Brian Coogan is a keyboardist and vocalist from New Orleans, Louisiana. A versatile musician, Coogan plays in many different contexts and projects, ranging from funk to jazz to rock, including many sub-genres within. He is often found as a sideman on gigs with other New Orleanians such as Johnny Vidocavich, Jason Marsalis, Alex McMurray, and Brian Seeger. A long-time connection with drummer Simon Lott (both grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) has led to many projects that include both of them, notably Maelstrom Trio, with Skerik. Coogan has also composed music influenced by "20th century classical" composers such as Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. On his MySpace site, he lists influences such as these side-by-side with more obvious influences such as The Meters and Miles Davis.
In March 2009, Coogan has announced plans to launch a funk/soul band in which he will be lead singer and frontman, in addition to handling composition, arranging, and organ duties.
In recent years he has toured nationally as a member of John Ellis & Double-Wide, Maelstrom Trio, Stanton Moore's Trio, and Bobby Previte's Coalition of the Willing. He is a former member of Big Sam's Funky Nation (appearing in the circa-2004 edition), and Galactic-spinoff Good Enough for Good Times, and often performed in 2006-2007 with Bonerama.
