Last Friday, me and some friends went to the New Morning for a concert by Israeli double-bass player Avishai Cohen and his trio. I fell in love with Cohen's Continuo last year, and that particular album was my soundtrack for driving during the summer holiday. I purchased the recent Gently Disturbed when it came out earlier this year, but I hadn't had the time to delve deep into it. Something this concert has now remedied.
The evening, to be frank, didn't start off all that well. The queue in front of the New Morning was like nothing I'd ever seen before, the New Morning had clearly sold over capacvity, and not only was there no way to be seated, but there was virtually no way to be standing either. We were a little bit pissed off waiting for the trio to take the stage, standing on one feet or behind a pillar, but fortunately as soon as the music started, all that was washed away.
The thing I find miraculous about Avishai Cohen's trio is that their music is incredibly organic, integrated. This is not, in the tradition of American jazz trios, a rhythm section of bass and drums supporting a pianist. It is not either an unusual rhythm and harmony section of piano and drums that would somehow put forward a bass soloist. Every composition is a trio piece, in the same way that classical (or prog rock) arrangements work, and while that still leaves some space for improvisation, I would venture to say that that is not the most interesting thing about Avishai Cohen's Trio, amazing as the musicians that constitute it are individually.
Another very interesting aspect of their music is that, though this is undeniably jazz, the baggage that the three musicians contribute is not, or very little, a jazz baggage. Pianist Shai Maestro (very apt surname, let me tell you...) is clearly steeped in a classical music tradition while drummer Marc Giuliana bathes in polyrhythms with occasional furious forays into a past that must have included heavy rock at some stage. Cohen himself is perhaps the most "american jazz school" of the three, but draws heavily from the oriental music tradition of his country (Israël).
With such a mix of influences you might fear a pot-pourri feel to the music, but it's the opposite that happens. As I said, it's incredibly organic. Very western sounding harmonies underpin the melodies, and both Cohen's and Maestro's improvisations are very melodic (though Cohen remains mostly in whereas Maestro wanders out a little more often).Cohen's playing is very lyrical and even though he's a lot less exploratory in his solos than Maestro, he has a beautiful fat sound that contributes emotional power.
As distinctive as the trio's compositions are, I didn't always manage to associate themes with titles, but I did recognise Nu Nu and Elli from Continuo as well as Eleven Wives and a stunning Ever Evolving Etude from Gently Disturbed. This last piece is very characteristic of the rhythmic work done by Maestro and Guiliana. It starts with a near mechanical sequence of notes on the piano, soon doubled by the bass, but gradually Maestro intersperses counter-rhythms as Giuliana joins the fray. I felt jubilation hearing them build up the tune by gradually adding melodic and rhythmic ingredients, like a post-modern non-US centric jazzed up Memphis Soul Stew.
Another very interesting feature of the trio is that, depite their music being more written and arranged than your average jazz formation, and despite the intricacy of it all, these guys groove like all hell. They manage to get the whole audience up on their feet shaking their bums on very odd time signatures (I'm not good at identifying exactly the signatures, but I do notice when they go outisde 4/4 and 12/8, which was more or less all the time.)
To top it all, stage presence and interaction was excellent. Cohen didn't talk much, but the stage set-up was such that you could see the three musicians very well, and they could see each other very well. The smiles, winks and other head nudges were unmistakeable, this was music in the making, with its surprises and subtle interplay. These guys were having fun, and when Cohen started jumping behind his double bass, the energy was palpable.
For the encore, Cohen came back on his own and started singing a melancholy Yiddish song, accompanying himself with the bow. It was a real change of pace, and very moving. Cohen has a deep melodic voice. Maestro then crept to his piano and began backing the bandleader very subtly. When Giuliana extracted his sticks and started breaking the rhythm patterns, we knew we were in for another treat. Pressure (and groove) started mounting, Cohen was still singing, and plucking his bass, grooving up the line. The whole audience got up and started dancing.
They followed with another sung number that had a catchy chorus we could all sing, and by now everybody in the room was just into it. It was, it has to be said, an unusual jazz audience with many ladies who did not look like they'd just been dragged here by their husbands/boyfriends (as opposed to what it usually looks like, unfortunately...) and were just as charmed and stunned as the rest of us. When the band finally left, the crowd continued chanting that chorus until they finally walked back on stage and re-joined the song for another 5 minutes or so. It was a very uplifting way for the concert to end.
This was my first experience of Cohen's trio live, and I sure hope it's not the last. I saw that they were playing the Bataclan in Paris in October, and if my international travels allow me, I sure intend to be there.
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