Almah
Avishai Cohen- Overture 'Noam', Op.1
- Song For My Brother
- On A Black Horse / Linearity
- A Child Is Born
- Arab Medley
- Southern Lullaby
- Hayo Hayta
- Shlosre
- Kefel
- Kumi Venetse Hasadeh
Over the last two decades Avishai Cohen has earned his reputation as one of the world's greatest bassists. It is however as a composer that his musical statement has grown. In Cohen’s fourteenth album as leader, the Israeli has gone back to the roots of his first musical experience: classical writing and harmony. The jazzman has never stopped proclaiming this enlightened heritage throughout a career that is colourful and steeped in all kinds of experiences. Almah, named after his daughter, is the culmination of this musical journey.
At the centre of Almah is a string quartet with a difference; Cohen has replaced one of the violins with a viola to benefit from its darker timbre and create more depth. An oboe/cor anglais is added to the ensemble and joins Cohen's core trio of double bass, piano (Nitai Hershkovits) and drums (Ofri Nehemya).
Almah begins with the powerful Overture 'Noam’ Op 1, an original opener dedicated to the memory a young cousin who died in a accident while serving in the Israeli army. The album brings together standards from various traditions (‘On a Black Horse’, a melody borrowed from the repertoire of the Red Army, Thad Jones’ ‘A Child is Born’ and ‘Kefel’, an old Israeli folk song), new compositions such as ‘Shlosre’ and a new look at some past recordings (‘Hayo Hayta’ from Cohen’s 2011 album Seven Seas becomes a chamber music suite). Almah finishes with ‘Kumi Venetse Hasadeh’, a moving romance by Israeli composer Ram Da Oz in which Avishai's warm vocals subtly create a mood that complements the luscious instrumentation.
“I have always sensed the strong presence of classical music and jazz, with the love of musical compositions on the one hand, whether it is clever or popular, and the wild impulses and irrepressible desires to forget everything and improvise on the spot on the other hand. In Almah, both of these worlds, with their constraints and limitations, are empowered as a result of having been brought together.’ (Avishai Cohen 2013)