2009-03-17
The Chicago Tribune by Howard Reich - Feature
Chicago pianist Ryan Cohan just spent a month racing across Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, an experience he'll never forget.
Ryan Cohan Quartet discovers universal language of jazz in Russia tour
Howard Reich My Kind of Jazz
March 17, 2009
Chicago pianist Ryan Cohan just spent a month racing across Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, an experience he'll never forget.
"The power of music—and the power of jazz, in particular—in communicating with different cultures is amazing," says Cohan, who was sent by Rhythm Road, a joint venture of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York and the U.S. State Department.
"You don't speak the same language, but it turns out they're very familiar with the language of jazz," adds Cohan, who plays homecoming concerts this weekend. "And you get together, and you're communicating on a very profound level."
When Cohan's quartet launched into music of Duke Ellington, for instance, audiences "went nuts," he says, marveling at how deeply jazz has penetrated the most remote corners of the world.
But there was a political undertow to the tour, as well.
"Basically, you're going out there and presenting American culture … to people who only see what is being fed to them through a very controlled press," says Cohan. "As jazz musicians, you can change people's perceptions of a culture."
Nothing was more moving to Cohan than encountering older musicians who—in 1950s Soviet Union—risked their well-being to savor American jazz, which was forbidden.
One conservatory-trained artist told Cohan that musicians "would sneak [illicit jazz] records back and forth to each other. If you were caught playing jazz, you would be instantly expelled from school.
"And here we are, playing music that once you couldn't, representing freedom."
The Ryan Cohan Quartet, with guest vibist Joe Locke, plays at 9 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; $12; 773-878-5552; and at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Gorton Community Center, 400 E. Illinois Rd., Lake Forest; $25; 847-234-6060.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-0317-jazzmar17,0,7206878.story
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