Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades.

Career

Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, including work with

Ken Peplowski Ken Peplowski (born May 23, 1959) is an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and known primarily for playing swing music. For over a decade, Peplowski recorded for Concord Records. In ...

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from ...

Marty Grosz Martin Oliver Grosz (born February 28, 1930) is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer born in Berlin, Germany, the son of artist George Grosz. He performed with Bob Wilber and wrote arrangements for him. He has also worked ...

, and

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

. He has also worked with

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

, Elvis Costello,

Dagmar Krause Dagmar Krause (born 4 June 1950) is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups including Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. He ...

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...

Susana Baca Susana may refer to: * Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of organizations active in the field of sustainable sanitation * Susana (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) * ''Susana'' (magazine) ...

Gal Costa Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was one of the main figures of the tro ...

Marisa Monte Marisa de Azevedo Monte (Brazilian Portuguese: /maˈɾizɐ dʒi azeˈvedu ˈmõtʃi/) (born 1 July 1967) is a Brazilian singer, composer, instrumentalist, and producer of Brazilian popular music and samba. As of 2011, she had sold 10 million ...

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

, Dave Douglas, Tricky,

Jesse Harris Jesse Harris (born October 24, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and guitarist. He has worked with Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and Lizz Wright. Early life and education Harris and his twin si ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

and Charlie Watts,

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, Crystal Gayle,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, Nina Nastasia,

Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...

, Lee Konitz,

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style ...

Dino Saluzzi Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi (born 20 May 1935) is an Argentinian bandoneon player. He is the son of Cayetano Saluzzi and the father of guitarist José Maria Saluzzi. Early life, family and education Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi was born in Campo Santo, ...

, Lou Reed,

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

Vesna Pisarović Vesna Pisarović (born 9 April 1978) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. Life and career 1978–1999: Early life Pisarović was born in Brčko (city), Brčko, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia and grew up in Požega, Croatia, Požega, SR ...

Danny Barker Daniel Moses Barker (January 13, 1909 – March 13, 1994) was an American jazz musician, vocalist, and author from New Orleans. He was a rhythm guitarist for Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter during the 1930s. One of Barker's earl ...

Tim Sparks Tim Sparks (born October 31, 1954) is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer. Life Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was given his first guitar when a bout of encephalitis kept him out of school for a year. T ...

, and Antony and the Johnsons. In August 2006 he was musical director of the Century of Song series at the German arts festival

RuhrTriennale The Ruhrtriennale (compound of ''Ruhr'' and ''triennale'' "lasting 3 years"), also known as Ruhr Triennale, was founded in 2002 and is a music and arts festival in the Ruhr-area of Germany which runs between mid-August and mid-October, and happens ...

. He invited songwriters and performers such as

Holly Cole Holly Cole (born November 25, 1963) is a Canadian jazz singer and actress. For many years she performed with her group The Holly Cole Trio. Background Cole was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her father, Leon Cole, was a noted radio broadcaster ...

and

. He has been a regular member of Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band, which played at the

Carlyle Hotel The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury apartment hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 76th Street, on the Upper East Side of New York City. O ...

in Manhattan. He appeared in the documentary '' Wild Man Blues'' (directed by

Barbara Kopple Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work. She has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1977 for '' Harlan County, USA'', about a Kentucky miners' strike, /sup> and the second in ...

) about a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band. Cohen appears in Robert Altman's 1993 film ''

Short Cuts ''Short Cuts'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film, directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver. The film has a Los Angeles setting, whic ...

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

Discography

As leader

* ''Way Low'' (DIW, 1996) * ''Moment to Moment'' (DIW, 1998) * ''Golden State'' (

Relative Pitch Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note and identifying the interval between those two notes. For example, if the note ''Do'' and ''Fa'' is played on a piano, a per ...

, 2014)

As sideman

With

* ''

Bright Red ''Bright Red'' is the fifth studio album by American avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson, released by Warner Bros. in 1994. The album continues the more pop-oriented direction Anderson launched with '' Strange Angels''. Produced by Brian Eno ( ...

'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, 1994) * '' Life on a String'' (Elektra Nonesuch, 2001) With Elvis Costello * ''

Painted from Memory ''Painted from Memory'' is a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. It was released 29 September 1998 on Mercury Records, a division of Universal Music Group. The collaboration commenced with "God Give Me Strength", a commis ...

'' (Mercury Records, 1998) With Dave Douglas * ''

Charms of the Night Sky ''Charms of the Night Sky'' is the tenth album by the trumpeter Dave Douglas.Roussel, P.Discography of Dave Douglas accessed July 21, 2015 It was released on the German Winter & Winter label in 1998 and contains performances by Douglas, Greg Cohen ...

'' (Winter & Winter, 1997) * '' A Thousand Evenings'' (RCA, 2000) * ''

El Trilogy ''El Trilogy'' is the 17th album by trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the BMG label in 2001 and features music commissioned to accompany performances by the Trisha Brown Dance Company performed by Douglas, Greg Cohen, Mark Feldman, G ...

'' (BMG, 2001) With

* '' At the Rebbe's Table'' (Tzadik, 2002) * '' Little Princess'' (Tzadik, 2009) With

* ''

Heartattack and Vine ''Heartattack and Vine'' is the seventh studio album by Tom Waits, released on September 9, 1980, and his final album to be released on the Asylum Records, Asylum label. "On the Nickel" was recorded for On the Nickel, the Ralph Waite film of the ...

'' (Asylum, 1980) * ''

Swordfishtrombones ''Swordfishtrombones'' is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. Stylistically different from his previous albums, ''Swordfishtrombones'' ...

'' (Island, 1983) * ''

Rain Dogs ''Rain Dogs'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, ''Rain Dogs'' is generally considered the middle ...

'' (Island, 1985) * ''

Franks Wild Years ''Franks Wild Years'' is the tenth studio album by Tom Waits, released 1987 on Island Records. Subtitled "Un Operachi Romantico in Two Acts", the album contains songs written by Waits and collaborators (mainly his wife, Kathleen Brennan) for a ...

'' (Island, 1987) * ''

The Black Rider ''The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets'' is a self-billed "musical fable" in the avant-garde tradition created through the collaboration of theatre director Robert Wilson, musician Tom Waits, and writer William S. Burroughs. Wi ...

'' (Island, 1993) * ''

Mule Variations ''Mule Variations'' is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Tom Waits, released on April 16, 1999, on the ANTI- label. It was Waits' first studio album in six years, following ''The Black Rider'' (1993). The album was backed by an ext ...

'' (Anti, 1999) With John Zorn * '' Masada: Alef'' (DIW, 1994) with

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...

* '' Masada: Beit'' (DIW, 1994) with Masada * '' Masada: Gimel'' (DIW, 1994) with Masada * '' Masada: Dalet'' (DIW, 1994) with Masada * '' Masada: Hei'' (DIW, 1995) with Masada * '' Masada: Vav'' (DIW, 1995) with Masada * '' Masada: Zayin'' (DIW, 1996) with Masada * '' Masada: Het'' (DIW, 1996) with Masada * '' Masada: Tet'' (DIW, 1997) with Masada * '' Masada: Yod'' (DIW, 1997) with Masada * ''

Bar Kokhba Simon ben Koseba or Cosiba ( he, שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כֹסֵבָא, translit= Šīmʾōn bar Ḵōsēḇaʾ‎ ; died 135 CE), commonly known as Bar Kokhba ( he, שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כּוֹכְבָא‎, translit=Šīmʾōn bar ...

'' (Tzadik, 1996) with Bar Kokhba * ''

The Circle Maker ''The Circle Maker'' is a double album by John Zorn featuring Zorn's Masada compositions performed by the Masada String Trio (on Disc One: Issachar) and the Bar Kokhba Sextet (on Disc Two: Zevulun) which was released in 1998 on the Tzadik label. ...

'' Tzadik, 1998) with Bar Kokhba and Masada String Trio * ''

First Live 1993 ''First Live 1993'' is a live album by John Zorn's Masada documenting their premier live appearance at the Knitting Factory in September, 1993.

'' (Tzadik, 2002) with Masada * '' Live in Jerusalem 1994'' (Tzadik, 1997) with Masada * ''

Live in Taipei 1995 ''Live in Taipei'' is a double live album by John Zorn's Masada recorded at the Crown Theatre in Taiwan's capital city Taipei. The album is mistakenly dated 1995, while the performance was actually taken place in 1996.Live in Middleheim 1999'' (Tzadik, 1999) with Masada * '' Live in Sevilla 2000'' (Tzadik, 2000) with Masada * '' Live at Tonic 2001'' (Tzadik., 2000) with Masada * ''

The Unknown Masada ''Masada Anniversary Edition Volume 3: The Unknown Masada'' is the third album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features twelve previously unreleased Masada compositions perfor ...

'' (Tzadik, 2003) * '' Filmworks XI: Secret Lives'' (Tzadik, 2002) with Masada String Trio * '' 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1'' (Tzadik, 2003) with Masada String Trio * '' 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7'' (Tzadik, 2003) with Masada * '' 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11'' (Tzadik, 2003) with Masada String Trio * '' Astaroth: Book of Angels Volume 1'' (Tzadik, 2004) with the

Jamie Saft Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Saft moved from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley around 2007, and ...

Trio * '' Sanhedrin 1994–1997'' (Tzadik, 2005) with Masada * '' Azazel: Book of Angels Volume 2'' (Tzadik, 2005) with Masada String Trio * '' Lucifer: Book of Angels Volume 10'' (Tzadik, 2008) with Bar Kokhba * '' Stolas: Book of Angels Volume 12'' (Tzadik, 2009) with Masada Quintet * '' Filmworks XX: Sholem Aleichem'' (Tzadik, 2008) * '' Alhambra Love Songs'' (Tzadik, 2009) * '' Baal: Book of Angels Volume 15'' (Tzadik, 2010) with

Ben Goldberg Ben Goldberg is an American clarinet player and composer. Career In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to produce three albums an ...

Quartet * '' Haborym: Book of Angels Volume 16'' (Tzadik, 2010) with Masada String Trio * ''

In Search of the Miraculous ''In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching'' is a 1949 book by Russian philosopher P. D. Ouspensky which recounts his meeting and subsequent association with George Gurdjieff. According to Sophia Wellbeloved, the book is ge ...

'' (Tzadik, 2010) With

Victoria Williams Victoria Williams (born December 23, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multi ...

* ''Happy Come Home'' (Geffen, 1987) * ''

Loose Loose may refer to: Places * Loose, Germany * Loose, Kent, a parish and village in southeast England People * Loose (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Loose'' (B'z album), a 1995 album by B'z * ''Loose'' (Crazy Horse album ...

'' (Atlantic, 1994) * ''

Musings of a Creek Dipper ''Musings of a Creek Dipper'' is an album by the American musician Victoria Williams, released in 1998. The album cover artwork is a photograph of Williams in an Oxnard, California, creek. Williams supported the album with a short tour, which inclu ...

'' (Atlantic, 1998) With others * Fiona Apple, '' When the Pawn...'' (Epic/Work, 1999) *

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to C ...

, '' Vira Loucos'' (Avant, 1997) *

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, suc ...

, ''

Signals for Tea ''Signals for Tea'' is a 1995 album by composer, musician and arranger Steve Beresford which was released on the Japanese Avant label.

'' (Avant, 1995) *

, ''

Feelings Feelings are subjective self-contained phenomenal experiences. According to the ''APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; and feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations ...

'' (Warner Bros. 1997) * David Byrne, '' Look into the Eyeball'' (Virgin, 2001) *

Marc Cohn Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song " Walking in Memphis" from his eponymous 1991 album, which was a Top 40 ...

, '' Join the Parade'' (Decca, 2007) *

, ''

'' (Alert, 2006) *

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', '' The Big Gundown'', '' Archery'', and '' Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music ...

, '' Sephardic Tinge'' (Tzadik, 1995) *

and

, '' The Jazz KENnection'' ( Arbors) *

, '' Easy Come, Easy Go'' (Naive, 2008) * Mark Feldman, ''

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

'' with

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began ...

and

(Tzadik, 2009) * Michael Franks, ''

Time Together ''Time Together'' is a jazz vocal album released in 2011 by Michael Franks with Shanachie Records. It is Franks' seventeenth album and marked a departure from his previous recordings by being his first with an independent record label. Track lis ...

'' (Shanachie, 2011) *

Keiji Haino Keiji Haino ( ''Haino Keiji''; born May 3, 1952) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise music, percussion, psychedelic music, minimalism and drone music. He has been active since the ...

, ''An Unclear Trial'' (Avant, 1998) * Joe Jackson, ''

Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquially ...

'' (Caroline, 2015) * Natalie Merchant, ''

Leave Your Sleep ''Leave Your Sleep'' is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant. Produced by Merchant and Andres Levin, the double concept album is "a project about childhood" and is a collection of music adapted from 19th and 20th ...

'' (Nonesuch, 2010) *

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

, '' Bad Love'' (DreamWorks, 1999) * Randy Newman, '' Harps and Angels'' (Nonesuch, 2008) * Madeleine Peyroux, '' Dreamland'' (Atlantic, 1996) *

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

, '' Shoe String Symphonettes'' (Tzadik, 1997) *

, '' Trouble: The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan'' (Tzadik, 2006) *

Ron Sexsmith Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has s ...

, '' Other Songs'' (Interscope, 1997) * Julian Siegel, ''Live at The Vortex'' (Basho, 2008) *

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

, '' Social Studies'' (Hannibal, 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Greg American double-bassists Male double-bassists Jewish American musicians Living people 1953 births Musicians from Los Angeles Musicians from Summit, New Jersey Jewish jazz musicians 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Masada (band) members 21st-century American Jews