AVISHAI COHEN

After The Big Rain

2007-08-13

It is doubtful that trumpeter/composer Avishai Cohen's credentials would fit onto a one-page résumé. As a child he toured the world with the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, and then left his home in Tel Aviv to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston ... where he received a full scholarship. In addition to performing with various artists, Keren Ann among them, he also performs and records regularly with the bands Third World Love and Lemon Juice Quartet — and with sister Anat (saxophone) and brother Yuval (soprano sax) as 3 Cohens. This is the NYC jazz musician's second solo album, following 2003's The Trumpet Player, and in After the Big Rain he embraces African folk music, and is accompanied by West African vocalist/guitarist Lionel Loueke. - Sara Cosgrove