Ari Kohn

Biography
Articles

Ari Kohn is a Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer, and Educator raised in Portland, OR, and shaped by the vibrant music scene in New Orleans, LA. Holding a degree in Jazz Studies from Tulane University, Ari specializes in Saxophone, Flute, and Vocals, with a bold, warm sound all his own. As a sideman, he is currently a member of "J & The Causeways", and has been a part of myriad local groups such as "Miss Mojo", "Noruz", and "Sexual Thunder!", to name a few. He also leads soul-brass quintet "Brass Lightning," and recently released a solo project- "ARIEL".

David Bode: Good Hang

Read "Good Hang" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 9, 2025

Good Hang. That is not only a good name for an album but one that depicts the luminous spirit animating a splendid debut recording by New Orleans-bred composer, arranger and saxophonist David Bode's stellar nineteen-member Crescent City-based big band. From end to end, top to bottom, stem to stern or inside out, this studio session is a Good Hang by any measure one wishes to use. That impression is nowhere more apparent than on the opening number, ...

Album Review

Billie Davies: Retrospectives (In The Key Of Jazz)

Read "Retrospectives (In The Key Of Jazz)" reviewed by La-Faithia White

by La-Faithia White
August 23, 2025

Retrospectives (In The Key of Jazz) showcases a body of work by drummer Billie Davies that was created over a six year period. The musicians answered her call, recording albums and performing on her acoustic or hybrid drum set from 2012 to 2018. These pieces of music have never been released and are all improvisations that happened during rehearsals and/or performances in between or leading up to her album projects in Hollywood and New Orleans. “Hollywood Boulevard From ...

Album Review

Billie Davies Trio: Perspectives II

Read "Perspectives II" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
December 17, 2018

The spiritual jazz tradition, as exemplified by John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, has been having a resurgence over the past few years in places like Los Angeles and Great Britain. Now here is evidence that some musicians in New Orleans are going down that path as well. Billie Davies is a drummer from Belgium who now lives and works in the Big Easy and this recording, available only in download form, captures a live performance of her trio, ...