Charles Cohen

Who is Charles Cohen?

Charles Cohen is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area-based free jazz musician and composer. Creating music since 1971, his music is entirely improvisational and produced solely on a vintage Buchla Music Easel synthesizer, an extremely rare integrated analog performance instrument made by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla. He has been increasingly recognized for his artistry performing internationally and is one of a handful of musicians who has mastered the Buchla Music Easel, an extremely rare instrument. Only twenty-five of the instruments were produced in the early 1970s and only a few have survived. He is also considered a pioneer in synthesizers and performance music.

He was inspired by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor. An avid collaborator, Cohen worked for many years with musician Jeff Cain in their group The Ghostwriters. From Baltimore to Philadelphia and New York City, he collaborates with many media artists in improvisational settings as varied as the Red Room, Knitting Factory and Tonic. With few recorded or commercially available works to his credit, Cohen prefers to concentrate on creating electronic music in the setting of the live performance space. His music ranges from completely abstract and challenging to pleasantly rhythmic and infectious. His present main performance offering is Color Is Luxury, a purely improvisational, all electronic duo with another Philadelphia musician, hair_loss. He is openly gay and has performed in LGBT-specific performances, events and venues.