Ever charismatic, prolific, and inspired, Grammy-nominated clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen has won hearts and minds the world over with her expressive virtuosity and delightful stage presence. The New York Times writes, “Ms. Cohen on the clarinet was a revelation. Using the clarinet’s upper register, she could evoke infectious joy. In the lower register, her playing could conjure a deep, soulful melancholy. On up-tempo numbers, her improvisations weren’t just bebop fast; they had a clarity and deep intelligence that is really quite rare. She made it look effortless, even as she was playing the most technically difficult of all the reed instruments… she took my breath away.”...
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Ever charismatic, prolific, and inspired, Grammy-nominated clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen has won hearts and minds the world over with her expressive virtuosity and delightful stage presence. The New York Times writes, “Ms. Cohen on the clarinet was a revelation. Using the clarinet’s upper register, she could evoke infectious joy. In the lower register, her playing could conjure a deep, soulful melancholy. On up-tempo numbers, her improvisations weren’t just bebop fast; they had a clarity and deep intelligence that is really quite rare. She made it look effortless, even as she was playing the most technically difficult of all the reed instruments… she took my breath away.”
Anat has been declared Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association every year since 2007 and has also been named the top clarinetist in both the readers and critics' polls in DownBeat for multiple years running. That’s not to mention years of being named Rising Star in the soprano and tenor saxophone categories in DownBeat, as well as Jazz Artist of the Year. In 2009, ASCAP awarded Anat a Wall of Fame prize for composition and musicianship, among other honors. As The Chicago Tribune has said about Anat, “The lyric beauty of her tone, easy fluidity of her technique and extroverted manner of her delivery make this music accessible to all.”
Since 2005, Anat’s series of releases via her Anzic Records label has seen the clarinetist-saxophonist range from infectious swingers to lilting balladry, from small groups to larger ensembles and back again, exploring a universe of music along the way.
On June 14, 2019, the Anat Cohen Tentet reached a new crest in its evolution with its second recording, Triple Helix. The album’s centerpiece is a three-movement concerto composed for Cohen and the Tentet by her longtime collaborator Oded Lev-Ari, the Tentet’s musical director and Cohen’s producer/label partner at Anzic. Commissioned by New York’s Carnegie Hall and Chicago’s Symphony Center for live world premieres earlier in 2019, “Triple Helix” won raves from The Chicago Tribune as “a work of considerable expressive reach” and a “sensuous tonal palette,” with Cohen sounding like a musician transformed.” Those qualities are abundantly evident in the album version, conducted by Lev-Ari as he also did onstage in New York and Chicago, highlighting Cohen at her most “fresh, sophisticated and daring” (JazzTimes). The Tentet features a vibrant mix of ace New York players – Nadje Noordhuis (Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Nick Finzer (Trombone), Owen Browder (Baritone Saxophone), Christopher Hoffman (Cello), Vitor Gonçalves (piano, accordion), Sheryl Bailey (Guitar), Tal Mashiach (Bass), James Shipp (Vibraphone, Percussion), and Anthony Pinciotti (drums).
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