Greg Cohen – Bass

Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, including work with Ken Peplowski, Kenny Davern, Marty Grosz, and Woody Allen. He has also worked with Tom Waits, David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Dagmar Krause, David Sanborn, Susana Baca, Gal Costa, Marisa Monte, Laurie Anderson, Willie Nelson, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Dave Douglas, Tricky, Jesse Harris, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, Joey Baron, Donovan, Crystal Gayle, Nina Nastasia, Alan Watts, Lee Konitz, Richie Havens, Dino Saluzzi, Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, Odetta, Vesna Pisarović, Danny Barker, Christina Courtin, Tim Sparks, and Antony and the Johnsons.

In August 2006 he was musical director of the Century of Song series at the German arts festival RuhrTriennale. He invited songwriters and performers such as David Byrne, Holly Cole and Laurie Anderson.

He has been a regular member of Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band, which played at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. He appeared in the documentary Wild Man Blues (directed by Barbara Kopple) about a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band. Cohen appears in Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts.

Cohen is a bass professor and the head of string department at the Jazz Institute Berlin He is also an honorary professor in contemporary rhythmic music at SDMK – Danish National Academy of Music.

(biographical information from Wikipedia)

The bass part is something I needed to prepare for a session. It is a relatively simple piece but no less gorgeous for that. The tune is ‘Soldeier’s Things’ from the 1983 Tom Waits album, ‘Swordfishtrombones’.