David Bennett Cohen

David Bennett Cohen has been a professional musician for more than 60 years. Best known for his innovative keyboard playing as an original, founding member of the '60’s Rock band, Country Joe and the Fish, he is an equally accomplished guitar player who has been involved in numerous music scenes throughout his varied career.

David began his musical education at the age of seven, studying classical piano for seven years. While studying the piano, he began to teach himself the guitar, beginning at the age of 12. When he was about 14, he heard boogie-woogie piano for the first time and was hooked. Since then, he has explored many different styles of Blues and popular music. He was fortunate enough to have heard Otis Spann, Professor Longhair, Johnnie Johnson and other masters of the genre perform live.

Over the years, he has played and/or recorded with The Blues Project, Mick Taylor, The Luther Tucker Blues Band, Hubert Sumlin, Melvin Van Peebles, Happy and Artie Traum, Arlen Roth, Eric Anderson, David Blue, Tim Hardin, Norton Buffalo, Jerry Miller, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Buddy Miles, John Cippolina, Huey Lewis, Michael Bloomfield, Bob Weir, John Kahn, Johnnie Johnson, Jimmy Vivino, Jay Owens, Debbie Davies, Byther Smith, Bobby Kyle, Rocky Lawrence, Johnny B. Gayden, Sandra Feva and many others.

As a solo performer, he has shared the bill with Country Joe McDonald, Kenny Rankin, Bonnie Raitt, Richard Thompson, Jerry Garcia, Leo Kottke, Rufus Thomas, Meatloaf, Booker T., The Roches, Kingfish, J. Giles and Magic Dick and many others.

His critically acclaimed CDs, Cookin’ With Cohen, In the Pocket and David Bennett Cohen at the Piano are available on Amazon.com, CD Baby, Spotify, CD Now, and other online sites.

His 2022 release, Bittersweet, is currently making waves in the music community and has received many positive reviews and is also available on all of the music platforms,

His upcoming CD, Seems Like a Good Time for the Blues, is scheduled for release in October, 2023.

David has made several instructional books, DVD’s and videos, on Homespun Tapes: 2 books, David Bennett Cohen Teaches Blues Piano and David Bennett Cohen Teaches Rock and Roll Piano (published with Hal-Leonard); a DVD series on Blues/ Rock Piano and one on Ragtime Piano; a six video series on Blues Piano and, also on video, Blues and Rock Techniques for Hammond Organ. In addition, he has two guitar instruction albums on Kicking Mule Records, How to Play Folk Guitar, and, Rock and Roll Guitar.

In spite of his busy schedule, David still finds time for private piano and guitar students.

(He is proud to count among his many students, Peter Cincotti and Dave Keyes, both of whom have established careers of their own)

His professional approach, attitude and musicianship enhance any project that he is associated with.

Host or Publisher The Linda WAMC's Performing Arts Studio