Emmet Cohen
Piano Solo on
Chi Chi

About

Emmet Cohen takes eleven choruses of piano on "Chi Chi" at approximately 212 BPM, the longest solo on this already extended Charlie Parker blues. His improvisation over the 12-bar form in A-flat combines rhythmic drive with harmonic invention, the eleven-chorus arc providing ample room for the kind of developmental storytelling that distinguishes Cohen's playing. Following ten-chorus solos by Alexa Tarantino and Tatum Greenblatt, Cohen sustains the performance's intensity while bringing distinctly pianistic textures to the conversation. His extended statement makes this Parker blues the centerpiece of the evening, the combined choruses spanning an extraordinary stretch of improvisation.

Emmet Cohen was 30 to 31 years old at the time.