Todd Cochran

Todd Cochran (born September 3, 1951) is an American pianist, composer, keyboardist, essayist, and conceptual artist. Early in his career he was also professionally known as Bayeté. Cochran started his career as a teenager with saxophonist John Handy. Two years later he joined vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson’s Quartet, and made his jazz recording debut composing and performing on a benchmark album for Hutcherson, "Head On" (on Blue Note Records) that featured a nineteen-piece ensemble. The recording was critically hailed as cross-pollinating the evolving contemporary modal jazz, avant-garde sound of the 1970s. Cochran’s first solo project "Worlds Around the Sun" became a #1 jazz album and marked his entree into the jazz discussion. From the mid-1970s forward Todd has experimented with and incorporated synthesizers, electronic and mixed-media concepts in his creative projects while collaborating with a wide range of artists in the genres of jazz, art rock, pop, R&B, and twenty-first-century classical.

Cochran's best-known jazz compositions include "At The Source" (Bobby Hutcherson), "Free Angela" (Bayeté Todd Cochran, Santana), "Eternal Worlds" Julian Priester, "My Pearl", "Geni-Geni" (Automatic Man), "Monte Carlo Nights" Grover Washington Jr., "Spanish Rose", "Back To Lovin' Again" (Freddie Hubbard), and "Secret Places" (Todd Cochran).

He released two albums on Prestige Records in 1972 and 1973. He was keyboardist and lead singer of Automatic Man from 1976 - 1978. He was also a member of Fuse One, a coalition of jazz musicians who released two albums on CTI Records in 1980 and 1981.

Pianist and composer Todd Cochran was born in San Francisco As a child, there never was a time when music or conversations about art or culture were not occurring in the household. Gaining a natural sense of the importance of the arts came with this childhood exposure. Along with the early passion Todd exhibited for the piano he benefitted from his family's devoted love of attending live music and art performances that extended across the spectrum: chamber music, jazz, dance, plays, and religious concerts. With his father he enjoyed going to sports. However, listening to recordings, watching documentary films, and reading were at the heart of his youth and teenage years.

His later education meant that his fundamental orientation to the piano and performing arts was classical music and theory. At around age 14 he was exposed to jazz. He was transfixed by the music and the notion of playing it captivated his imagination. By his mid-teens, Todd had become consumed by music. While continuing to study classical music and theory, learning to play jazz and the communal experience of making creative music and improvisation captivated him.  

Cochran's musical development was impacted by the cultural, political, and community atmosphere of the civil rights movement. Shifting attitudes made for a mélange of possibilities and directions to pursue. At 17, during the highpoint of psychedelic San Francisco, Cochran's joining saxophonist John Handy's band solidified his commitment to jazz.

Soon thereafter he began his mentor relationship and friendship with New Zealand jazz pianist Mike Nock – known for his work with wind multi-instrumentalist, and composer Yusef Lateef. It was after filling in at the keyboards of Nock's band The Fourth Way in a performance at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West (San Francisco) that he began to attract the attention of the jazz community. A musical connection with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson ensued. Several years of playing in Hutcherson’s quartet led to Cochran's entrée into the world of recording, with Cochran composing, arranging, and playing on Hutcherson’s album Head On. Cochran was also a member of Hutcherson’s co-led quintet with trumpeter Woody Shaw.

Cochran's work with Bobby Hutcherson led to meeting Duke Pearson (pianist, arranger, producer) who encouraged his interest in recording. From there he composed four pieces and played keyboards on the album Iapetus with saxophonist Hadley Caliman. Later came the live album Intensity with saxophonist John Klemmer.