Josh Cohen: Radiohead for Solo Piano II
Berlin-based Australian pianist Josh Cohen brings his Radiohead-endorsed solo piano show — paired with a real-time visual installation — to City Recital Hall this May.
In partnership with 
Overview
Radiohead, as a rule, are protective of their catalogue. The band's caution about how their songs are reinterpreted is well-documented — which makes Berlin-based Australian pianist Josh Cohen something of an anomaly. Cohen has been given the band's official blessing to perform their music around the world and has released two band-endorsed solo piano songbooks through Faber Music. This May, he brings the live iteration of that project — Radiohead for Solo Piano II — to City Recital Hall for one night only.
An improviser at heart who threads classical, jazz, and ambient electronic together, Cohen has spent the last few years building one of the more inventive piano catalogues on the internet. His Radiohead arrangements alone have crossed more than 10 million views on YouTube, and the broader project is closer to translation than cover: the originals are pulled apart and rebuilt, each performance shaped by improvisation in the moment.
The live show pairs Cohen's playing with a custom-built visual installation that unfolds in real time alongside him, which means no two performances land in quite the same place. The effect is a long way from a polite recital — closer to the looseness of a live electronic set, with songs shifting in length, key and texture as he plays. Cohen's debut album, Weird Time Signature, landed in 2023, and the Radiohead project remains the engine of his live work.
For anyone who has ever sat with Radiohead's stranger corners and wondered what the songs themselves might do in different hands, this is the closest you're likely to get to an answer. Radiohead for Solo Piano II is at City Recital Hall on Saturday, May 23. Book your tickets here.
Image Credit: Supplied
This article was produced in partnership with the City Recital Hall
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