Avishai Cohen - Almah (2013) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

This lyrical jazz/classical crossover set from the Israeli composer, bassist and singer glows with seductive songs, from its luxuriously harmonised classical overture, via Israeli and Sephardic folk materials to his quietly ecstatic folk-vocal finale. Almah also features pianist Nitai Hershkovits, drummer Ofri Nehemya, and the unique oboe and cor anglais improviser Yoram Lachish, alongside violin, violas and cello. Cohen's Song for My Brother unfolds in a rolling trance, pivoting on an emphatic bass break, On a Black Horse veers between wistful baroque symmetry and implacable string-group funk, and Thad Jones' A Child Is Born gains new resonances from the contrast between Lachish's plaintive reeds and Cohen's bass. There are gliding oboe lullabies, pounding Arab dances, and the hip-hoppish Shlosre is a fiendish rhythmic workout for the jazz trio at the core of this band. It's genre-blending music from a conventional melodist's angle, but made with a real sensitivity to its ingredients.

Tracklist:

01. Overture 'Noam', Op.1
02. Song For My Brother
03. On a Black Horse / Linearity
04. A Child is Born
05. Arab Medley
06. Southern Lullaby
07. Hayo Hayta
08. Shlosre
09. Kefel
10. Kumi Venetse Hasadeh

Personnel:

Avishai Cohen - double bass, electric bass, vocals (10)
Nitai Hershkovits - piano
Ofri Nehemya - drums
Cordelia Hagmann - violin
Amit Landau - viola
Noam Haimovitz Weinschel - viola
Yael Shapira - cello
Yoram Lachish - oboe, English horn
Amir Bresler - drums (10)
Keren Tannenbaum - violin (10)
Galia Hai - viola (10)



All thanks go to the original releaser