Dear melomaniac, with great enthusiasm I’ve noticed the launch of a new album from Avishai Cohen called “Brightlight”. I’ve listened to the album immediately and I must say I’ve had a wonderful evening full of the bassy grooves of Avishai Cohen – in my opinion one of the best double bass jazzmen around. So, let’s dig in and find out more about this new release.
First, I want to clear the air and clarify that there are two Avishai Cohen’s in the world of contemporary jazz, one of them is today’s article Avishai and the other Avishai is the renowned trumpeter that carries the same name. So, this is why we must add (bassist) or (trumpeter) at the end of these two guys’ names.
Our man, Avishai Cohen (bassist), was born in Kabri, a kibbutz in northern Israel, he is of Sephardic, Greek-Jewish and Polish-Jewish ancestry. He grew up in a musical family, he began playing piano at 9 and changed to bass at the age of 14, when he had the chance to meet Jaco Pastorius, the legendary jazz bassist who inspired Avishai to become a bassist himself.
Coming back to our new release, the new album is called Brightlight and it features drummer Roni Kaspi, pianist Guy Moskovich, saxophonist Yuval Drabkin, pianist Eden Giat, drummer Noam David, guitarist Yosi Ben Tovim, trumpeter Lars Nilsson, vocalist Jenny Nilsson, and, of course, Avishai Cohen on double bass. The album features original compositions, also jazz standards and even a vocal track. The album was partly recorded in Sweden, and partly in Israel.
Brightlight follows the same style of Avishai, a blend of Middle Eastern, eastern European and African-American blend of music. One of his albums that deeply caught my attention was 2006’s “Continuo” – a profound and lyrical album. Brightlight follows in his footsteps and does not disappoint, quite the opposite, it provides stoicism – even if the world has changed so deeply in the few last years, Avishai’s music remains the same – this for sure is an encouragement.
So, give it a chance, give it a go, have a listen!
