'As is ... Live at the Blue Note' Sunday, June 3, 2007

'AS IS ... LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE' Avishai Cohen (RazDaz)

Bassist Avishai Cohen makes the creation of good jazz look much easier than nearly anyone does. 'As Is ... Live at the Blue Note' shows that in a CD-and-DVD set made up of pieces from the same gig at the New York City club. The show provides a broad look at Cohen and his touring quintet. On the two discs, there are nine originals by the bassist, and each disc has a long version of the Duke Ellington classic "Caravan." The tunes sometimes hint of classics in another fashion. "Elli," for instance, features Cohen and keyboardist Sam Barsh playing statements that could come from a more formal setting. "Etude," with a melody statement from trumpeter Diego Urcola and saxophonist Jimmy Greene, hints the same before it takes off into greater freedom. Whatever the direction. the music is splendid. from the somber "Remembering" to "Bass Suite #1," which shows off Cohen's talent, as though it were ever hidden. The DVD is equally good, with fine camera work and sound. The collection is great evidence to Cohen's growing spot in jazz.

Bob Karlovits

Evening Standard August 24th 2007 Avishai Cohen Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club London By Jack Massarik

ABSORBING Music poured fourth last night from a trio with taste, creativity and a beat as powerful as anything a slammin DJ could dredge from his aluminium suitcase. Based in New York, their leader is a double bass virtuoso as fascinating to watch as to hear. Without hogging the limelight, Avishai Cohen ushered his US drummer Mark Guiliana and fellow Israeli pianist Shai Maestro ("a tough name to live up to, but he does it every night") into a world of pin sharp three-way byplay.

Elli, One For Mark and Arava were tuneful originals that the trio bounced around the bandstand with the grace and space of basketball champions. When things really took fight, the bassman closed his eyes, hunched his shoulders, and clambered all over his instrument in physical abandon. Suddenly I understood why my daughter owns all his albums.

She'll be glad that his latest, AS IS/Live at the Blue Note (RazDaz Recordz), comes with a companion DVD. Hopefully it features one of those moments, as on Ever-Evolving Etude, when he accompanies tight arpeggios with sharp slaps on the shoulder of the bass, thus sounding like a bassist and drummer playing simultaneously. Four stars? Hell yes.



Avishai Cohen at Rochester Jazz Festival Rochester Democrat and Chronicle*****

Oh why, oh why does the jazz festival have to end? I feel like a steamroller drove over me, but when seeing acts like Eldar, Don Byron, Dave Brubeck and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, it's hard to complain. I'll try for a top five in a bit, but first things first. Avishai Cohen was the perfect high point to end the festival. And, you know what? We almost didn't get to hear him at all.

Aparently, this is the last stop of his world tour, and he didnt want to leave his previous destination. I dont blame him, he was in Costa Rica, basking in the sun. Seeing the sweet look of esctasy with pearls of sweat dripping down his face in the 10 p.m. set, he seemed quite content to be here, thankfully. His set was magical. It had an exoticism to it, combining Israeli hymns with upbeat tempos, and of course, his out-of-this-world bass playing.

I think he sits at home thinking up new ways to play the bass. He strums, hits the strings, slides his hands around, shakes the bass around. I almost expected him to start plucking strings with his teeth. The best part was that it wasn't an act. It all worked in harmony with the music he was playing.

The bass is a hard instrument to get recognition on. It's always given background bass lines, and because it's so low, and generally pretty soft, bass solos can cut the energy of a piece. I notice it more as a swing dancer when the bass takes solos, it's hard to keep dancing. But this wasnt the case with Avishai. He had our attention and emotions from the first note he played until the last. And, though there was no swing to be found, he had the audience up on their feet, moving to the grooves.

He's not the only one who can have it out with his instrument. His drum set player nearly beat up his instrument. Im not sure why, but he had his wallet sitting out on one of the drums (perhaps to dampen the sound), but during his solo, that thing flew off the drum faster than a bullet. It's really cool when the musicians are so into the music that the realities of the world around them fall by the wayside. All three of the musicians on stage looked like they surrendered to the music they were playing. That's what music is all about folks.

By Anna Reguero

Avishai Cohen Jazz Cafe Costa Rica June 2007

By Alberto Zuniga

Music review

An innovative classic

Some concerts deserve a special place in the individual and collective memory for extraordinary reasons. The two gigs offered by the Avishai Cohen Trio at the Jazz Cafe can be registered among the memorable, transcendental and revealing. The result cant be obviated and, as it only happens in a few occasions, the whole audience shared the excitement and the experience.

People who had never been to a jazz concert, and especially to this kind of jazz, cant declare that they understand music completely. They lack something. Jazz set the instruments and musicians free in front of the public and they re-invent the sounds every night. Their gestures when they play live prove the amazement before what has been recently created and the soul transcends, renewed, in a singular and edifying ecstasy.

After these gigs, we understand why Avishai is one of the most influential composers in the North american East coast. His proposal offers a new direction for the consideration of the musical art and goes into the existential motivations of the contemporary individual, in depth.

Avishai's work demands a Renaissance attitude from the audience. His influences lead to the re-encounter with a cultured and deeply historical being, people in control of their own defects and virtues or, at least, in momentary balance. His music inspires respect for the human being.

This is a kind of jazz that leads to the community and doesn't stimulate the self-recognition in the isolated individuality, unlike most of the repertory of the so called true jazz. Those who perceived the scent of baroque in this music are totally right. The use of the the fugue is amazingly justified in the overflows of the double bass through the melodic duet lines with the piano or through the canon continuing when a phrase, being the main part of the arrangement, ascends multiplied in different tones.

The influence of the French pianists of the beginning of the 20th century, the references of Hebrew folklore, Rachmaninof and Bud Powell at the frontier limits of classic and jazz music and Chick Corea and a succulent approach to guaganco triggered a new musical language accessible to anybody, even to those who had never listened to jazz.

Each member of the trio is a luxury to eyes and ears but it was the performance of the drummer, Mark Giullina, that attracted the attention greatly. The expressive synthesis of his work presents the drums as chromatic body, far from a simple beat generator. On piano, Shai Maestro caused an intense devotion and, finally, Avishai showed, with his body language and volcanic technique, how many schemes need to be broken in order to defend your own ideas, specially the original and innovative ones.

COHEN MAKES A TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO THE JAZZ BAKERY *****

By Paula Edelstein

Innovative, exuberant and unconventional, Avishai Cohen has found both popular appeal and intellectual appreciation for his emotional intensity and musical sophistication as a bass player, composer and bandleader around the world. Setting his music in its social context, Cohen hears beyond the written notes, shaping his remarkable music into skillful, ingenious interpretations that are as diverse as his ensembles, friends, and mentors who have educated and inspired him.

Fresh from a 17-city USA tour, Cohen's triumphant return to The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, CA showed just how popular his ensembles have become in America in just a few short years. Accompanied by the dynamic Mark Guilliana on drums and introducing the brilliant Shai Maestro on piano, the trio played songs from several of Cohen's previous releases and from his first "live" recording titled 'AS IS LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE'.

A proliferation of styles from post bop, to free jazz, fused with North African and Middle Eastern influences were brilliantly performed and provided a thoughtful and comprehensive introduction to the range and passion of Shai Maetro's piano virtuosity, Cohen's complex nuance that justifies comparison to the great composers, and Guilliana's expert drumming techniques.

A consummate entertainer, Cohen's talents and bass skills were both potent and sentimental. His hip rhythmic improvisations spanned a broad spectrum of techniques that included percussive taps, bowing, and artful pizzicato that rapidly became the focus of his appreciative audience on such favorites as "Nu Nu," and his tribute to Shai called "Young Maestro." His agility and sensitivity soloing on "Remembering" was emotional and impeccable while his free styled dueting with both Maestro and Guilliana fostered an even greater interplay between the trio. With changes that stopped on a dime, and rapid fire note-for-note precision, the Avishai Cohen Trio was intense, passionate and entertaining.

With a full house on their feet, a rousing ovation brought them back for an encore. Ending the show with "Remembering" this powerful trio left an inspiring, lasting impression that opened new sounds of music right before your ears and ended with a second standing ovation.

AVISHAI COHEN DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

Continuo Review ****4/5 November 2006

This is a superbly controlled record, balancing the booming ego in Avishai Cohen's bass lines with the diligent niceties of Sam Barsh's baroque-infused piano and Amos Hoffman's oud added for dramatic effect on half the tracks. The group is locked in that some may look in vain for seams, but the preplanning and immaculate playing doesn't choke the sense of risk. This is sustained by rhythmical tension built into the compositions and acute role-play. On 'One for Mark' Barsh introduces the off beat and has a distinct metronomic function that remains throughout his counterpoint release passages, allowing Hoffman and Cohen to attack their instruments with contrasting aggression.

The dramatic sleeve art depicts Cohen running in a desert landscape. Where from? To where? Clearly, however, he has found a musical heaven. Thus a track called 'Emotional storm' misfires as such, though it is an intriguing mixture of impeccable equilibrium and a gear-shifting groove. The Oud lines seem to have more connection with West Africa Kora lines than Arabic music.

The exciting 'Smash' boasts rock bottomed but unpredictable time, with Cohen flashing Jaco Pastorius chops on electric bass, Barsh mirroring acoustic piano with keyboard lines and drummer Mark Guiliana getting a chance to kick up some desert dust. Cohen wanted a programmatic feel redolent of classical music strategies with this album, and he has succeeded without snuffing the spark.

Michael Jackson 'Downbeat Magazine'

AVISHAI COHEN REVIEW THE ROCHESTER CITY NEWSPAPER

JAZZ BLOG, Day 9: The thrill of three masters

By Ron Netsky on Jun. 17th, 2007

On the festival's final night I saw three virtuoso musicians and their groups. During his first set at Montage, bassist Avishai Cohen not only explored every inch of the fingerboard, he added percussion by slapping and tapping, he strummed and played occasional harmonics, and, when he wanted to really accent a note, he struck it extra harshly. Even his bowing work was unusually percussive. Cohen has expanded the vocabulary of the bass and made it an effective lead solo instrument in the process.

While most of the tunes his trio played were from his current album, one of the most beautiful ballads, 'Seattle', was written two weeks ago and performed for the first time at Montage. Because we are used to middle and upper register lead instruments, hearing melodies played so beautifully on such a low register instrument is an almost subliminal experience.

AVISHAI COHEN NETHERLANDS REVIEW 22 Apr '06 -Avishai Cohen Trio

levert sprankelende show in Paradox

Paradox Tilburg, Avishai Cohen Trio, 21 april 2006

Ik hou me bezig met de vrijheid en intimiteit van het trio verder te ontwikkelen zei Avishai vorige week in een interview met Jazzenzo. En dat was precies wat er vanavond op het podium van Paradox gebeurde. Avishai Cohen, die een dag eerder in het Bimhuis zijn zesendertigste verjaardag beleefde en een dag later dan Paradox alweer in Praag voor de president van Tsjechi, Vaclav Klaus, zou spelen, leverde in Tilburg een sprankelende show af met muzikale hoogstandjes in een programma dat zich liet aanhoren als een suite waarin het werk van 'At Home' en diens opvolger, de nog te verschijnen cd 'Continuo' de revue passeerde, plus een nieuwe compositie. Zo nieuw dat deze tijdens de soundcheck nog gerepeteerd diende te worden en Avishai achter de piano plaats nam om pianist Sam Barsh de nuances te laten horen. Bladmuziek kwam hier niet aan te pas.

Avishai Cohen, die in het rijtje Mehldau en Rosenwinkel geschaard kan worden, bouwt zijn composities op vanuit de klassieke muziek om er de invloeden uit de jazz, Midden Oosten, Afrika en rock te doen filtreren. Het was afwachten hoe Cohen het gemis van een ensemble dat op de plaat het trio aanvult zou opvangen. Echter, Cohens composities zijn zo krachtig dat zij moeiteloos overeind blijven in een minimale bezetting van bas, drums en piano.

Als een architect bouwt Cohen aan zijn stukken. De vaak staccato swingende composities kenmerken zich door een warm, fantasievol, en kleurrijk hecht geluid, met aan de basis de sprankelende interactieve thematiek van bas en piano, van waaruit zomaar een solo kan ontstaan, ingebed door het groepsgeluid. Soms dubbelt de bas met piano, of het betreft een vier om vier, waarin telkens nieuwe wegen worden ingeslagen. Drummer Mark Guilliana construeerde van de twee drumkits dat Paradox rijk is n geheel door de jazzkit aan te vullen met de tom en trommel van het rockdrumstel.

Cohens basspel is fenomenaal. Indrukwekkend is het spel waarin Avishai in n beweging bas soleert en de zij- voor- en achterkant van de klankkast als percussie-instrument hanteert, en het doet aanzien alsof hij een zinnelijke dans met zijn instrument uitvoert.

Zacht spelen is ook een kunst. Guilliana tovert vanachter zijn drumstel met sticks, brushes en handen opzwepende ritmes opgediept uit een smeltkroes, en doseert zijn volume van krachtige rock tot zwoele funky folk klanken. Barsh is een begenadigde pianist die een grote rol in het groepsgeluid speelt maar het trio een bastrio laat zijn.

Het toetje van het concert bestaat uit een stevig maar genuanceerd en flegmatiek gebracht rockstuk, waarin Cohen de elektrische basgitaar hanteert en duelleert met Guilliana, waarmee hij in New York 'voor de lol' in een rockband acteert.

Chapeau aan Paradox, dat een act van wereldformaat op zijn podium wist te krijgen. Het publiek werd vanaf tel n meegezogen in het avontuurlijke spel van het trio dat een reis maakte door de diverse culturele lagen uit de muziek verbonden door continenten. Hoe boeiend kan muziek zijn!

Jos L. Knaepen

AVISHAI COHEN REVIEW LUND - SWEDEN *****

Music as pioneering as exciting

Ecstasy jazz. Avishai Cohen Trio.

Mejeriet, Lund, 2 november.

So you believe jazz is always boring? Introvert and only something for the brain?

Then watch for Avishai Cohen. He knows the answer.

The Israeli Bassist Avishai Cohen is making ecstasy Jazz. Music that is vibrating non-stop from a remarkable charge, through faster and slower tunes, and within each song builds up to become higher and more powerful. The musicians have a strong desire to reach out to the listeners and to fill the music with emotion and engagement. The fact is, that after half an hour, I felt so full of impressions that I could have been satisfied with that.

But Im glad I stayed. Avishai Cohens musical vision is as new and pioneering as it is exciting and seductive. Those who have listened to this years briliant new trio album 'Continuo' know pretty well what took place at 'Mejeriet'. The Oud player Amos Hoffman was of course not there, but apart from that, we got the same striking melodious compositions, imbued with piano greetings from Bach and Beethoven and played with a rhythmical push which almost tore down the rails on the balcony.Cohen plays the Bass with a lightness and exactness of which there is hardly the like. The enormous tone makes its way through, as clear as glass, wherever the fingers press on the neck of the Bass. Cohen was slapping the edge of the Bass, charming overtones from the instrument, and communicated this with his personal charisma. Cohen was focused, absorbed by the music, but in the momment ready to react on what the other two where doing.

19-year old piano player Shai Maestro was here giving his fourth concert with the group. Imagine that someone could replace Sam Barsh and have the same control of the classical piano playing and the same hunger for imrovisation, and to enter the jazz domain and in addition to that also to cultivate the jewish musical heritage. The drummer Mark Guiliana contributed in a more quiet way to the whole, and exploded finally, just as on 'Continuo' and 'Emotional Storm'.

Avishai Cohens trio carries a kind of mysterious melancolly beauty, which resembles the tangos, but which comes from the Mediterranean area. By the end Cohen made us sing along to a Jewish melody and the encore was a beduin song he learnt from his Grandfather. Beautiful and straight, just like the backbone of the Bassists own music.

Alexander Agrell Sydsvenska Dagbladet

AVISHAI COHEN SWEDEN REVIEW October 2006.*****

Im thinking; it will break. Avishai Cohen snatches, pulls and slaps his base, as if he were mad. Mark Guiliana plays his drums as if he was possessed and Shai Maestros piano adds a classical contrast in the background. Its the end of Nu Nu, one of the highlights of the concert, but far from the only one.

Cohens compositions are a mixture of mainly jazz, but also classical music and kletzmer. Most musicians who are mixing different music styles are trying to do it as smoothly as possible. Avishai Cohen does the opposite. He lets the contrasts bump into each other. At times, they collide head-on. The result is shockingly beautiful and the response is accordingly.

The enthusiasm from the audience after the most powerful outbursts would even make Darin (a famous Swedish pop-star (KT)) envious. It is with much more caution he sings and plays the traditional songs, which he learnt from his mother and grandfather. It is modern and playful, but yet he doesn't loose the original atmosphere of the tunes.

The titles of his own material are simple, and so are his comments in between songs. Emotional storm is a result of a break up from a woman, Cohen explains; He does not need to say any more. The complexity of his music captures every shade of the conflicting feelings. It is music, which tells stories.

And as the song tells a story of an episode, the concert tells the story of a man. Origin, influences, feelings. Maybe not a complete picture, but probably as close as you can get in two hours time.

Andreas Jakobsson Uppsala nya Tidning

Modern Drummer Magazine December Issue 2006.

Performer:Avishai Cohen Trio.

CONTINUO ALBUM REVIEW.

A Study in Low-intensity burn, CONTINUO features turbulent bassist Avishai Cohen and Mark Guiliana, the drummer most often cited in MD's recent 'Future of drumming' feature. Although he uses brushes for much of the album, Guiliana's precision, creativity and percolating time feel are the perfect match for Cohen's blast-furnace compositions. On the tracks 'Emotional Storm' and 'Smash' in particular, Guiliana melds Cohen's caustic riffs, playing with economy and explosive power, whether swinging or smacking a backbeat. He sails between ideas, executing whip-cracking dynamics and vibrant colourings throughout.

Ken Micallef Modern Drummer Magazine.

AVISHAI COHEN JAZZ ZARAGOZA SPAIN 2006.

LETS TEACH THE AZORES TRIO A LESSON

Performer:Avishai Cohen Trio

Event:Jazz Zaragoza

Venue:Auditorium of Zaragoza

Date:Friday, 10th November 2006

Audience:650 people

Avishai Cohen (double-bass), Shai Maestro (pianist) and Mark Guiliana (drums and percussion): thats what I call a trio and not the Azores one. A terrific, peculiar, vibrant and spectacular trio. We could give them many more adjectives and we wouldn't exaggerate at all. Their last night concert at the Auditorium will remain as one of the most outstanding performances of the current edition of Jazz Zaragoza, as well as the previous ones.

The Israeli Avishai Cohen (who during the show consumes as much water as energy) is a bassist of his own league, not only because he's clearly a virtuoso (the history of music is full of soulless virtuosos) but mainly because of his talent. He plays the instrument with little orthodoxy and he manages to take splendid sonorities out of it. And, as if this wasn't enough, he composes pieces of an enormous vitality.

Of course, a guy like him can't go on tour with bad companions: Shai Maestro is a phenomenon that deserves his own surname and uses his marvellous technique to create streams of emotion. And the very young Mark Giuliana doesn't fall behind in this trio of aces: he's vigorous, precise, perfectionist and imaginative. In other words, Avishai is the boss, but each one of his colleagues could perfectly lead his own band. That is to say, a trio of leaders.

But, as it happens with many important musicians, the three of them work together as a team, though their individualities shine incredibly. Avishai, Mark and Shai deliver an overwhelming musical encounter, full of suggestive dialogs and caustic developments. A corpus of evident folk inspiration, in which jazz connects with chamber music and pop, without losing its splendorous meaning.

To make it shorter, a great night for the audience and a little tricky for ZGZ Reunion, the support band. Their display, despite of their good intentions and some remarkable moments, ended up diluted by the sea of music that came later.

AVISHAI COHEN, LA VANGUARDIA 2006.

Monday, 13th November 2006 Jazz Review

BEAUTY AND FORCE

Performers: Avishai Cohen, double-bass; Shai Maestro, piano; Mark Giuliana, drums.

Venue and Date: Sala Oriol Martorell, 11th November 2006.

Mingus B. Formentor

I remember vividly the terrific concert performed by Avishai Cohen Trio at the Injuve Festival in Eivissa in August last year. Overwhelming in their power and wisdom, they were a volcano of creativity and interaction, of beauty and force. An hour later after the gig, with the Atomics on stage, Cohen, Giuliana and Sam Barsh (the trios former pianist) were still signing CDs in front with oud player Amos Hoffman. Tunes like Nu nu, One for Mark and Smash deserve to be considerd as gems and classics of the jazz trio category.

In their album, Avishai thanks an eclectic list of musicians for their inspiration: Rachmaninov, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Satie, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Paco de Lucia, Charles Mingus or Jaco Pastorius. And he really lives up to his spiritual mentors as is from that sublime mix where he had taken the leitmotiv to create, together with his colleagues, a chamber jazz that brings a lump to your throat and delivers it to your eyes, overwhelmed by happiness. A real miracle.

What happened in the auditorium during Feediop, with Maestro and Giuliana taking the part of the lion, was just indescribable, a sort of extrasensory rhythmic experience. Breathtaking. Keith Jarrett's trio would have to do their best in order to prove that they still can compete with wonders as convincing and modern as Avishai Cohen's.

EL PERIDICO Jueves, 16th November 2006

BRAD MEHLDAU AND AVISHAI COHEN, A NIGHT OF CONTRASTS AND QUALITY

Performers: Brad Melhdau and Avishai Cohen Trio Venue: Auditori of Barcelona Date: 12th November

The Jazz Festival of Barcelona took up the auditorium. In the afternoon, at the Oriol Martorell venue, the trio of the Israeli double-bassist Avishai Cohen presented their album Continuo.

Avishai Cohen is, as Mehldau, a virtuoso that uses the classic tradition, in his particular case Satie and Debussy but his meanings are different from the American pianists. Cohens music is warm, close and moving. It sounds popular in the best possible meaning of the word. His pieces are catchy and, at the same time, serious, complex but appealing to the ear. The melody rules while your mind surrenders captivated by those rhythmical caprices coming from drum and bass and also from his Jewish roots, with scores of folk inspiration. It was difficult to restrain a smile of pleasure during his show. Contrast and quality.

AVISHAI COHEN JAZZWISE MAGAZINE

AVISHAI COHEN TRIO LIVE REVIEW

RONNIE SCOTTS JAZZ CLUB LONDON 5th - 7th October 2006

JAZZWISE MAGAZINE November Issue 2006

Opening the evening sessions with his quartet, the Guitarist Russell Malone shares with a sell out audience the intimacies of two ships that once passed in the night. Ballads should be like a kiss, Malone recalled a woman once telling him. They should be slow and deliberate. Judging by his honey-coated guitar soliloquy on Carole King's 'you need a friend' he has certainly heeded her advice.

But when it comes to the art of romance, former Chick Corea Bassist can add a touch of danger and a whole lot of sensuality to the mix. In an outstanding set this evening, the trio, that includes pianist/electric keyboardist Sam Barsh and drummer Mark Guiliana, performed tracks from their captivating new CD 'Continuo'. Being on the road for over two and a half years now, there's an added fire and spontaneity when encountering the band live. There is no such thing as warming up in Cohens book, and the band turned the temperature up to full blast right from the word go. Collectively, the trio has a baroque-like dimension that in lesser hands might amount to a kind of restrained classical chamber group cool. But Cohen manages to effectively capture the electricity of jazz dialogue without having to whip up an all-for-one storm. Since the late 1990's, the New York based Israeli bass player has organically moulded into shape a melodically passionate music whose secret is in the subtle give and take between written arrangement and spontaneity.

Accommodating contrapuntal classical music, brilliantly displaced Latin orientated rhythms, Middle Eastern melody, and a background checking Jaco Pastorius, Cohen also writes with his musicians in mind. Two tunes tonight are dedicated to his partners and they're two of the strongest: 'One for mark', and 'Samuel' that highlights the pianist Barsh's effervescent mix of metronomic EST-like vamps, dancing classical flourishes and Michael Nyman-type baroque mantras. As a double bassist alone, Cohen is undoubtedly one of the best around. He has a huge singing tone, while his grooves grind like those of a funk bassist, alongside percussive interjections that include bow-and-arrow thumb flicks, below the bridge twangs, or percussive knocks on the side of the bass. Unlike a lot of bassist leaders who prefer to supervise from the shadows of the stage, Cohen really makes his presence felt. In between two musicians who are both entirely capable of hogging the spotlight, one of Cohen's strengths as a communicator lies in his body language; his ecstatic gestures, almost embracing the bass suggest an intimate relationship with his instrument. The band's performance may have spilled over into cheesy showbiz on the odd occasion previously, but tonight this trio is extrovert rather than flash, and thoroughly entertaining while always keeping the audience on their toes. There are very few bands around that get that just right.

Selwyn Harris Jazzwise Magazine

COHEN IN WARSAW - July, 2006.

Journalist: Piotr Iwicki

Translated by Kasia Maslowska

Virtuosity of the jazz players and their enjoyment of playing the music dominated at the Old Town on Saturday.

Avishai Cohen Trio�s concert attracted thousands of listeners to the "Jazz in the Old Town" festival.

Avishai Cohen � a citizen of Israel with Polish roots, for years living in New York � is an exquisite bass player. On Saturday he presented his virtuosity and a very good sense of humour.

Since the first notes of Nu Nu Cohen won the audience�s hearts. The introduction beautifully played by Sam Barsh (piano) and supported rhythmically by Mark Guiliana (drums) evoked enjoyment in the audience and appreciation for their virtuosity.

After the first composition, the audience�s reaction confirmed the fact that Cohen�s fans had been waiting for the music, on the edge of jazz and Middle East folk, with a pinch of Arabian culture and Jewish rhythms.

During One For Mark composition, a thrilling solo of a drummer Mark Guiliana provoked an overwhelming applause of the audience, characteristic for pop stars. The listeners had a lot of fun while listening to either jazz compositions like Ani Maamin or the inspired by the Bible, Shalom and then the final �Continuo� � a title composition of Cohen�s latest album who for a change played the electric bass.

While playing the encore the artists presented their various talents. Sam Barsh changed the instrument into melodica, a simple brass instrument, which sound reminds that of the accordion, the leader played like Marcus Miller and Mark Guiliana carried us for a moment in the area of Kazimierz district in Cracow, where the Jewish Culture Festival is held at Szeroka Street every summer. What is more, suddenly Cohen changed the harmony of the composition and the band played Queen�s Another One Bites The Dust. The audience went mad.

Does it mean that it was the climax of the International Outdoor Jazz Festival Jazz in the Old Town? Surely Avishai Cohen�s trio was one of the best concerts among all editions of the festival. However, I was a bit unsatisfied not hearing a beautiful ballad Calm in their repertoire. But the musician surprised some of his devoted fans, who were waiting for him in front of the dressing room and had a chance to listen to the bass player playing the solo piano Calm. At the end Cohen thanked the organisers for inviting him and their exceptional care.

Avishai Cohen @ Newport Jazz Festival - August 13, 2006.

Matthew S. Robinson

Back after eight years (and this time with no Chick), Israeli bass-master Avishai Cohen came loaded for bear with "amazing" keyboardist Sam Barsh and the "fresh new voice" of drummer Mark Guiliana.

Opening with the tight upright loops and pearly trap splashes of "Feediop" Cohen and his impressive rhythm section wiggled into the lush Latinate lines of "Samuel," before opening flower-like into a beautiful jam.

After the unified poly-rhythmic brooding of "Emotional Storm," the trio received their first standing ovation. "We're not done yet!" Cohen assured as the upright fans continued to shout and cheer. In an effort to calm his wild supporters, Cohen changed the set list, offering the spare and beautiful dance of "Remembering."

After that, Cohen opened the floor to the appreciative audience, asking them if they wanted another upright tune or an electric number. When the former prevailed, the trio let go for "Smash" a powerful, pulsing, primarily pianoless rhythm dance filled with open strings and bass-ic body beatings that ended with repetetivie trio turns and wild contained runs. For the grand finale, Cohen strapped on his E-Bass for a funky and flexible take on "Caravan," featuring a boogie-ing Barsh on Melodica and the four-stringed frontman doing tricks with his bass that most had never seen before. When it was finally over, the crowd erupted to their feet, offering an ovation that could be heard back on the mainland.

Day 9 - Ottawa International Jazz Festival, June 30, 2006

by John Kellan - excerpt from All About Jazz

This year’s Connoisseur Series at the Library and Archives Canada theatre has been widely regarded as one of the best—if not the best—series in recent years. With nary a weak spot to be found, it was also a diverse mix, from the Indo fusion of Rez Abbasi and the incredible explorations of Sonny Fortune and Rashied Ali to the outstanding performances by Brad Mehldau’s trio. The final show of the series featured Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen, who first leapt into the spotlight with pianist Chick Corea in the late 1990s, but more recently has been focusing more exclusively on his own projects and label, RazDaz.

Cohen is a virtuosic player with a deep knowledge of the tradition, but in the interview that took place with CBC’s Andy Sheppard before the show, he talked about how folk music—“people’s music,” as he put it—is a stronger source of inspiration. When asked about his broad musical influences and the way in which he blends them together, he saied “I never came to think this way, I just am this way,” which dovetailed nicely with the sentiments of Rez Abbasi and Vijay Iyer at the previous two afternoon performances.

Cohen’s set list was drawn primarily from his latest record, Continuo (RazDaz, 2006) and At Home (RazDaz, 2005), and brought together the same two musicians who are part of the core group on both discs—pianist Sam Barsh and drummer Mark Guiliana, who has his own record out on Cohen’s label with his group Neernt, Locked in a Basement (RazDaz, 2006). Both are young players but not only show significant promise, but feel very simpatico with Cohen’s personal cross-genre concept. Cohen, in fact, described the two of them as people who became friends first, then players in his group.

Andy Sheppard’s description of Cohen’s playing—“he surprises the bass”—is an apt description. While the material was an interesting mix of classical constructs, folkloric melodies and jazz harmony, and there were strong melodies throughout, the solos were what made this a strong closer to this year’s Connoisseur Series. Barsh would often take his time developing his solos, building in intensity and dexterity. Swaying backward and forwards as he played, there were definitely some of the magical moments where Barsh made it “into the zone,” lithe and lyrical. In some ways his overt melodism compares to the previous days’ performance by EST’s Esbjörn Svensson, but without the electronics (although he did have a small synthesizer that was not ultimately used).

Guiliana is a drummer who appears to be cut from similar cloth as Rez Abbasi’s Danny Weiss. Loose, responsive and with an approach that veered towards backbeat but rarely went all the way there, he was in constant contact with Barsh and Cohen, pushing them while, at the same time reacting to where they were going. The subject of interaction and chemistry has been repeated throughout coverage of the festival, but in many ways it’s been a remarkable year for the number of artists that have performed here who have demonstrated the kind of empathic connection that makes for the most inspired and exciting music.

Cohen demonstrated a number of unusual techniques, at one point not so much tapping the bass’ neck with both hands as pulling off notes with each one. He’s one of the most important bassists to emerge in recent years, and the performance demonstrated why. While he’s constantly pushing himself in his solos to go to new places, he’s not operating in a vacuum, maintaining constant eye contact with Barsh and Guiliana and absorbing where they are going to determine the direction of his own solo. It is, in fact, this give-and-take that made the trio in some ways comparable to EST. But while EST are unquestionably fine players, the interaction seems to weaker, with Svensson expecting Berglund and Ostrom to follow along rather than be equal participants in the conversation.

One of the most noticeable things about Cohen’s playing is how it has matured so rapidly. When he first emerged with Corea, in some ways he was the bold, brash young player with things to prove. He may not be much older now, but his playing has reached a point where he doesn’t need to prove a thing. Consequently, while he still burst into lightning-fast lines at time, he was equally attentive to the value of a single note, or a simple repeated phrase.

Cohen’s writing masks tricky time changes and harmonic foundations with such elegant melodies that one really doesn’t notice just how involved they are, although “One for Mark” was based around a choppy, irregular meter that featured some impressive (and humorous) stop/starts where it was clear just how much fun the trio was having. In brief conversation with Cohen he explained that this band has been touring a lot, across North America, Europe and elsewhere, and it shows. Sometimes a nervous energy that results in musical magic can occur when you put a group of players together for the first time; but equally, chemistry is something that develops best over time, and with so many artists having to spread their time amongst a variety of projects in order to keep working, it’s great to see a group that’s committed to a longer-term relationship.

CONTRABASS, NOT WHAT YOU THOUGHT

AVISHAI COHEN TRIO - CAMELOT, TEL AVIV MARCH 27TH 2006.

Yossi Khersonsky

From the moment Avishai places the bass in the middle of the stage, it's obvious he's going to show us much more than we ever thought possible from this mysterious instrument, which usually does all the dirty work when it comes to improvisation. Avishai can produce almost anything with the instrument, virtuoso and melodic improvisations, brilliant and sophisticated. And to vary the program even more, he also uses the body of his bass as a percussion instrument. There is no shortage of creative jazz musicians who put the bass in the middle of the stage, but I don't recall a bass player who can put on a performance like Avishai. It isn't only virtuosity.

This time I sat very close to the stage. You can see it in his facial expressions, the way he moves his body. The guy gives his soul, lots of soul, and that's rare for jazz, which is considered to be the art of intellectual improvisation. The sound he produces has a wonderfully succulent intonation, rounded tones, as if he were dying to have the bass sing like a piano.

This creative dynamic he produces while playing would not be possible without the two musicians standing next to him. I am already familiar with the creative and fluid piano-playing of Sam Barsh, and this time it was Mark Guiliana’s turn on the drums, which was an astounding combination of concentration and soul. Avishai talks to them in a language that has them, as if to be swimming with small strokes, and after hundreds of performances of their "At Home" program, the music flows between them in mutual delight. Everything has already been perfectly timed, carefully played. Despite their professionalism that helps to reduce the tension, they didn’t come only to work. They came to recharge themselves, and primarily – to have fun.

Avishai's secret isn't just his virtuosity, but his ability to turn any piece into a story, a song, whether you take Tchernichovsky’s "Sachki, Sachki" or Avishai's very own "Emotional Storm" or the gentle "Night," every piece is a "work of art".

The Trio also showed off their funky-groovy mode with an encore that went into high gear, as the pianist threw away his chair and continued playing standing up.

Each one of them alone, and all of them together, create distinctive music of color and atmosphere, melody and improvisation, with Avishai beaming over the entire ensemble, using his bass as a leading instrument, but wonderfully open and communicating. It's a pleasure listening to them.

Aberdeen Jazz Festival - Tue 14 Mar 2006.

KENNY MATHIESON - The Scotsman

Avishai Cohen Trio ****
LEMON TREE

THE final weekend of the third Aberdeen Jazz Festival featured headline gigs for two musicians associated with Chick Corea's bands: Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen and English saxophonist Tim Garland. Both reflected the influence of the pianist's musical approach in their different ways.

The Avishai Cohen Trio turned in a very impressive performance at the Lemon Tree on Saturday. The Corea influence was palpable in the big rolling melodies and gradually building vamps that ran through Cohen's compositions but, as with Garland, the bassist stamped his own distinctive character on the music.

This was a more impressive outing than the trio's appearance in Glasgow two years ago, largely because this was a more suitable venue. The high level of musical empathy between the virtuoso bassist and his collaborators - pianist Sam Bar-Sheshet and drummer Marco Guiliana - was always in evidence. All three produced dazzling soloing, and each was razor-sharp in response to the unexpected deviations of his colleagues.

They played a mixture of music from the trio's current recording and entirely new material introduced into the set for this tour, with the next recording in mind. It would have been difficult without prior knowledge to tell what was familiar and what new, such was the level of understanding and interaction.

Cohen's virtuoso double-bass playing and gorgeously projected sound (he switched to electric bass guitar only for their funkier encore) lay at the heart of the music, but this was genuine group playing at a very high level.