(Contemporary, Big Band Jazz, Brazilian music, Modern Creative, Ethnic) Anat Cohen & The Anzic Orchestra (Oded Lev-Ari, arr. & cond.) (with Avishai Cohen, Erik Friedlander etc) - Noir - 2007, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

4 stars from DownBeat and the rave that this album “could be a classic,” Cohen’s ten-song program unfolds like a timeless pan-American epic film score. Joined by the Anzic Orchestra – an all-star ensemble comprising three woodwinds, three trumpets, two trombones, three cellos, a guitar-bass-drums-percussion rhythm section and features arrangements by Oded Lev-Ari and performances by Ted Nash, Ali Jackson, Scott Robinson and others.

Noir
Anat Cohen & The Anzic Orchestra | Anzic Records (2007)
By Jack Bowers
Frankly, I had no idea what to expect from Anat Cohen's first big band album. But if I'd had any expectations, they'd have easily been surpassed by the time the opening track reached its midway point. Cohen plays clarinet on that selection, and it's easy to understand why music critics have named her one of Down Beat magazine's "rising stars on the instrument. She's not only an intrepid and resourceful clarinetist, but also equally impressive on tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, as she proves elsewhere.
Cohen and the Anzic Orchestra are complemented by the album's exquisite charts, written by her longtime friend, Oded Lev-Ari, who seems able to adapt any style from Brazilian to ballad, bop to pop, and make it lustrous and engaging. From the opening measures of Ernesto Lecuona's celebratory "La Comparsa, it's clear that Cohen chose the right man for the task, and he never lets her down, producing splendid arrangements of Latin themes ("Comparsa, "Carnaval de São Vicente, Bebé, "Ingênuo ), Hit Parade favorites by Nat Cole ("No Moon at All ), Julie London ("Cry Me a River ) and Johnny Ray ("Cry ), Johnny Griffin's bop-centered "Do It, a zestful medley of Luiz Bonfa's "Samba de Orfeu and Lil Hardin Armstrong's "Struttin' with Some Barbeque, and even a little-known ballad, "You Never Told Me That You Care, co-authored by Hobart Dotson and Sun Ra.
While the writing is exemplary, Cohen's playing is no less so. She divides her time between clarinet ("La Comparsa, "Carnaval, "River, Ingênuo ) and tenor ("Moon, "Do It, "You Care, "Bebé ), moving to alto on "Cry, soprano on "Orfeu/Barbeque, and is superb on every one. The tenor sound is big and muscular, with traces of Sonny Rollins, Joe Lovano and even Ben Webster/Coleman Hawkins surfacing from time to time. "Cry, we're told, marks her recorded debut on alto, but one would never assume that from her flawless technique and placid self-assurance. On soprano, Cohen evokes a clear, handsome tone reminiscent of the fabulous Zoot Sims, best known as a tenor man but a monster on soprano as well.
Even though Cohen amasses the bulk of the solos, she's so persuasive that one scarcely notices. There are, however, cogent statements along the way by various members of the ensemble, including saxophonists Billy Drewes, Ted Nash and Scott Robinson; trombonist Yonatan Voltzok, guitarist Guilherme Monteiro and Anat's brothers, trumpeter Avishai and soprano saxophonist Yuval (on "Barbeque ). Also worth noting is Lev-Ari's deft use of cellos on several numbers.
In spite of its murky title, there's nothing Noir (dark) about this album. Anat Cohen is a bright young talent, and she and the orchestra are sunny and sparkling throughout. Don't overlook this treasure.

From "Noir" Liner Notes by Dan Morgenstern :
There are moments in an artist's career when things come together in a special way, and Noir is such a moment for Anat Cohen. From the time I first encountered this remarkable musician in 200l I've been delighted and amazed at every hearing, live or recorded, in the many and varied settings that display her gifts. Anat is nothing if not multifaceted, and this fine album presents almost all these facets in the aggregate. (Almost-- since no record, no matter how great, can do full justice to a living, breathing, ever-developing creative multi-instrumentalist who will continue to surprise us.)
It brings together two main streams in Anat's musical world, big band jazz and Brazilian music, and it is also a reunion with an old friend, Oded Lev-Ari, who here comes into view as an arranger of great skill and originality. Together in high school in Tel Aviv, they both had classical training--she on clarinet, he on piano--and both discovered jazz about the same time.
"My father loves American music, so I always heard it around the house, records and radio, and I remember listening to Louis Armstrong on my Walkman," Anat said. "Louis mad Ella."(For an old-timer like this writer, there is something wonderful about discovering Louis via Walkman) For Oded, the first conscious jazz encounter was "Ella in Berlin," which he describes as "amazing." The first record he bought was a Keith Jarrett album. Anat and Oded joined forces for their first CD--very expensive for highschoolers--which was a fine choice, Sonny Rollins' "The Bridge," which they swapped back and forth.
But that was not where Anat's jazz playing began; there was Dixieland group at the conservatory, and a book of transcribed solos, "Which was good because I had no idea of improvisation." She's going back now, she comments, with her work in tubaist David Ostwald's group dedicated to the music of Armstrong, and her appearances for the Sidney Bechet Society. It was at a recent Bechet concert, where she performed, among other fine things, an astonishing duet with guitarist Howard Alden on Jelly Roll Morton's "Shreveport Stomp" that George Wein apparently caught her for the first time and pronounced her "incredible." Her first attempts at improvisation, however, came in the conservatory's big band. "I was shy, and for the longest time I wouldn't improvise. But my older brother Yuval was studying jazz and was practicing Charlie Parker solos, and had Music Minus One records, so I would play a melody again and again and again to learn to improvise--it fascinated me."
Both Anat (in the Air Force) and Oded (in the Army) developed further in military big bands, he mainly as a conductor and arranger, she on tenor sax as well as clarinet, and then, in l996, they both embarked for the U.S., Anat on a scholarship to Berklee College, Oded to attend New England Conservatory, where his main teacher was Bob Brookmeyer.
"We lived across the hall from each other in Boston; we were eight Israelis there, like on big kibbutz." By the turn of the century, they both settled in New York, Oded doing freelance arranging, including an album for the venerable Theodore Bikel, "and all sorts of things." Anat's all sorts of things, too many to mention all, include her stints with Diva, a formidable big band, and with the Choro Ensemble, a quintet in which she is the only non-Brazilian but a perfect fit ("For me, Choro is jazz," she said). {She has frequently toured in Brazil, as well as all over Europe and in Japan, and when she's home in New York, you can find her most Tuesday with her own groups at Jules Bistro on St. Marks Place, where the Choro Ensemble also performs, on Sundays.} She made her debut CD as a leader, the highly praised "Place & Time," in 2004; it features several excellent compositions of her own.
The Anzic Orchestra is no ordinary ensemble but an array of genuine all-stars, distinguished by an unusual combination of instruments. Oded wanted to challenge himself, and he has succeeded in finding his own sounds. "Anat and I have shared many musical moments over the years, and I could not have asked for a more inspiring muse," he told me. "Brining the arrangements to life with this extraordinary group of musicians was thrilling. This project has been a joy, and I am honored to be a part of it." His settings for Anat always enhance the soloist, creating a gorgeous tapestry of sounds. The textures are fresh and original, and those terms also apply to Anat.
Most young musicians, no matter how gifted, tend to reflect their influences, but Anat has found her own distinctive voice, on all her instruments. She never plays to the gallery; even her high notes are not for show, but part of the musical message. There are not many musicians on today's scene who communicate such genuine joy in what they do; Branford Marsalis recently commented that young musicians lack charisma. Maybe he hasn't heard and seen Anat. She loves to make music, and while she is a physically expressive player, her moves, like her music, are a true reflection of what she feels.
Unlike most Noir films, this wide-ranging musical trip will leave you elated, happy and grateful that such beautiful, life-affirming music can still be made in this world of ours. That we will hear more from our protagonists is certain, and may it be soon!
- Dan Morgenstern
REVIEWS
4 stars - The swing legacy of jazz
author: Tim Niland
Clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen has burst upon the jazz scene this year, releasing two albums and receiving much press including a lengthy NPR feature. This album finds her sensual reed work backed by a large orchestra, hearkening back to the swing era for their influences, the band mixes the modern with the classic to generally good results. Cohen is front and center and plays very well. Her tenor saxophone is brawny and tough on "Do It" a rollicking track with the orchestra riffing and Cohen leading with a gutsy solo. "Cry Me A River" is a sweet clarinet feature, with an orchestral backdrop. "Samba De Orfeu/Struttin' With Some Barbecue" evolves into a wonderful Dixieland flavored hoedown, as could be expected on one of Louis Armstrong's favorite tunes, and it has great feeling and excitement. At times ponderous string arrangements threaten to pull the ballads into murkiness, but "You Never Told Me" overcomes this with the orchestra parting and allowing some nice billowing tenor saxophone to shine through. She sounds like she has been absorbing a lot of Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster and she has developed a powerful yet subtle tone on ballads. This is an impressive debut for Anat Cohen, her tenor saxophone work was dark and powerful and her clarinet work light and airy. That arrangement weren't always to my taste, but regardless anyone interested in the swing legacy of jazz will enjoy the music here.
5 stars - Don't Overlook This Treasure
author: Jack Bowers All About Jazz
Frankly, I had no idea what to expect from Anat Cohen’s first big band album. But if I’d had any expectations, they’d have easily been surpassed by the time the opening track reached its midway point. Cohen plays clarinet on that selection, and it’s easy to understand why music critics have named her one of Down Beat magazine’s “rising stars” on the instrument. She’s not only an intrepid and resourceful clarinetist, but also equally impressive on tenor, alto and soprano saxes, as she proves elsewhere. Cohen and the Anzic Orchestra are complemented by the album’s exquisite charts, written by her longtime friend, Oded Lev-Ari, who seems able to adapt any style from Brazilian to ballad, bop to pop, and make it lustrous and engaging. From the opening measures of Ernesto Lecuona’s celebratory “La Comparsa,” it’s clear that Cohen chose the right man for the task, and he never lets her down, producing splendid arrangements of Latin themes (“Comparsa,” “Carnaval de São Vicente,” Bebé,” “Ingênuo”), Hit Parade favorites by Nat Cole (“No Moon at All”), Julie London (“Cry Me a River”) and Johnny Ray (“Cry”), Johnny Griffin’s bop-centered “Do It,” a zestful medley of Luiz Bonfa’s “Samba de Orfeu” and Lil Hardin Armstrong’s “Struttin’ with Some Barbeque,” and even a little-known ballad, “You Never Told Me That You Care,” co-authored by Hobart Dotson and Sun Ra. While the writing is exemplary, Cohen’s playing is no less so. She divides her time between clarinet (“La Comparsa,” “Carnaval,” “River,” Ingênuo”) and tenor (“Moon,” “Do It,” “You Care,” “Bebé”), moving to alto on “Cry,” soprano on “Orfeu/Barbeque,” and is superb on every one. The tenor sound is big and muscular, with traces of Sonny Rollins, Joe Lovano and even Ben Webster/Coleman Hawkins surfacing from time to time. “Cry,” we’re told, marks her recorded debut on alto, but one would never assume that from her flawless technique and placid self-assurance. On soprano, Cohen evokes a clear, handsome tone reminiscent of the fabulous Zoot Sims, best known as a tenor man but a monster on soprano as well. Even though Cohen amasses the bulk of the solos, she’s so persuasive that one scarcely notices. There are, however, cogent statements along the way by various members of the ensemble, including saxophonists Billy Drewes, Ted Nash and Scott Robinson; trombonist Yonatan Voltzok, guitarist Guilherme Monteiro and Anat’s brothers, trumpeter Avishai and soprano saxophonist Yuval (on “Barbeque”). Also worth noting is Lev-Ari’s deft use of cellos on several numbers. In spite of its murky title, there’s nothing Noir (dark) about this album. Anat Cohen is a bright young talent, and she and the orchestra are sunny and sparkling throughout. Don’t overlook this treasure.
5 stars - Anat strikes up the Band
author: Jerry M.
What a great big band sound. The arrangement of Track 7 (Samba De Orfeu/Strutin with Some Barbeque) is fantastic, with a wonderfully smooth transition from one genre to another. Anat continues to display great musicianship. Buy "Place in Time" for a very special time.
5 stars - Excellent CD and wonderful artist
author: Tuval
The CD is great, and gives Anat a wonderful stage to express her talent and breadth of the kniwledge in music. I hope I will be able to enjoy more of her in the future.

5.0 out of 5 stars - RISING MULTI-REED STAR ANAT COHEN & HER JAZZ ORCHESTRAL FIREWORKS, July 19, 2007
By: RBSProds "rbsprods" (Deep in the heart of Texas)
Four and a half ASCENDANT Stars!! Anat Cohen has literally burst onto the tough New York jazz scene, for some of us, and this great recording is a reflection of who she is (a wonderful young multi-instrumental jazz player), what she can do (she won the Rising Star award for clarinet and placed highly on the rising star polls for tenor sax and soprano sax in the DownBeat Critics Poll for 2007), and where she is (her orchestra and quartet played the famous NYC Village Vanguard for 5 days and dazzled this always discriminating jazz crowd.) In truth, it took the Berklee alum 9 years of paying dues and immersing herself in the NY scene of world music, traditional jazz, bebop, and beyond, to reach this point. This excellent recording of her orchestra, her horns, and her music is the first of two CDs she is producing and releasing in 2007 on her own Anzic label, a feat in itself. "Noir" captures Anat's clarinet, alto, tenor and soprano saxes as well as her Anzic Orchestra, which is brass and reed heavy with a rhythm section that substitutes guitar for piano, and has an integrated cello section: all creating a band of size and power with some unusual and tasty sonic colorations. The eclectic selections go from Julie London and Johnny Rae to Sun Ra and Johnny Griffin, with some Bonfa to reinforce her keen interest in Brazilian music (she's also a member of a brazilian 'choro' group: that's a long way from her native Tel Aviv roots). These orchestral performances with soloists show that these representatives of the young jazz generation have not only absorbed the big band influences of such masters as Ellington and Kenton, but also the calm waters of the 'third stream' influences of "the French Horn Player" (Gunther Schuller) and the Mingus-ian avant-garde school of orchestral fireworks. Much of that thanks goes to arranger Oded Lev-Ari's brilliant, adventurous charts and a hot band that includes Anat's two brothers on sax and trumpet.
The "Pieces De Resistance", the best of the best, begin with the catchy "Bebé" written by the world's greatest multi-instrumentalist, Hermeto Pascoal, with Anat on a very nice extended tenor sax romp and Lev-Ari's great feat of arranging of both' the calm and the storm'. "Do It" (Anat on tenor sax) is the speed burner of the set and some great solos are laid down. Her love of the latin beat is demonstrated in three songs: "La Comparsa" (clarinet), "Carnaval de Sao Vicente" (clarinet), and Bonfa's "Samba de Orfeu" (soprano sax) which amazingly but dangerously morphs into Lil Armstrong's 'cake-walking' "Struttin With Some Barbeque" but it totally works. Brazilian legend Pixinguinha's soaring "Ingênuo" is a nice transition song with some very elegant clarinet. And perhaps, best of all, the very direct and amazingly beautiful rendering of the Sun Ra/Hobart Dotson ballad "You Never Told Me That You Care": her best outing on tenor sax on this date, with the orchestra shining and the guitar 'comping' nicely. (And it went straight to my iPod.) That Anat has plenty of room to mature is assured because who knows where her distant limits are, but she's in a place where we can all be amazed RIGHT NOW. In the end, I think she may have to choose one main instrument to meld with her musical personality, and bring the other reeds along for the ride. Or not! Right now that appears to be her amazing clarinet work which could elevate that instrument in the eyes of younger fans who are sax crazy, but there is the matter of "You Never Told Me That You Care" which strongly argues the case for her tenor sax as her lead "axe". A great dilemma. In the end, Anat Cohen's CD "Noir" is not so 'dark' after all, but shiny and hopeful and Highly Recommended! Four and a half WONDERFUL Stars!!
5.0 out of 5 stars - Awesome!, September 9, 2008
By: Ryan Wepler "Jazz Enthusiast" (Waltham, MA)
I encountered this CD while looking through a list of saxophonist Ted Nash's recordings. I didn't find a lot of Nash's playing here, but I like what I found just as well. Cohen's jazz orchestra combines elements of Ellington, Maria Schneider, and klezmer to create a fully unique sound. The music should appeal both to fans of traditional big band as well as those interested in more cutting edge jazz. The play of the orchestra as a group is mixed well with lots of solos. Cohen, herself, takes a lot of playing space and her playing is superb. It is pretty rare for clarinet to be front and center in a big band album (Don Byron's "Bug Music"--also an amazing album--is the only other example I can think of) and Cohen pulls it off with both grace and virtuosity. The sound quality of this recording is excellent; you can really hear all of the individual instruments. Cohen's compositions are truly one of a kind and the spirited playing of this orchestra make this album a must have for any fan of large ensemble jazz.
4.0 out of 5 stars - Musique Noir, June 29, 2007
By: C. CRADDOCK "Cr@$#!!!!" (Bakersfield)
This came out in 2007, and I heard it on NPR, Morning Edition. It was an interlude, and they used a bit of "La Comparsa," which sounded like the "Habanera" from Carmen, and "No Moon At All." You can look these interludes up and it links to Amazon in case you want to buy it. I think NPR might get a cut of the action if anyone buys it as a result of their playing it. So, I was hoping to find out more about Anat Cohen & the Anzic Orchestra, but there wasn't much further info. I have a friend from Israel, and she is named Anat. I guess that is a Hebrew name, and Cohen, you can't get more Jewish than that. They can trace themselves all the way back to the tribe of Levi. I imagine that this Anat plays keyboards, and she has horn players. It didn't sound like a full orchestra to me, more like a combo with horns. They call the group the Anzic Orchestra, though. I would describe their music, from the two clips I heard, as jazz, with a world music influence. I think they might also use EWI, which is Electronic Wind Instrument. I bet they have a MySpace page.

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Anat Cohen & The Anzic Orchestra / Noir
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