Avishai Cohen

Israeli-born trumpeter/composer Avishai Cohen is an adventurous, forward-thinking musician who has performed in various ensembles touching upon modern creative jazz, post-bop, avant-garde improvisation, and klezmer. Initially emerging as a fiery young lion on the East Coast in the late '90s, Cohen has drawn acclaim for his broad artistry on albums such as his 2003 trio date The Trumpet Player and 2007's expansive After the Big Rain. Since 2016, he has recorded regularly for ECM, moving from the atmospheric lyricism of Into the Silence, Cross My Palm with Silver, and Playing the Room to the psychedelic fusion and funk-influenced sound of Big Vicious. He also leads several other projects, including his Triveni trio, Third World Love with bassist Omer Avital, and the 3 Cohens with his siblings, clarinetist Anat Cohen and saxophonist Yuval Cohen. The wholly improvised and meditative Naked Truth arrived on ECM in 2022, followed by the five-part suite Ashes to Gold in 2024.

Born in 1970 in Northern Israel, Cohen was interested in music from a young age and by his teens was a member of the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and in 1997 achieved third place in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition. Since graduating, Cohen has performed with a variety of artists, including vocalists Claudia Acuña and Keren Ann, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, and many others. He is also a member of such ensembles as Third World Love with bassist Omer Avital, the avant-garde Lemon Juice Quartet, and the SFJAZZ Collective.

Cohen made his debut as a leader in 2003 with The Trumpet Player, followed by the expansive, world music-infused After the Big Rain in 2007. More genre-bending, avant-garde-leaning albums followed in 2008 with Seven and Flood, the second part of the Big Rain trilogy. Around this time, he joined pianist Jason Linder for 2009's Now vs. Now and augmented trombonist Rafi Malkiel's ensemble for 2010's Water.

Returning to his own groups, Cohen next debuted his Ornette Coleman- and Don Cherry-influenced Triveni trio with Introducing Triveni in 2010. A year later, he came on board as a member of the SFJazz Collective for the 2011 concert Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions: Live in New York 2011 Season 8. He then returned to his solo work with 2012's Triveni II, after which he joined saxophonist Mark Turner's quartet for 2014's Lathe of Heaven. Also that year, the trumpeter reconvened his Triveni trio for the intimate session Dark Nights.

In 2016, Cohen made his ECM debut with Into the Silence, featuring saxophonist Bill McHenry, pianist Yonathan Avishai, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Nasheet Waits. Recorded in the wake of his father's death, the album showcased a more introspective and atmospheric sound from the trumpeter. The following year, he gathered the same ensemble (with bassist Barak Mori replacing Revis) for his second ECM effort, Cross My Palm with Silver. He and pianist Avishai then collaborated on the 2019 duo album Playing the Room.

That same year, he debuted his Big Vicious quintet, featuring himself on trumpet and electronics, as well as guitarists Uzi Ramirez and Yonatan Albalak (who also played electric bass), and drummers Aviv Cohen and Ziv Ravitz (who also did live samples). Working in a French studio with producer Manfred Eicher, the group wrote five tracks and combined them with four Cohen tunes and a pair of covers: Massive Attack's "Teardrop" and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The final result, Big Vicious, was issued in March 2020 by ECM. It marked one of the quickest turnarounds -- from pre-production to completed mastering and release -- in the label's 50-year history.

In 2022, Cohen delivered his fifth ECM recording, the intimate and atmospheric Naked Truth. Largely improvised in studio, it featured a small acoustic quartet with longtime associates pianist Yonathan Avishai, bassist Barak Mori, and drummer Ziv Ravitz. The same group returned for 2024's Ashes to Gold, which featured a five-part suite. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi