Six years after leaving a career as an internationally celebrated jazz pianist for the life of an ordained Buddhist monk, Koun Vincent has announced a return to the keyboard and the national stage with a new Australian tour including a performance in Corryong.

Koun’s re-emergence is one that jazz fans have been waiting for but doubted would ever happen.

At the time, the musician-turned-monk was adamant that the worlds of Zen training and a touring musician were incompatible.

“You can’t do both,” he said at the time, seeking the seclusion of a Japanese monastery.

Prolonged meditation persuaded him that the opposite was true – jazz and Zen could go together. Both were about being in the moment, each could enhance the practice of the other.

Vincent began giving house concerts of the great composers of the American Songbook – Gershwin, Porter, Ellington, Berlin, Mancini, Kern, Monk and others – to small audiences a couple of years ago. The music was so revelatory, and the reception so intense, that Vincent is now ready to take his new clear view of jazz nationwide in a series of solo shows.

Prior to his career pause (when known as Tom), Vincent enjoyed an extensive career spanning 30 years. As a jazz pianist and bandleader he performed and recorded in Australia, Europe, Japan and USA alongside artists such as Branford Marsalis and Don Burrows and released eight albums.

Now, the master musician is playing better than ever.

“I’ve found the heart of real jazz,” he said.

“I approach my playing with a new power and deeper purpose.

“Thanks to my monastic experiences, at long last I’ve got the chops to re-examine those great jazz standards and learn something new every time I play, with spontaneity and joy.”

Vincent will appear at the Corryong Memorial Hall on Friday September 12th – to book see the advert [above].

This article appeared in Corryong Courier, 4 September 2025.