AVISHAI COHEN / BIG VICIOUS
ECM 083 6025
Avishai Cohen (trumpet, effects, synthesizer); Uzi Ramirez (guitar); Yonatan Albalak (guitar, bass); Aviv Cohen (drums); Ziv Ravitz (drums, live sampling)
Recorded August 2019
This is the trumpeter's fourth album for ECM as leader, coming hot on the heels of last year's Playing The Room with pianist, Yonathan Avishai, and for this outing Cohen conjures up something completely different with his band Big Vicious.
The album is a first for Cohen on several different levels. The debut album for his band, which has been in existence in his native Israel for six years. The music and the band draw upon long-standing friendships with some of the musicians having known each other for more than twenty years, and reacquainting themselves to make music ago when the trumpeter relocated from the US. The other first is that this is the only time that Avishai has composed with others, writing and arranging collaboratively on all the resulting material. It should also be mentioned that there is a perhaps a 'sixth' member of the band, in that many of the pieces were worked upon with musician-producer Yuvi Havkin – also known as Rejoicer - who also contributed to three of the pieces.
Followers of Coehn's career to date, especially the output for ECM maybe surprised at this bold move, or perhaps even viewing the new developments at a distance and with a little intrepidation. Certainly, Cohen's superb trumpet sound and trademark lyricism are all present, but the context is very different, and in this instance, context is everything. The opening 'Honey Fountain' appears to set the scene, perfectly poised with Cohen's trumpet floating in and out of the electric instruments, and then immediately shaken up with the more insistant and dominating 'Hidden Chamber' with biting trumpet lines. This new sonic landscape is perused further on 'King Kutner' with a great bass line setting up the groove before the guitar enters with a catchy melodic hook which is then explored by Cohen and Big Vicious.
An aspect of the groups live performances is the inclusion of covers in their sets, and to this end have included two contrasting pieces that demonstrate the scope of the material within the band, and the imaginative way in which they are re-imagined. The first is a most surprising choice, 'Moonlight Sonata' by Ludwig van Beethoven is given a delicate, lyrical and beautifully underplayed reading that is truly captivating. The other cover is 'Teardrops' by Massive Attack, and works equally as well. Keeping it simple plays big dividends and the whole band is magnificent with the music locked down tight.
Of the original compositions, Big Vicious as a collective stamp their authority on 'This Time it's Something Different', as they have on all the collaborative compositions. However, the pieces solely composed by the trumpeter have a different feel; more fluid yet relaxed , 'The Things You Tell Me' and 'Intent' have a poignancy and feeling that runs deep.
In summary, this latest album, with cover art by Israeli illustrator David Polonsky, may look unlike any other Avishai Cohen release, or the chosen instrumentation and personnel, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, context is everything and the trumpeter has simply placed himself and his sound in new surroundings. For those willing to embrace such change will hear that Cohen has just as much to say, just in a different dialect.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 083 6025
Avishai Cohen (trumpet, effects, synthesizer); Uzi Ramirez (guitar); Yonatan Albalak (guitar, bass); Aviv Cohen (drums); Ziv Ravitz (drums, live sampling)
Recorded August 2019
This is the trumpeter's fourth album for ECM as leader, coming hot on the heels of last year's Playing The Room with pianist, Yonathan Avishai, and for this outing Cohen conjures up something completely different with his band Big Vicious.
The album is a first for Cohen on several different levels. The debut album for his band, which has been in existence in his native Israel for six years. The music and the band draw upon long-standing friendships with some of the musicians having known each other for more than twenty years, and reacquainting themselves to make music ago when the trumpeter relocated from the US. The other first is that this is the only time that Avishai has composed with others, writing and arranging collaboratively on all the resulting material. It should also be mentioned that there is a perhaps a 'sixth' member of the band, in that many of the pieces were worked upon with musician-producer Yuvi Havkin – also known as Rejoicer - who also contributed to three of the pieces.
Followers of Coehn's career to date, especially the output for ECM maybe surprised at this bold move, or perhaps even viewing the new developments at a distance and with a little intrepidation. Certainly, Cohen's superb trumpet sound and trademark lyricism are all present, but the context is very different, and in this instance, context is everything. The opening 'Honey Fountain' appears to set the scene, perfectly poised with Cohen's trumpet floating in and out of the electric instruments, and then immediately shaken up with the more insistant and dominating 'Hidden Chamber' with biting trumpet lines. This new sonic landscape is perused further on 'King Kutner' with a great bass line setting up the groove before the guitar enters with a catchy melodic hook which is then explored by Cohen and Big Vicious.
An aspect of the groups live performances is the inclusion of covers in their sets, and to this end have included two contrasting pieces that demonstrate the scope of the material within the band, and the imaginative way in which they are re-imagined. The first is a most surprising choice, 'Moonlight Sonata' by Ludwig van Beethoven is given a delicate, lyrical and beautifully underplayed reading that is truly captivating. The other cover is 'Teardrops' by Massive Attack, and works equally as well. Keeping it simple plays big dividends and the whole band is magnificent with the music locked down tight.
Of the original compositions, Big Vicious as a collective stamp their authority on 'This Time it's Something Different', as they have on all the collaborative compositions. However, the pieces solely composed by the trumpeter have a different feel; more fluid yet relaxed , 'The Things You Tell Me' and 'Intent' have a poignancy and feeling that runs deep.
In summary, this latest album, with cover art by Israeli illustrator David Polonsky, may look unlike any other Avishai Cohen release, or the chosen instrumentation and personnel, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, context is everything and the trumpeter has simply placed himself and his sound in new surroundings. For those willing to embrace such change will hear that Cohen has just as much to say, just in a different dialect.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
