Anat Cohen
Notes from the Village
Album - Jazz, Music, Contemporary Jazz
In 2007, Anat Cohen displayed her range with a pair of striking albums. Noir found Cohen fronting a big band, while on Poetica, the Israeli-born woodwinds virtuoso played only clarinet as she was backed by a quartet (and at times, a string quartet). On 2008’s excellent Notes from the Village, she plays a variety of horns in a set that includes covers of Ernesto Lecuona, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, and “Fats” Waller, along with four originals. The quartet from Poetica — keyboardist Jason Lindner, bassist Omer Avital, and drummer Daniel Friedman — joins her here. (Guitarist Gilad Hekselman also appears on three cuts.) On the opener, “Washington Square Park,” Cohen’s plays soprano as the band turns out an updated brand of funky fusion decked out with Prophet 8 keyboard runs. She displays her command of bass clarinet on Coltrane’s “After the Rain,” while “Lullaby for the Naïve Ones” features her powerful work on tenor sax. Cohen’s clarinet is wonderful on a version of the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s classic “Siboney,” which has a nice arrangement by Lindner.
Notes from the Village
Anat Cohen
In 2007, Anat Cohen displayed her range with a pair of striking albums. Noir found Cohen fronting a big band, while on Poetica, the Israeli-born woodwinds virtuoso played only clarinet as she was backed by a quartet (and at times, a string quartet). On 2008’s excellent Notes from the Village, she plays a variety of horns in a set that includes covers of Ernesto Lecuona, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, and “Fats” Waller, along with four originals. The quartet from Poetica — keyboardist Jason Lindner, bassist Omer Avital, and drummer Daniel Friedman — joins her here. (Guitarist Gilad Hekselman also appears on three cuts.) On the opener, “Washington Square Park,” Cohen’s plays soprano as the band turns out an updated brand of funky fusion decked out with Prophet 8 keyboard runs. She displays her command of bass clarinet on Coltrane’s “After the Rain,” while “Lullaby for the Naïve Ones” features her powerful work on tenor sax. Cohen’s clarinet is wonderful on a version of the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s classic “Siboney,” which has a nice arrangement by Lindner.
