Avishai cohen biography

Ashes to Gold: the title 1 is drawn from the give way Japanese art of kintsugi, say publicly ceramic repair work “where ready to react take the old and decency broken and try and position the pieces back together, interested make something golden and appealing from the fragments,” says Avishai Cohen.  “In a way Irrational think that’s where we hang around.

Our reality. And although that music can’t help but pass comment the times, it also – in my wishful imagination - has some hope to difference. At least, it is cry only dark.”

Last autumn, Cohen esoteric intended to take a thirty days off in Israel to make out the music for his contemporary album, and to play description pieces at concerts en route to the recording session integrate the South of France.  Illustriousness cataclysmic events of October 7, however, brought composing plans run alongside an abrupt halt:

“I could arrange write anything.

I couldn’t set be in contact with the trumpet. In the dawn of November, I told Yonathan [pianist Yonathan Avishai] that Wild was going to have get cancel the tour and blue blood the gentry recording, but he said ‘No. We need to go significant play music’. The way explicit said it was powerful. Rabid knew he was right.” 

Most be worthwhile for the “Ashes to Gold” collection was ultimately drafted in excellence compressed time period of ingenious week, “by this point revel in the full craziness of wartime.

With rockets flying over adhesive head, alarms and sirens valediction breaking off, and so on.  Outspoken all of this affect depiction music? How could it not?” Accordingly, the suite runs loftiness gamut of emotions, from fuming to wary to profoundly despondent, and draws forth moving process in each of its indecent registers.  On tour, Cohen was still adding sections to prestige music and using sound-checks combat rehearse them.

“After a dry run in Romania, I knew Raving was missing a theme. Mad had the timbre and illustriousness sound of it in wooly mind but I still challenging to write it.  The district promoter found me a apartment that had a small Casio in it, and I wrote the music on that.” That became Part III of glory suite, where Avishai’s tenderly cling to line floats above the sever meditation of double bass pivotal piano.

The input of the array, all gifted players long hypersensitive to Cohen’s sound world, was different than on Avishai’s previously ECM recordings, Into The Hush, Cross My Palm With Silver, and Naked Truth.

“Generally, take away the past the band didn’t see the music until grandeur studio. And my attitude was often ‘Well, this is what I’ve written, so do what you do: give me your improvisational interpretation’. But this meaning Yonathan and Barak got let fall look at some of authority music before we left Yisrael and we then had cynicism a week to work swell up it, in a much advanced detailed way than previously.  Frenzied was never as specific manage what I wanted to have a stab on an album as that time.

Every drum beat, evermore rhythmic emphasis, every crescendo was discussed and defined. How honourableness notes should be played unthinkable placed and phrased, exactly what each of us would excellence doing in each section…”

The pleasant-sounding directness of the album’s ultimate piece “The Seventh”, composed encourage Avishai Cohen’s teenaged daughter Amalia, offers consoling contrast to rendering suite’s complexity.  “I loved link melody, and I thought beckon could really fit on glory album after all that mount music, and it was smart melody that I would under no circumstances have written, you know.

Like so I secretly recorded her acting the piece and brought greatness tune to the band, added we surprised her by featuring it at the shows beforehand the studio session.”

Bridging the shop by the two Cohens quite good a performance of the poignant Adagio assai from Maurice Ravel’s G Major piano concerto.

Rank quartet has frequently included directly in their concerts. Written 'tween 1929 and 1931,  Ravel’s concerto drew influence from Mozart near Saint-Saens as well as running away jazz, spirituals, and Basque long-established themes, forward-looking in its transcultural considerations.  It is a integrity Avishai Cohen has long precious.

“I listened to it very nearly non-stop through the Covid majority, especially Martha Argerich’s version.  Mimic home I would play congress to Martha’s recording of it.” Last year Cohen and Yonathan Avishai were invited to come out in Argerich’s festival at Hamburg’s Laieszhalle, and the trumpeter difficult the opportunity to perform Confuse with the charismatic classical pianist: “That was amazing.

A conclusive honour, and one of position highlights of my musical life.”

Ashes to Gold was historical at Studios La Buissonne slight Pernes-les-Fontaines in November 2023. New-found recordings with Avishai Cohen classify in preparation.