AVISHAI COHEN - Into The Silence
ECM 475 9435
Avishai Cohen (trumpet); Bill McHenry (tenor saxophone); Yonathan Avishai (piano); Eric Revis (double bass); Nasheet Waits (drums)
Recorded July 2015
The Israeli born trumpeter's first appearance for ECM was was on saxophonist Mark Truner's Lathe of Heaven, released in September 2014 and it was this auspicious start that brought him to the ears of Manfred Eicher.
Already a seasoned professional Cohen had amassed a considerable amount of kudos in his native country before moving to the US, firstly to continue his studies at Berklee College of Music, and then to settle in his adoptive country bringing with him his indomitable spirit and purity of tone, working with Kenny Werner, Mingus Big Band, and spending six years as a member of the SF Jazz Collective.
For his debut for ECM, the trumpeter assembled a cast of musicians whose playing he was intimately familiar with, yet the participants had never played together as a unit. Furthermore, to this mix Cohen introduced all new material written especially for the session. The core material was all composed in a period of six months following his father's passing, and to whose memory Into The Silence is dedicated, and Cohen relied on an intuitive method of bringing this music to life, in so much as the melodies were worked on and processed in his head or at the piano, and much of the music he had never played through his horn until the recording sessions.
This manner of working and recording obviously suited all concerned as the resulting music testifies, in a strong and vibrant set that defies the underlying sadness of its inception. The album opens strongly with 'Life And Death' that brings Cohen's delicate and haunting muted trumpet to the fore. If the resulting sound does indeed acknowledge a debt to Miles, then the dramatic contours of the melody and plangent sense of loss belong to Cohen and his personal statement makes this a magnificent piece of music.
The centre pieces of the album immediately follow in two more long titles that seem to pass all too quickly and yet serve to focus the mind, drawing you in the story that is unfolding. The innocence of 'Dream Like A Child', that refers to his father's childhood desire to have taken music lessons, played this time on open horn begins in a very quiet and ethereal manner. Softly spoken trumpet and piano phrases that drift in and out of focus as if coming from another room before the the rhythm section pick things up, sweeping the music gently along in their wake. The other central piece is the title track, making reference to the silence of absence and was written in the six months immediately after Cohen's father passed away, and the dissonant piano figure heard at the beginning sets the tone for this often fractured and dislocated journey.
With three big numbers played so early on the disc, you could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps the trumpeter had displayed all his wares at the outset, but this is far from the case. Following the unsettled and disturbing title track the trumpeter unveils a beautifully melody in 'Quiescence' with it's lullaby like rhythms the piece offers calm and a time to reflect and heal oneself... a time for quiet reflection. 'Behind The Glass' once again quietly ignites the imagination, with Bill McHenry's tenor saxophone providing a fine foil to the patient lines that unfurled from trumpeter, as he does on all of the track in which he is present.
Having said this, Into The Silence is very much dominated by Avishai's playing and quite rightly so. He has much to say, and does so in most engaging and enlightening manner, despite the often difficult and very personal subject matter. The rhythm section are hardly submissive, but find their own way to heighten and lift the unfolding stories without allowing the narrative from the trumpet to stumble falter, and this strengthens the music still further.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 475 9435
Avishai Cohen (trumpet); Bill McHenry (tenor saxophone); Yonathan Avishai (piano); Eric Revis (double bass); Nasheet Waits (drums)
Recorded July 2015
The Israeli born trumpeter's first appearance for ECM was was on saxophonist Mark Truner's Lathe of Heaven, released in September 2014 and it was this auspicious start that brought him to the ears of Manfred Eicher.
Already a seasoned professional Cohen had amassed a considerable amount of kudos in his native country before moving to the US, firstly to continue his studies at Berklee College of Music, and then to settle in his adoptive country bringing with him his indomitable spirit and purity of tone, working with Kenny Werner, Mingus Big Band, and spending six years as a member of the SF Jazz Collective.
For his debut for ECM, the trumpeter assembled a cast of musicians whose playing he was intimately familiar with, yet the participants had never played together as a unit. Furthermore, to this mix Cohen introduced all new material written especially for the session. The core material was all composed in a period of six months following his father's passing, and to whose memory Into The Silence is dedicated, and Cohen relied on an intuitive method of bringing this music to life, in so much as the melodies were worked on and processed in his head or at the piano, and much of the music he had never played through his horn until the recording sessions.
This manner of working and recording obviously suited all concerned as the resulting music testifies, in a strong and vibrant set that defies the underlying sadness of its inception. The album opens strongly with 'Life And Death' that brings Cohen's delicate and haunting muted trumpet to the fore. If the resulting sound does indeed acknowledge a debt to Miles, then the dramatic contours of the melody and plangent sense of loss belong to Cohen and his personal statement makes this a magnificent piece of music.
The centre pieces of the album immediately follow in two more long titles that seem to pass all too quickly and yet serve to focus the mind, drawing you in the story that is unfolding. The innocence of 'Dream Like A Child', that refers to his father's childhood desire to have taken music lessons, played this time on open horn begins in a very quiet and ethereal manner. Softly spoken trumpet and piano phrases that drift in and out of focus as if coming from another room before the the rhythm section pick things up, sweeping the music gently along in their wake. The other central piece is the title track, making reference to the silence of absence and was written in the six months immediately after Cohen's father passed away, and the dissonant piano figure heard at the beginning sets the tone for this often fractured and dislocated journey.
With three big numbers played so early on the disc, you could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps the trumpeter had displayed all his wares at the outset, but this is far from the case. Following the unsettled and disturbing title track the trumpeter unveils a beautifully melody in 'Quiescence' with it's lullaby like rhythms the piece offers calm and a time to reflect and heal oneself... a time for quiet reflection. 'Behind The Glass' once again quietly ignites the imagination, with Bill McHenry's tenor saxophone providing a fine foil to the patient lines that unfurled from trumpeter, as he does on all of the track in which he is present.
Having said this, Into The Silence is very much dominated by Avishai's playing and quite rightly so. He has much to say, and does so in most engaging and enlightening manner, despite the often difficult and very personal subject matter. The rhythm section are hardly submissive, but find their own way to heighten and lift the unfolding stories without allowing the narrative from the trumpet to stumble falter, and this strengthens the music still further.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
