CURATION
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from this page:
by Title Holder
Network Node
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Name:
Avishai Cohen אבישי כה
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City/Place:
Tel Aviv
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Country:
Israel
Life & Work
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Bio:
Avishai Cohen, born in Kabri, Israel on April 20th, 1970, grew up in a multicultural family whose roots were found in Spain, Greece and Poland. At home, music was always in the air, with his mother Ora, an artistic influence, listening to both classical and traditional music. Avishai’s musical journey began when he was nine years old, when he began playing the piano. After moving to St. Louis, Missouri with his family aged fourteen, he continued to study the piano and began to play the bass guitar. The electric bass put a spell on him when his teacher introduced him to the music of luminary bassist Jaco Pastorius. Back in Israel, Avishai joined the Music and Arts Academy in Jerusalem to further explore the bass universe. At the age of 22, having served for two years in an army band, he decided to take a big step and moved to New York city.
Avishai arrived in a wintry New York, January 1992. Moving to the ‘Big Apple’ was a challenging decision, emotionally as well as professionally. The young Israeli had a tough beginning; performing on the streets and working in construction to get by. These small steps gave his music a unique sense of authenticity. He studied at the New School in New York City with such artists as Brad Mehldau and was soon to be performing and recording with Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez’ Trio, reflecting the essential role that Latin music played in Avishai’s early years whilst in New York.
In 1997 a call from Chick Corea changed everything. Avishai had passed one of Corea’s friends a demo tape without particular hope of being noticed. Chick listened to it in his car and called Avishai back a few weeks later, blown away by its freshness. As a member of “Chick Corea’s New Trio” and a co-founder of Corea’s ensemble, “Origin”, for over six years Avishai became an integral part of Chick’s music and received the opportunity to fine-tune his skills as a bassist and composer. Performing with Chick Corea played an important part in shaping his musicianship, which led Avishai to consider Chick as a teacher, colleague and friend.
Avishai’s first four albums, (Adama, 1998 Devotion, 1999 Colours, 2000 Unity, 2001) were released under Corea’s label ‘Stretch / Concord Records’ and already featured the essence of his music and original compositions; Mediterranean and Latin influences, and the use of horns and vocals created a sound that was truly unique. Unity, Avishai’s fourth album as a leader and the first to showcase his skills on piano, deserves a special mention. The album was recorded with the International Vamp Band, a group of fellow musicians formed by Avishai, from different parts of the world (Mexico, Argentina, Cuba and Israel). The idea behind the cutting-edge project was to allow different cultures interact and converse using the medium of music, delivering a message of peace and harmony.
The growing range of projects he was involved in led Avishai to create his own record label with his manager in 2002, ‘Razdaz Recordz’, enabling him to follow his own path as well as record talented young musicians he believed in.
Lyla (2003), Avishai’s debut release on Razdaz Recordz , reflected his multitalented artistic personality, ranging from Latin rhythms to electronics, and jazz. At Home (2004) can be regarded as a metaphor defining Avishai’s music, if indeed it can be put into words: “music makes one feel at home everywhere”. Most followers will also recognize At Home featuring the composition ‘Remembering’, an evocative ballad performed with trio and probably the most demanded encore at his live performances, as well as being highly favoured for global use in film and TV .
The cosmopolitan Continuo (2006) followed with great success and displayed the magic of a working band. In 2007, the live recording As Is, Live at the Blue Note marked his return to New York for a series of concerts at the legendary Blue Note jazz club. With Gently Disturbed (2008), Avishai achieved a masterstroke, hitting the right balance between a powerful trio recording, and delicate compositions. This release was an amalgamation of melody and groove, complexity and simplicity that redefined the concept of jazz, and ‘raised the bar’ for fellow Jazz musicians.
After residing for many years in New York City , Avishai returned to his roots and moved back to Israel, releasing a fresh musical statement linked to his heritage and history, Sensitive Hours / Shaot Regishot (2008), attained gold sales status in Israel. It was the first album to introduce vocals in all its compositions as well as songs in Hebrew.
Avishai has always been open to various musical influences in his career and he has dedicated his creativity to music that is meaningful to him. A process that led him to incorporate the Ladino language (the language spoken by Sephardic Jews) and culture through his international release Aurora (2009). “I find so much honesty, truth and innocence in those songs that I wanted to keep the language and tradition and make people aware of it” says Cohen. The same year saw Avishai’s career begin a fruitful partnership with the prestigious jazz label EMI / Blue Note. This coincided with a special relationship and connection with the French audience. In Aurora, Avishai surrounded himself with a new musical family; a unique project that blended jazz, classical music and Sephardic traditions, finding the perfect environment to fully express himself as a singer. He shared all the languages he felt close to (Hebrew, English, Spanish and Ladino), and opening up to sing enabled him to reach a higher level of communication personally as well as attract listeners and fans way beyond the borders of jazz.
Having already recorded Continuo and Gently Disturbed at the Swedish studio Nilento, sound engineer Lars Nilsson had also become a part of Avishai’s artistic family. He felt it was the perfect place to record Seven Seas (2011), his second opus with EMI / Blue Note; which entailed songs he had been performing on tour for some time. This led Avishai to also record Duende (2012) EMI / Blue Note there; a duo album that featured the young and talented Israeli pianist Nitai Hershkovits, a musician he discovered in Tel Aviv and rapidly felt in tune with.
Duende – a Spanish word referring to the spirit, the groove – was the result of the intimate yet challenging format of the piano and double bass duo. It was indeed an enchanted and natural dialogue through music that shed new light on jazz standards, (Such as; “Criss Cross” by Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter’s “All Of You” as well as John Coltrane’s “Central Park West”) and brought these arrangements by Avishai to the fore. In this musical jewel, the first duo interlude in a prolific discography, winning in Germany a Jazz Echo Award for best International album 2013. Avishai proved once again he can never cease to surprise us.
The energy Avishai put into bringing the bass under the spotlight has pushed the boundaries of jazz and earned him international awards and recognition globally. He has continuously performed at the most renowned venues and festivals worldwide and it has enabled him to develop a strong network of followers and listeners, striking a chord with the audience wherever he has performed. The stage is undoubtedly a place where Avishai feels at home, so much so that attending one of his live performances is probably the best way to get acquainted with his musical universe. DownBeat magazine noted Avishai as a “jazz visionary of global proportions” while Bass Player magazine declared him as one of the 100 most influential bass players of the twentieth century.
Throughout 2013, Avishai presented a new, unique project, ‘Avishai Cohen with Strings’ to a worldwide audience. At the center of this project was a string quartet with a difference; Avishai replaced one of the violins with a viola in order to benefit from its darker timbre and create more depth. An oboist was further added to the ensemble and joined Avishai’s core trio. Avishai’s warm vocals in Hebrew, Ladino and Spanish subtly created a mood that complimented the luscious instrumentation on his own one of a kind compositions. He found in this original configuration – “a classical setting with an escape into jazz” as he described it himself – the best way to fully express his love for both, through written music and improvisation and to let influences that have existed for years to blossom.
In 2014, Avishai extensively toured with his trio, and his Almah project ‘trio with strings’, worldwide. Furthermore, Avishai produced and presented All Original, released on his own label Razdaz Recordz, a beautiful compilation of music celebrating the growing young Israeli Jazz talents and scene. Avishai hand-picked the musicians featured on the album who he considered as some of the leading young composers of this movement.
2015 saw the release of the new, highly anticipated trio album named From Darkness (Razdaz Recordz) featuring Nitai Hershkovits (piano) and introducing the talented Daniel Dor on drums and marked the next step in Avishai’s career. The Trio, a format that has always been present in his music and guides him on his artistic journey, has never been praised so much than in this album; outstanding for the unity and mutual listening between the three partners: “With this Trio, there is an immediate form of equality between musicians.”. “Here, three becomes one” says Cohen.
From Darkness combines the strength, the groove and the rhythmic challenges of original pieces such as “Lost Tribe” or “C#-“, with the sensitivity and fragility noticeable in “Almah Sleeping” or “Ballad for an Unborn”. Far from being a plunge into darkness, this release proves to uplift the listeners and the musicians: “If there is an effect I like feeling within myself whilst playing, it’s this one. It is the very essence of the music, a goal to achieve … in those difficult lives of ours, music can be a form of salvation. At least this is what it has always represented for me” says Cohen.
In Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem”, he wrote these penetrating lines; “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” It is through these majestic flaws, carved by humans and musicianship, that From Darkness lets the light radiate from an art that, more than ever, can legitimately claim to reach the truth of the human soul.
In 2016, halfway between respect for tradition and urge for new ventures: Avishai Cohen’s very own sound has never been clearer. Throughout his previous projects and musical projects such as; Trio, with Strings, Quintet, Sextet and Duet, it has become evident that the musician and composer is breaking new ground in the classical world. Not surprisingly, Johann Sebastian Bach, admired for his mathematical approach with music, is a frequently cited source of inspiration by Avishai, for the soul and spirit his work conveys.
In 2016 ‘An Evening with Avishai Cohen’ was presented which features his dynamic core trio of double bass, drums and piano, while the sophisticated, legitimate integration of full orchestra and chamber orchestra lends an added dimension to Cohen’s distinctive sound. This path into the classical world has included collaborations to date with over 25 orchestras with the Malmo Symphony , Luxembourg, Brussels Philharmonic , the BBC Concert Orchestra , Philharmonic Orchestra Essen, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra , Lviv Philharmonic and the Philharmonie de Paris . These unique and emcompassing concerts continuously develop globally in major venues, festivals with renown classical orchestra partners and conductors.
In October 2017 it was time for Avishai to launch a new band ‘1970’, and new album released with Sony ‘Masterworks’ France . As recent stellar performances at the world’s major venues have shown Cohen is at the peak of his creative powers. Those who have followed his career over the past fifteen years or so will know that his musical references reach far and wide, moving seamlessly from classical to jazz and traditional songs. Cohen plays and sings magnificently, and often gives vent to his love of melody as well as the art of improvisation. ‘1970’ highlights the more accessible side of his talent without compromising his artistic integrity. “It’s not a jazz record,” Cohen explains. “I don’t know what it is, but I’ve always had a connection to pop. I like pop as much as I like Bach and Charlie Parker. Singing has become very serious in my life over time. I’ve been asked by many people, when is the vocal album gonna come? Well, this is it, right here.” Around this time a beautiful fresh co-operation came to fruition with famous French film directors Eric Tolédano and Olivier Nakaché , for whom Avishai was commissioned to write the film score for the popular French movie ‘Le Sens de la Fête’ . released (October 2017) in over 40 countries ,with box office sales in excess of 5 million, (June 2018 ). The film score and music includes Avishai’s original compositions such as ‘ Wedding Song ‘, ‘Remembering’ ‘Nu Nu ‘ , ‘Seven Seas’ among others.
In the early days of 2018, A new ambitious initiative ,and project known as : ‘The Avishai Cohen Music Award 2020’ Avishai instigating an outreach program that very much upholds the spirit of his label Razdaz Recordz. The award, was open to any musician , composer or group in any style or genre of music to apply. The award gives the opportunity for the overall winner to record and release worldwide an album in 2020. The year was complete with a busy live tour schedule for Avishai with his ‘1970’ band, Trio and Orchestral performances ‘An Evening with Avishai Cohen’ all over.
In February 2019 Avishai recorded his latest album titled ‘Arvoles’ ( Razdaz 2019) returning to the favoured Nilento Studios in Sweden. This new musical statement delivers nine profound , freshly executed original compositions and one soulful arrangement.‘ Arvoles’ which means ‘Trees’in Ladino (the ancient language spoken by the Sephardic people of the diaspora). The 17th album as leader, Is clearly identified with Avishai own unique DNA and heartbeat .‘Arvoles’makes you float between key trio songs with the compliment of horns on several of the tracks, a working unit of deliberation, spirit,and giving you real joy. This is a masterful musical statement. Avishai with his dynamic trio will be presenting ‘ Arvoles ‘touring extensively with album recording partners, pianist and composer Elchin Shirinov from Azerbaijan, and the creative and distinctive Noam David, a drummer and composer whose delivers a rich style and complex polyrhythmic sounds .
Plans were being set for 2020 when Avishai will be celebrating his 50th year when he is scheduled to perform 50 concerts in 50 countries all over the globe. 50:50:50… the numbers add up to a whole world of sound.
Due to the exceptional worldwide circumstances that prevailed due to the covid-19 worldwide pandemic severely affecting live touring as planned, Avishai spent most of his 50th year at home in Israel, actively composing and recording in his own home studio, where he broadcast several live streams from his “Blue Door Studio”. In the early days of 2020 he also recorded and produced 3 original compositions for the short film documentary ”De Terezin au Kinderblock de Birkenau” by French director Chochana Boukhobza.
In March, Avishai was invited by Gary Barlow, songwriter, producer, and lead singer of the pop group “Take That”, to record and perform as a special guest on the track “Before We Get Too Old (ft. Avishai Cohen)”, for Barlow’s latest album “Music Played By Humans” ( Polydor/ Universal – November 27th ).
In November Avishai released a Limited Edition Vinyl Box Set “The 50 Gold Selection (Razdaz/naive) – “Chosen By You For You”. It is the first time the music of Avishai Cohen has been remastered and presented in such an exclusive way, with 50 tracks selected from a 2019 global fan survey, featuring hit tracks such as Remembering, Seven Seas, Eleven Wives, Morenika and Song Of Hope, from twelve of his worldwide album releases since 1998. Avishai also made his very first cameo acting appearance in a feature film to be released in 2021.
2021 will bring a return to “on the road live shows” new music releases, including the culmination of one of Avishai’s most beloved and acclaimed projects. Stay tuned!
Contact Information
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Management/Booking:
Personal Manager:
Ray Jefford
Avishai Cohen Productions Ltd
+44 (0) 7816 921 753
Skype: Raymond.Jefford
[email protected]
Press & Media
Inge de Pauw
Avishai Cohen Productions Ltd
+32 473 123237
[email protected]
Clips (more may be added)
The Integrated Global Creative Economy, uncoiling from this sprawling Indigenous, African, Sephardic and then Ashkenazic, Arabic, European, Asian cultural matrix.
The mathematics of the small world phenomenon transforming the creative universe into a creative village wherein all are connected by short pathways to all.
In a small world great things are possible.
"Thanks, this is a brilliant idea!!"
—Alicia Svigals (NEW YORK CITY): Apotheosis of klezmer violinists
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers (BOSTON): Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory ... Former personal recording engineer for Prince; "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"
"Dear Sparrow, Many thanks for this – I am touched!"
—Julian Lloyd Webber (LONDON): Premier cellist in UK; brother of Andrew (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Phantom of the Opera...)
"This is super impressive work ! Congratulations ! Thanks for including me :)))"
—Clarice Assad (RIO DE JANEIRO/CHICAGO): Pianist and composer with works performed by Yo Yo Ma and orchestras around the world
Tap the grey crosses next to the categories on somebody's Matrix Page to recommend that person for that category.
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The crosses will turn green.
That person/category will appear in your My Curation & Recommendations.
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Both you and the person you are recommending will tend to some small number of steps from everybody inside the Matrix.
Salvador is our base. If you plan to visit Bahia, there are some things you should probably know and you should first visit:
www.salvadorbahiabrazil.com
Conceived under a Spiritus Mundi ranging from the quilombos and senzalas of Cachoeira and Santo Amaro to Havana and the provinces of Cuba to the wards of New Orleans to the South Side of Chicago to the sidewalks of Harlem to the townships of South Africa to the villages of Ireland to the Roma camps of France and Belgium to the Vienna of Beethoven to the shtetls of Eastern Europe...*
Sodré
*...in conversation with Raymundo Sodré, who summed up the irony in this sequence by opining for the ages: "Where there's misery, there's music!" Hence A Massa, anthem for the trod-upon folk of Brazil, which blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south until Sodré was silenced, threatened with death and forced into exile...
And hence a platform whereupon all creators tend to accessible proximity to all other creators, irrespective of degree of fame, location, or the censor.
Matrix Ground Zero is the Recôncavo, bewitching and bewitched, contouring the resplendent Bay of All Saints (end of clip below, before credits), absolute center of terrestrial gravity for the disembarkation of enslaved human beings (and for the sublimity these people created), the bay presided over by Brazil's ineffable Black Rome (seat of the Integrated Global Creative Economy* and where Bule Bule is seated below, around the corner from where we built this matrix as an extension of our record shop).
Assis Valente's (of Santo Amaro, Bahia) "Brasil Pandeiro" filmed by Betão Aguiar
Betão Aguiar
("Black Rome" is an appellation per Caetano, via Mãe Aninha of Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá.)
*Darius Mans holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, and lives between Washington D.C. and Salvador da Bahia.
Between 2000 and 2004 he served as the World Bank’s Country Director for Mozambique and Angola. In that capacity, Darius led a team which generated $150 million in annual lending to Mozambique, including support for public private partnerships in infrastructure which catalyzed over $1 billion in private investment.
Darius was an economist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he worked closely with the U.S. Treasury and the IMF to establish a framework to avoid debt repudiation and to restructure private commercial debt in Brazil and Chile.
He taught Economics at the University of Maryland and was a consultant to KPMG on infrastructure projects in Latin America.
Replete with Brazilian greatness, but we listened to Miles Davis and Jimmy Cliff in there too; visitors are David Dye & Kim Junod for NPR/WXPN
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay (they paid).
Matrix founding creators are behind "one of 10 of the best (radios) around the world", per The Guardian.
This list is random, and incomplete. Reload the page for another list.
Ex Terra Brasilis
Wolfram MathWorld
UNIVERSAL
Alicia Svigals
Susan Rogers
Julian Lloyd Webber
Clarice Assad
Luciano Calazans
Kamasi Washington
Randy Brecker
Gustavo Caribé
J Velloso
Lázaro Ramos
Fernando Guerreiro
Maria Marighella
Russell Okung
Bule Bule
Caetano Veloso
Sparrow/Pardal Roberts
RÁDIO MATRIX