Avishai Cohen
Ron Carter

Now nearing 50, the famous Israeli bassist, composer and performer Avishai Cohen seems to be at the peak of his art. Through 18 albums, his talent and eclectic references (from Stevie Wonder to Gabriel Fauré) have led him to embrace Eastern and Latin-American influences, blending Coltranian lyricism and classical rigour, traditional Hebrew chants, pop and soul. He has worked with, among others, Brad Mehldau, Paquito D’Rivera, Alicia Keys and Herbie Hancock. One year ago, he took to the road again with his mentor Chick Corea for the “Celebrating his 75th Birthday Tour”. We should recall that Corea was the first to notice the lyrical beauty of the bassist’s work, in a club in East Village, in the mid-1990s. A group leader, prodigious instrumentalist and singer, Avishai Cohen has been demonstrating his innate feeling for melody and improvisation for two decades now (“Adama”, his first album, dates from 1998). A worthy successor to “From Darkness”, released in 2015, Avishai’s brand-new album entitled “1970” (his year of birth) focuses on the most striking aspects of his talent: melody and singing. “This is not a jazz album,” he says. “I’ve always felt links with pop music, which I like just as much as Bach or Charlie Parker. Over time, singing has played a bigger and bigger role in my music.”

Line-up : Avishai Cohen (cb, b, g, p, voc), Shai Bachar (k, p, voc), Karen Malka (voc), Marc Kakon (g, oud, b, voc),Noam David (dms)

Photo : © Andreas Terlaak

A hugely talented double bassist, gifted with a remarkable sense of melody and widely recognised for the finesse and elegance of his playing style, the American Ron Carter is a living legend. A musician of genius, he started out playing with Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Eric Dolphy and Bobby Timmons. He then went on to win fame alongside Cannonball Adderley and Thelonious Monk and, of course, from 1963 to 1968, in the famous quintet formed by Miles Davis. Closer to us in time, Ron Carter became a respected musical leader in his own right in the Golden Striker Trio with Russell Malone and Mulgrew Miller (“Golden Striker” album, 2003) and opted, like Ray Brown towards the end of his life, for the legendary trio of piano/guitar/bass, first used by Nat King Cole and Art Tatum. This classical tradition is fully assumed by Miles’ former bassist. In concert, the emotion often reaches a climax with one of his favourite songs, the standard “My Funny Valentine”. A native of Michigan (born in 1937), Ron Carter won a Grammy Award in 1998 for the instrumental "Call Sheet Blues” from the soundtrack of the film “Round Midnight”. In 2010, he was made a Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters in France. Last year, his virtuoso association with the accordionist Richard Galliano enjoyed great success in France. A musical sense forged with tungsten, like the strings on his bass, and with all his elegance and freshness intact, the legend is back.

Line-up : Ronald L. Carter (b), Russel L. Malone (g), Donald Vega (p)

Photo : © DR