Avishai Cohen (trumpeter)
Encyclopedia
Avishai Cohen Is a New York City
based Jazz
musician originally from Tel Aviv
, Israel
.
Cohen is an internationally recognized influential jazz
trumpet player, composer, and bandleader. His playing style reflects a heavy influence from the Bebop
and Post-bop
traditions. However elements of Avant-garde Jazz
, Jazz
, Jazz fusion
, contemporary
styles can be heard in Cohen's playing as well. Cohen Attended the Berklee College of Music
in Boston
and began establishing himself within the Jazz community after placing third in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition. Cohen is currently an active member of the SF Jazz Collective
, Traveni, and Third World Love and is still actively touring.
Israel
. He grew up in a musical family with his sister Anat Cohen
(Saxaphone) and brother Yuval Cohen (Soprano Saxophone
). At the age of eight Avishai asked his mother if he could begin taking trumpet lessons. Avishai like his siblings showed tremendous potential as young musicians. At the age of 10 Avishai began playing with the Rimon Big Band, He recalls "I had a box I stood on", As a Teenager Avishai Toured with The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
Avishai Attended the Berklee school of music in Boston after receiving a full scholarship. After graduating from Berklee Cohen Went on to win 3rd place in the prestigious Thelonious monk jazz trumpet competition in 1997. After Winning the competition Cohen move to New York City where he began developing his music along side Jason Lindner and bassist Omer Avital at Smalls Jazz Club. He recorded his first Album in 2003 with Anzic Records. The Album Title "The Trumpet Player" Its titled such to avoid the common and frequent confusion that arrised when people would confuse him with a famous Jazz Bassist of the same name (see Avishai Cohen Bassist) Since then he has recorded with many notable jazz artists as a band leader, co-leader, and composer. He has played with several important Jazz groups including, Lemon Juice Quartet, Third World Love, 3 Cohens, Traveni, Tea for 3. Third World Love, & The SFJAZZ Collective
. He has He is married and has two children.
.
Additionally he mentioned the follow musicians as part of a list of many more
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
based Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician originally from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Cohen is an internationally recognized influential jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpet player, composer, and bandleader. His playing style reflects a heavy influence from the Bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
and Post-bop
Post-bop
Post-bop is a term for a form of small-combo jazz music that evolved in the early-to-mid sixties. The genre's origins lie in seminal work by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
traditions. However elements of Avant-garde Jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
, contemporary
Contemporary
Contemporary is a visual arts magazine, published every month. Founded and edited by Keith Spencer in 1992, it was originally called Contemporary Art...
styles can be heard in Cohen's playing as well. Cohen Attended the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and began establishing himself within the Jazz community after placing third in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition. Cohen is currently an active member of the SF Jazz Collective
SFJAZZ Collective
The SFJAZZ Collective is a jazz ensemble comprising eight performer/composers. Launched in 2004 by , a West Coast non-profit jazz institution and the presenter of the annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, with funding from the James Irvine Foundation, the Collective was critically acclaimed by The...
, Traveni, and Third World Love and is still actively touring.
Biography
Avishai Cohen was born in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He grew up in a musical family with his sister Anat Cohen
Anat Cohen
Anat Cohen is an Israeli jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader.Cohen went to the United States in 1996. Her debut album, Place & Time, was released in 2005 on Anzic Records. In 2007 she won the awards for Up and Coming Artist and Clarinetist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association...
(Saxaphone) and brother Yuval Cohen (Soprano Saxophone
Soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
). At the age of eight Avishai asked his mother if he could begin taking trumpet lessons. Avishai like his siblings showed tremendous potential as young musicians. At the age of 10 Avishai began playing with the Rimon Big Band, He recalls "I had a box I stood on", As a Teenager Avishai Toured with The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
Avishai Attended the Berklee school of music in Boston after receiving a full scholarship. After graduating from Berklee Cohen Went on to win 3rd place in the prestigious Thelonious monk jazz trumpet competition in 1997. After Winning the competition Cohen move to New York City where he began developing his music along side Jason Lindner and bassist Omer Avital at Smalls Jazz Club. He recorded his first Album in 2003 with Anzic Records. The Album Title "The Trumpet Player" Its titled such to avoid the common and frequent confusion that arrised when people would confuse him with a famous Jazz Bassist of the same name (see Avishai Cohen Bassist) Since then he has recorded with many notable jazz artists as a band leader, co-leader, and composer. He has played with several important Jazz groups including, Lemon Juice Quartet, Third World Love, 3 Cohens, Traveni, Tea for 3. Third World Love, & The SFJAZZ Collective
SFJAZZ Collective
The SFJAZZ Collective is a jazz ensemble comprising eight performer/composers. Launched in 2004 by , a West Coast non-profit jazz institution and the presenter of the annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, with funding from the James Irvine Foundation, the Collective was critically acclaimed by The...
. He has He is married and has two children.
Influences
Avishai has stated in a number of interviews that he was very heavily influenced by Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
.
Additionally he mentioned the follow musicians as part of a list of many more
- Art FarmerArt FarmerArthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
- Don CherryDon CherryDon Cherry may refer to:* Don Cherry hockey player, coach, and commentator* Don Cherry , trumpeter* Don Cherry...
- Kenny DorhamKenny DorhamMcKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
- Lee MorganLee MorganEdward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
- Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
- Chet BakerChet BakerChesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
- Thad JonesThad JonesThaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
- Clifford BrownClifford BrownClifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...
As a leader
- The Trumpet Player (Fresh SoundFresh SoundFresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a Spanish jazz label based in Barcelona, specializing in American jazz music.Fresh Sound was founded in 1983 as a reissue label for 1950s jazz...
, 2003) - After the Big Rain (Anzic Records, 2007)
- Flood (Anzic Records, 2008)
- Seven (Anzic Records, 2008) (Digital Release Only)
- Introducing Triveni (Anzic Records, 2010)
Third World Love
- New Blues (Anzic, 2003)
- Sketch of Tel Aviv (Self+Small's Records, 2006)
- Avanim (SelfSelfThe self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions.-Philosophy:...
, 2004) - Third World Love Songs (Fresh Sound World Jazz, 2002)
Omer Avital
- Arrival (Fresh Sound World Jazz, 2007)
- The Ancient Art of Giving (Small's Records, 2006)
- Marlon Browden Project (Fresh Sound World Jazz, 2003)
Other Groups
- SF Jazz Collective Live 2010:7th Annual Concert Tour (SFJAZZ, 2010)
- Anat CohenAnat CohenAnat Cohen is an Israeli jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader.Cohen went to the United States in 1996. Her debut album, Place & Time, was released in 2005 on Anzic Records. In 2007 she won the awards for Up and Coming Artist and Clarinetist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association...
Noir (Anzic Records, 2006) - Anat CohenAnat CohenAnat Cohen is an Israeli jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader.Cohen went to the United States in 1996. Her debut album, Place & Time, was released in 2005 on Anzic Records. In 2007 she won the awards for Up and Coming Artist and Clarinetist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association...
Place & Time (Anzic Records, 2005) - Yuval Cohen Freedom (Anzic Records, 2006)
- The Jason Lidner Big Band Live At The Jazz Gallery (Anzic, 2007)
- Waverly 7 Yo! Bobby (Anzic Records, 2007)
- Keren AnnKeren AnnKeren Ann Zeidel is a singer-songwriter-composer-producer and engineer based largely in Paris, Tel Aviv and New York City. She plays guitar, piano and clarinet, engineers and writes choir and musical arrangements.-Life and career:...
Keren Ann (Emi France, 2007) - Keren AnnKeren AnnKeren Ann Zeidel is a singer-songwriter-composer-producer and engineer based largely in Paris, Tel Aviv and New York City. She plays guitar, piano and clarinet, engineers and writes choir and musical arrangements.-Life and career:...
Nolita (Metro Blue/Blue NoteBlue noteIn jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
, 2005 ) - Yosvany Terry Metamorphosis (EWE+Kindred Rhythm, 2006)