[3] While in high school, he was a part of The Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Ensemble where he met future collaborators Bryan Carter, Benny Benack III, Grace Kelly, and Chad Lefkowitz-Brown.

[7] He has performed with Christian McBride, Herlin Riley, Brian Lynch, Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Joe Lovano, Eddie Henderson, and George Coleman.

[9] In 2011, after placing third in the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, held annually at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C.,[10] Cohen and the two other finalists were invited to a meet and greet at the Oval Office on September 13, 2011, with President Barack Obama.

Bryan Lynch in Jazz Times wrote, “Lots of young pianists have chops and energy, but Cohen also has an instinct for meaningful aesthetic form.

[16] In October 2020, during the Coronavirus pandemic, with the help of his booking agency, Cohen “managed to revive a European tour originally scheduled for May and string together a dozen dates over 16 days, visiting Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria."

[25] Established during the COVID-19 pandemic, the viewership has grown from a few hundred to over 1,000 in real time on Facebook and YouTube, with total video views for “Emmet Cohen (weekly)" growing from 1.6M in January 2021 to 11.4M in April 2022 according to SocialBlade.

[26] The weekly livestreams have been called “noteworthy for employing sophisticated production values that set the standard for live internet jazz performance.

"[27] According to Downbeat, “On the webcasts, the trio swings deeply, often delivering hairpin turns, starts and stops that might lead one to think they are playing well-rehearsed charts.

"[28] Cohen noted, “One of our main goals is to invite people into the music who may not have known they liked jazz We like to make it fun and accessible, but also finding ways to challenge the listener as well.

"[29] In December 2021, Cohen initiated Emmet’s Place Education, an ongoing series of free online master classes presented by a variety of jazz artists.

He also visits schools, provides lessons to students, teaches master classes, hosts performances, conducts clinics, and gives lectures often in connection with his tour schedule.

Cohen played on the four albums released as of 2021, featuring collaborations with Jimmy Cobb, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Albert “Tootie" Heath, and George Coleman.

"[55] Dave Gelly of The Guardian suggested in his review of Future Stride that it “has the rare and elusive quality of charm," and that, although a serious piece, it includes “little eccentricities and the occasional wink.

"[18]  Writing for Jazziz Magazine, Suzanne Lorge adds, “his originals brim with spontaneity and stylistic allusions without devolving into disarray or languishing in clichés; that he can interpolate so many fleeting musical notions into one mutating composition is astonishing.