neo-classical ensemble, doing theater work as pianist and conductor, writing and recording several short film scores and commercials for regional PBS and NPR affiliates, and playing piano and organ on the soundtrack for Mirimax feature “The Castle”.
It was during this period of creativity and challenges that Adrian decided to throw himself into the world of Jazz based music full time. After a couple of years playing as a sideman for regional jazz groups, he felt it was time to start his own jazz quartet. Finding musicians wasn't a problem, but finding an appropriate venue to perform at was. Adrian quickly realized that there were no dedicated jazz clubs in the region where he could develop his playing the way he needed to. There were only restaurants and other places that had jazz as a background, but nothing that really focused on the music and audience as a synergistic whole. So, needing to branch out as a leader, and also craving an authentic jazz atmosphere to hone his craft, Adrian was able to fulfill both needs and do a little civic duty by revamping (with the help of MANY local residents!) the formerly barren neighborhood restaurant the Larkin into a thriving nightclub, restaurant, cultural hub, and serious listening room. Not only did the club take off, but so did Adrian’s playing, eventually garnering awards including “Best Pianist”; “Best Jazz Ensemble”; and “Best Jazz Musician” by the regional arts weekly Metroland Magazine.
Adrian has since opened for artists such as Terence Blanchard, Larry Coryell, and K.D.Lang, and recently performed with the Charles Neville Quartet at the legendary Blue Note in New York. He has been featured on numerous recordings by other artists, and has recorded two discs as a leader: the 2003 release Standardized on WEPA records, and the all original Delphic, self-released in 2008.
He just finished his fourth and final year on the faculty as a dance accompanist at Skidmore College, where he had the opportunity to play classes for troupe members from some of the best modern dance companies in the world including Martha Graham, Mark Morris, Lar Lubovitch, Robert Battle and The Netherlands Dans Theater.
Adrian is currently branching out into arranging for strings and small chamber ensembles in addition to playing piano/keyboards and operating thriving teaching studios in Albany and Brooklyn NY.