Artist:Avishai Cohen
Song:Leolam
Album:Seven Seas/Aurora
There are two Israeli jazz musicians named Avishai Cohen. They are frequently confused for each other. The trumpeter Avishai Cohen is the brother of clarinetist Anat Cohen. The bassist Avishai Cohen is best known for his 90s stint in Chick Corea's Origin. Cohen's own music is a mix of jazz and middle eastern music. He was born Apr. 20, 1970 in Kibbutz Kabri in northern Israel. His family moved closer to Jerusalem. Cohen started playing piano at age 9 and switched to bass at age 14. Jaco Pastorius is his main influence. He studied at the Music and Arts Academy in Jerusalem. Cohen moved to New York in 1992 to study at The New School. He also played with pianist Danilo Perez. His big break came in 1997 when he joined Chick Corea's Origin. He was in that band for six years. He also recorded four albums as a leader for Corea's Stretch label. After he left Corea's band, Cohen started his own Razdaz label with Sunnyside distribution. Cohen moved back to Israel and signed with Blue Note. Leolam is from the 2009 album Aurora. It was his first album for Blue Note. Cohen wrote and produced the album. He recorded it in France with his regular band of Amos Hoffman on oud, Shai Maestro on piano, Itamar Doari on percussion and Karen Malka on vocals. Additional musicians are Stephane Belmondo on trumpet and his brother Lionel Belmondo on flute. Blue Note has released Aurora as a twofer with the 2010 album Seven Seas. Cohen recorded that in Sweden mostly with Swedish musicians. Aurora is also available as a digital download. After four albums with Blue Note, Cohen revived his own label. He recently signed with the French label Naive. His latest album Two Roses was released in April. He recorded it in Sweden with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Here's Avishai Cohen with Amos Hoffman, Shai Maestro, Ithamar Doari and Karen Malka performing Leolam on French TV 2009. This video is not on YouTube.
No comments:
Post a Comment