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Leonie Cohen's High 5
Leonie Cohen's High 5 Leonie Cohen completed the Jazz Course at Sydney Conservatorium in 1992 and is one of Sydney's foremost jazz pianists and…
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Leonie Cohen completed the Jazz Course at Sydney Conservatorium in 1992 and is one of Sydney’s foremost jazz pianists and composers.
She has performed extensively throughout Sydney (Opera House, Angel Place, Basement, Sound Lounge) and has toured Singapore (Raffles Theatre), Shanghai (Glamour Room), Hong Kong (Fringe Theatre), Japan (JCS), Melbourne (Bennetts Lane, Spiegel Tent) and Adelaide (Cabaret Festival).
Leonie works regularly with Christa Hughes, Edwina Blush and Tango Saloon. She has toured around Australia with David Campbell.
Cohen has composed music for film, theatre, and dance productions. Most recently she composed the music for and played in the productions “Monkey Shines” and “Darlingwood Tales” with Liesel Badorrek - commissioned by and performed at the Sydney Opera House.
Leonie recorded her debut CD “Jerusalem” commissioned by the ABC in 2005. She is about to release her second album “Sideshow Pony”, also commissioned by the ABC, as a trio with Simon Barker (Vince Jones, Paul Grabowsky) on drums and Hugh Fraser (Cabaret, Don Burrows) on double bass.
“Cohen plays absolutely beautifully. Superb.”
- John Clare - Sydney Morning Herald April 2005
“Cohen’s piano is glorious. Not only is her playing extremely tasteful and sure, her sound is beautiful - a considerable achievement on an instrument as impersonal as the piano.”
- Greg Levine - Jazz Australia November 2005
“Cohen’s own playing is spacious and lyrical whether soloing or in support. The music is seductive and melodic and the solos are often exquisite.”
- Dave Curry - Canberra Times, June 16 2005
1. DIANNE REEVES QUARTET - Enmore 2007 (I think!)
Just stunning - her singing, the band, the arrangements, the soloing. Top notch contemporary mainstream vocal jazz - beautiful, original and highly accessible.
2. PRETENDERS – Enmore Theatre 2005 (?)
Fantastic gig- sassy rock’n’roll. The band rocked out hit after hit, dispersed with new material of an equally high standard. As well as relishing all the hits, I fell in love with a song I had never heard before “It’s about the losing”.
3. STEVIE WONDER – Acer Arena, 2008
Stevie was compelling and amazing. The band was fantastic. At the start, he was escorted onto the stage by one of the female backing vocalists- later revealed to be his daughter, who sang a beautiful number. Stevie was gracious enough to play the hits we all wanted to hear with freshness and brilliance.
4. HERBIE HANCOCK QUARTET – Seymour center (a long time ago! Maybe early 90’s)
Herbie (in spite of the poor sound quality) is a master of jazz piano, and played extraordinarily – particularly memorable was his rendition of “dolphin dance”.
5. SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITIONS
This piano competition (mostly classical) runs every 4 years in Sydney, with amazing performances from top classical pianists. I can’t narrow down a particular concert from the competitions that I have loved best, but to say that the level of playing has always been incredibly inspiring- technically and musically.
