Israeli musician Avishai Cohen’s passion for the bass guitar was sparked off when he discovered legendary American bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius, so it was perhaps to be expected that when he set out to pursue his musical calling, his first choice was the US.

Settling into the New York scene, Cohen wasted no time in acquainting himself with other jazz musicians, as well as forming his first group, an orchestra with a variety of influences.

The musical diversity struck a chord with jazz icon Chick Corea, who not only recruited Cohen for his own band but also offered him a record deal.

With Corea, Cohen’s musical and composing skills progressed, in the process strengthening a strong sense of melody in his approach. His profile also grew, and he was sought after by many of his peers as well as international philharmonic and symphonic orchestras.

Cohen set up his own Razdaz Recordz label in 2003, which allow­ed him space to explore new sounds and directions unhindered.

He eventually signed to the prestigious Blue Note label, with whom he has released two albums to date, 2010’s Aurora and his most recent album Seven Seas earlier this year. His latest offering has been well received, with critics describing its eclectic mixture of nursery rhymes, lullabies and suites oozing Mediterranean and mid-Eastern flavours as ‘a torrent of emotions’.

The album has also greatly boosted Cohen’s standing internationally, with many critics hail­­ing him as one of the most popular jazz players in the past 10 years and lauding his use of vocals to enhance the emotion in this music.

Avishai Cohen, accompanied by Shai Meastro on piano and Amir Bresler on drums will perform at the Malta Jazz Festival on July 16.

www.maltajazzfestival.org

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.