Musicians: Avishai Cohen (piano, fender rhodes, wurlitzer, synthesizer, acoustic bass, electric bass, vocal), Diego Urcola (trumpet, flugelhorn), Yosvany Teerry (alto saxophone, chekere), Avi Lebovich (trombone, flute), Yagil Baras (electric bass, acoustic bass), Eric McPherson (drums), Mark Guiliana (electronics, drums, percussion), Lola (vocal), Jeff Taylor (vocal), Yahsiva Nehoc (piano), Bernie Kirsh (vocal), Alex Norris (trumpet, flugelhorn), Chick Corea (piano)
Review: Thrilled by the success of his musical career in the United States, Avishai Cohen has become less focused, as if his ceaseless curiosity leads him to explore every nook and cranny of the musical styles that interest him. Initially gaining recognition with Danilo Pérez, particularly on the highly regarded Panamonk album, Cohen experienced his epiphany when Chick Corea tapped him to be in his Origin band, and eventually in The Chick Corea New Trio as well. Finally allowed to compose music for a top-flight group and to exchange musical ideas with a like-minded artist who absorbs ideas from anything he experiences, the Israeli-born Cohen started to write some of the themes that we hear on his latest CD, Lyla, which happens to be the first CD on Cohen’s own label, Razdaz Recordz. Some of those themes involve Seraphic motives, multi-metrical percussiveness, Jaco Pastorius-like electric bass harmonics and spiritually based well-wishing through the medium of music.
The title track itself, “Lyla” (which means “night” in Hebrew), appeared on Origin’s earlier CD, Change, (where it was spelled “Lylah”), and on which Corea played of course with quite a bit more proficiency than Cohen does on Fender Rhodes. And that’s part of the problem with the CD: In his unsuppressed enthusiasm in covering all of the musical bases that had been pent up over his past decade in New York, Cohen tries to do too much. While most listeners and critics have raved about his energy and technical prowess on bass, Cohen, dissatisfied with just one instrument, takes up piano, synthesizer, Fender Rhodes and vocals on Lyla.
And Cohen tries his hand at writing lyrics as well. While no one can doubt the sincerity of his intentions, particularly when he dedicates “How Long” to trombonist Avi Lebovich’s friend who was killed by a sniper in Israel, the repetition of the same words attain a drone-like quality without much real inspiration or lyrical development. And the words to Cohen’s “Simple Melody” are even more curdling: “Would you like to sing this song with me/Together in a perfect harmony/Simple melody makes you feel so free.”
That’s not to say that there aren’t some high points in Lyla, such as his powerful electric bass work on “The Evolving Etude,” based upon his “Etude” first presented on his International Vamp Band’s CD, Unity. Lennon and McCartney’s “Come Together” features Cohen on acoustic bass, brushing off the rock standard with arco revelations at a slower-than-usual tempo. Chick Corea shows up as a guest to play his own song, “Eternal Child,” on which Cohen trades fours and provides accompaniment, proving that subtlety can have as strong an effect as overflowing youthful energy.
But by mixing all of Cohen’s current interests into one CD, he dilutes the effort, requiring the listener to find one preferred track while skipping over some of the others, not really absorbing the breadth of Cohen’s talent because of its jarring diversity. Reportedly, the second CD on Cohen’s new label will record his rock band, Gadu, and no doubt that project will stay focused on a unified style that will attract listeners with its consistency and its force.
Tracks: Acension, Lyla, How Long, The Watcher, The Evolving Etude, Structure in Emotion, Handsonit, Come Together, How Long (reflected), Eternal Child, Simple Melody
JazzReview.com
