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Accolades for The Avishai Cohen Trio:
Read the Rave Review in Pop matters - here
“. . . a pulsating live album and DVD that should serve as a bracing introduction for anyone sadly unaware of his talent.” “. . . ‘As Is’ burns.” – The Boston Herald
The gentle flows with melodic bounce were complemented by fast, rhythmic gallops, with Cohen singing on his bass as well as plucking with intensity and propulsive attack. . . the house exploded at the exciting end of the set.” – Down Beat
""At Home" is an accomplishment of quiet intensity . . . " – Brett Saunders, The Denver Post
“. . . the music is consistently riveting, but without eclipsing the ingenuity of the improvisers.” – John Fordham, The Guardian (UK)
“. . . 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 . . .” – Sounds Of Timeless Jazz
". . . clearly in sync, interacting with technical precision reaching across the written and improvised portions of music . . ." "A virtuosic player . . ." – Don Heckman, The Los Angeles Times
". . . strong-toned, agile, melodic . . . a powerful bandleader.” – Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
“. . . a virtual force of nature on his instrument . . .” – Kirk Silsbee, L.A. City Beat
“. . . a virtuoso streak the width of Nebraska . . .” – The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Scene-followers on the lookout for the next young whiz with jaw-dropping chops will want to take note of pianist Shai Maestro, a kid from Jerusalem who has liquid lightning in his fingers.” – Mpls.St.Paul Magazine
“Cohen's latest discovery is pianist Shai Maestro, a fellow Israeli musician, who, at barely 20, is already creating a buzz among the jazz cognoscenti.” “ . . . he clearly has the potential to become a force in his own right.” ‘. . . he plays with a combination of technical fire and sophistication rare in musicians of his age.” – The San Diego Union Tribune
Avishai Cohen
Continuo (RazDaz)
Born and raised in Israel , it's no surprise that bass great Avishai Cohen often infuses his music with Middle Eastern harmonies and rhythms. This becomes particularly clear on Continuo when Cohen augments his working trio of pianist Sam Barsh and drummer Mark Guiliana with oud player Amos Hoffman. There are also strong overtones of classical music that come out in the highly complex and overtly through-composed tunes written by the leader. Sometimes the formal tone might be a bit much for those who just want to swing, but the playing is always visceral and often restlessly mercurial. Highlights include the angular bass-driven "Smash," the dramatic "Nu Nu" and the spiraling "Ani Maamin."
• Tad Hendrickson - Jazz Week, May 15 2006
_________________________________
AVISHAI COHEN/Continuo
4603 (Razdaz/Sunnyside)
Cohen has gone so far beyond the borders of anything that you just might as well call what the stellar bass player plays "music". Running the genre blender on puree without making a mess, this world/jazz/fusion is so involving and so over the top in it's range that you can't help but be blown away from start to finish. Just plain hot, passionate jazz that has the vibe the fueled the classic blowing and cutting dates but exists in a nexus all it's own. High octane, high energy and high style throughout adding up into one killer tour de force that you wonder how he can possibly top the next time around.
Chris Spector, Editor and Publisher - Midwest Record Recap
June 7, 2006 - Volume 28/Number 15 (a)
Jazz fans get a hit of the real McCoy
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Sometimes it's all about the audience. Israeli double-bassist Avishai Cohen was clearly energized by the enthusiasm of the packed house at Library and Archives Canada during the finale of the late-afternoon Connoisseur Series. He repaid them with a show whose passion and energy far exceeded the music on his latest CD, from which most of the program was drawn.
While it's a truism that jazz is best live, it was particularly true for Cohen's highly complex, formalistic compositions, which draw heavily from classical and Middle Eastern influences. On disc, they sometimes sound like an academic exercise. In person, the spontaneity and commitment was clear from the contortions of agony and ecstasy on the faces of Cohen, pianist Sam Barsh and drummer Mark Guiliana.
This is a tightly knit trio -- "First they were my friends, and then I found out they were musicians," Cohen said -- and their familiarity with each other was obvious. Despite the music's complexity, none of them used any sheet music.
For all of Barsh's nimble-fingered pyrotechnics, it was Cohen's deep, mellow bass sound that filled the room with warmth, and drove the pulsating rhythms of his compositions relentlessly forward.
-- Alex Hutchinson © The Ottawa Citizen 2006
Review from Budapest
Choice Jazz from Abroad
A Miracle in Zsámbék by Ildi Eperjesi
Friday August 5, 2005 - Hetek (The Weeks)
In the middle of July it came as no little surprise when Avishai Cohen and his Trio performed in the Zsámbék Jazz Open. Avishai, who has been declared one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, does not intend to become either a sex symbol or a spiritual leader despite his amazing talents. Unlike many representatives of “lighter” musical genres, neither does he want to bombard the deepest layers of the human personality illegally.
No, Avishai Cohen only wants to play and write music for his own pleasure. It is more than he expects if/when there are people who listen to it. He does not even care too much about the fact that he is considered one of the greatest double bassists of the world. The difference is really apparent when one goes to other great jazz musicians' concerts visiting our country, where some foreign stars do bother to tell you, still on the show, that they have just stopped dating an English lady (this is how one of the tracks was created), and they would now like to comfort themselves with a Hungarian girl. Historical chance for a Hungarian female name to get on the cover of their new CD… In contrast, Avishai composed an exciting piece in honor of his father.
It is also conspicuous that Avishai and the other two members of his band (keys: Sam Bar-sheshet, drums: Mark Guiliana) only consume mineral water before and during the concert whereas other musicians simply do not seem to operate until they reach a certain level of alcohol in their blood.
And we have not even mentioned, so far, of the thrilling musical experience the three young musicians lead their audience into. It's as if we return to the time of Yuval, the first instrument maker, to the origins of music, when the three guys touch their instruments. Avishai reaches towards his double bass so intimately that one may think he is one with his instrument. Nevertheless, his motions reflect a kind of superiority when he makes his bass sound: he uses it as a drum, sometimes he even plays with his teeth! Music must have started like this in ancient times… Still it is a very modern kind of music to the core. It is about, and for, the man of modern times. The three young men totally persuade us that one can get valuable and genuine art not only from museums or from an old chest, but truly great musicians are also brought forth even today.
Avishai Cohen used to play in the bands of Chick Corea, which indicates he is knowledgeable of the bass. It rarely happens that someone with a background like this establishes a new band, which he leads as well. Avishai's sixth recording as a leader was released earlier this year. About “At Home,” Avishai says that although his native Israel is his first and most real home, with New York as his second home, he feels like home everywhere around the world when he plays music. His audience experience just the same: his music makes you feel like home in a world where we are basically aliens and strangers. Avishai's many-faceted gift is amazing: he is at the top of the world as a composer and as a band leader as well. He builds motifs of Mediterranean, Afro-Cuban and European folk music into his tracks, courageously experimenting. He is not even afraid that all of this influence and the recurrent lyrical tunes overpower his pieces. Cohen says music has its own laws that work by themselves when writing music.
In Budapest, people are usually very much interested in elderly and worn out stars of old times. In Zsámbék the three young men: Avishai, Sam and Mark have offered a musical experience for life to merely a few hunderd people. Bigger stars visited Hungary but they went unnoticed by most people.