Ryan Cohan

Maria and I were at PianoForte for another jazz show recently. It was Ryan Cohan on piano with Lorin Cohen on bass. Cohan plays in a bop style that reminded me immediately of Bud Powell. There were fabulous, crisp arpeggios running all over the keyboard. Most of the set remained up-tempo. Each musician played one song solo, and they complemented each other well the rest of the time. The closer was a Charlie Parker tune.

We hadn’t been to PianoForte in a while, which is a shame because it’s a fantastic place to hear real music, in the amazing Fine Arts building. This show reminded us to keep coming back, and to actively recruit other music lovers to join us.

After the show, Thomas Zoells told us about a Viennese coffeehouse on the north side called Julius Meinl. We had to go right away, and although they were closed for a special event, they still made us coffee to go. Holy $#@! It was fantastic, smooth, flavorful, not at all bitter, and exactly the right temperature. How could we not have known about this place? OK, they opened in Chicago in 2002, after we were parents and homeowners and lived miles away, but still! A couple days later, we took Ella and Martin there for breakfast, which was outstanding. Expensive, but worth every penny.