All About Jazz: The web's most comprehensive jazz resource
Serving jazz worldwide since 1995 All About Jazz: The web's most
comprehensive jazz resource  CD/LP/Track Review  Steve Cohn: Iro
Iro (2008)  By Published: July 26, 2008 Steve Cohn: Iro Iro
Steve Cohn has come a long way as a musician from the early days
when he first learned to play the piano and played the blues in
a club. He spent two years in Japan, which tells how he came by
Japanese instruments like the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo
flute, and the hichiriki which is a double reed. Cohn also plays
the ektara, a single stringed instrument used in India (the word
literally means one string).  Cohn's interest in international
instruments has led to the creation of a fascinating amalgam. He
uses the tonality to work up their distinct sound, and then
melds them with the voices of traditional western instruments.
In this he has had the input of some exceptional improvisers
including Reggie Workman, Karl Berger, Jason Hwang and William
Parker among o