Israeli acoustic bassist and composer Avishai Cohen spent his first year in New York working at construction jobs and busking while studying jazz at the New School. Cohen was 22 when he arrived in New York on a wintry day in 1992, after completing his service in the Israel Defence Forces, where he played in an army band for two years.
“In the beginning, it was tough playing music in the streets and working in construction to get by, but these times only added to the experiences and growth of being a musician. I had made a big decision to travel to New York and I wasn’t going to give up so easily,” he said in an email interview.
In New York, Cohen was exposed to some music that would influence his playing and his compositions.
“I was always open to all music, but I really got into Latin music, funk and reggae, and I soaked up a lot of things that were going on in New York, especially jazz,” he said.
READ: HARMONICA WIZ PLAYS IN FRONT OF HIS MENTOR AT ISRAELI JAZZ SHOWCASE IN TORONTO
His first big break came in 1997, when he got the ear of jazz legend Chick Corea, who asked Cohen to join his new trio. “Chick was a big teacher for me. He was a master at being generous with the music and musicians on stage, and I have very good memories of being a part of that,” Cohen said.
“During my six years with Chick, he taught me how to be a bandleader, and also how to communicate in an effective way with the audience.”
Cohen is considered one of the world’s greatest bassists. He began playing the electric bass at the age of 14, inspired by the music of the fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius, and later he switched to acoustic bass. As a bandleader and composer, Cohen put the upright bass in the spotlight.
“I was always going to move to the acoustic upright bass I guess, but I came to it late, at around the age of 20. I guess then I found the confidence to take on the challenge and embrace this unique instrument with a great teacher in Israel,” he said. “The bass has been my closest musical partner ever since. I explored and developed my own way of playing and performing with it over the years. It’s a big part of my message as a leader.”
A prolific composer and recording artist, he weaves Middle Eastern and Latin rhythms into his music and his influences range from classical music to rock.
“I listened much to Bach and classical music in general, but also to Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, and of course [jazz bassist] Charles Mingus,” Cohen said.
His first four recordings, beginning with Adama in 1998, were released under Corea’s label. Cohen went on to create his own record label, Razdaz, and released several recordings, including the 2008 Sensitive Hours/Shaot Regishot, which achieved gold-record status in Israel. On Sensitive Hours, Cohen, who returned to Israel in 2007 after spending 15 years in New York, featured his vocals, some in Hebrew, for the first time.
“I created Razdaz with my manager to give me the freedom to release albums in the way we wanted. It has also enabled me to support and release music from other musicians,” he said.
On his 2009 release, Aurora, Cohen blended jazz, classical and Sephardi music and sang in Ladino, English, Spanish and Hebrew. “My mother and father listened to many old Israeli folk songs and Ladino songs, but also classical pieces, so these sounds have always been around me. It comes out in my music quite naturally,” Cohen said.
Since 2009, he’s continued to release critically acclaimed recordings on Razdaz and other labels.
The Avishai Cohen Trio, with Cohen on bass and vocals, Omri Mor on piano and Daniel Dor on drums, perform selections from Cohen’s 2015 release, From Darkness, and favourites from his other recordings at the Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, at 8 p.m. on June 30, as part of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.