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Anat Cohen

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Jan 01, 2008
Category: Jazz

Videos
Anat Cohen and John Pizzarelli — I Wanna Be Around
Anat Cohen & Howard Alden: Cry Me A River
Anat Cohen & Howard Alden: After You’ve Gone

In 2008, the Jazz Journalists Association named Anat Cohen its Clarinetist of the Year for the second consecutive year — a first in the history of the awards.

That was a no-brainer, for Cohen is not only everywhere these days, she’s playing everything with a reed just a bit sharper than the other kids. She has, in four years, churned out four albums of her own, two more with a group focusing on Brazilian music, one with her siblings and one with yet another combo. On these CDs, she plays clarinet, soprano and tenor saxes, depending on the song — which could be straight-up modern jazz, Afro-Latin, Caribbean or an unclassifiable combination of the above.

Clearly, she’s a force — Israel’s best export in years.

I ran screaming from jazz when fusion arrived and forgot to return when it died, so I missed Cohen’s early work.

But when Notes from the Village arrived, I took a chance.

And I found myself listening to something I recognized as jazz.

I mean, there was a beat. That bass player had me at the first plunk. And then here was Cohen, noodling, but noodling with a point —- this woman can both write and play. When someone squealed at the break, I understood perfectly.

Cohen wrote four of the eight songs. Another is ancient: “Fats” Waller. She smartly attacks another, by John Coltrane, on clarinet. And then she does a Sam Cooke classic.

“A Change Is Gonna Come” is so overplayed that you don’t welcome its appearance here. But Cohen saves it from banality. She starts it as a stripped-down, straightforward, unadorned melody, with drumming that sounds like handclaps. Soon it becomes meditative and wistful. Halfway in, there’s a quick run to a metaphorical mountaintop, but Cohen refuses the sentimental solution.

I bow to her talent. I cheer her commitment to melody. But as I listen to Anat Cohen, what I come back to is her restraint — just because she can do it all doesn’t mean she feels compelled to.

To buy the CD of “Notes from the Village” from Amazon.com, click here.

To download “Notes from the Village” from Amazon.com to your MP3 player, click here.

To buy “Noir” from Amazon.com, click here.