The Jazz Podcast

• Interaction | Anat Cohen, Avishai Cohen, Yoval Cohen, Oded Lev-Ari & WDR Big Band

  Send us your thoughts! The members of all-star family jazz band The 3 Cohens — featuring Anat Cohen (clarinet), Avishai Cohen (trumpet) and Yuval Cohen (soprano saxophone) — have always taken time out from their ever-burgeoning careers as soloists and bandleaders to reconvene for music-making together. The siblings developed a deep musical bond growing up in Tel Aviv, with improvising together becoming second nature for them. The 3 Cohens recorded four studio albums over a decade: 2003’s One, 2007’s Braid, 2011’s Family and 2013’s Tightrope, with the last three released by Anzic Records, the indie label founded by Anat with kindred-spirit producer-collaborator Oded Lev-Ari. DownBeat put The 3 Cohens — with Anat the middle child to the elder Yuval and younger Avishai — on the cover of its January 2012 issue, hailing the trio’s “chemistry, alchemy, telepathy.” Ten years on from that milestone, the 3 Cohens reunited for a live collaboration with Germany’s lauded WDR Big Band (a Köln-based ensemble that has been performing jazz on West German Radio since 1957); the program showcased tailormade arrangements by Lev-Ari of compositions by himself and each member of The 3 Cohens, as well as two of their favorite classics: Gerry Mulligan's “Festive Minor” and the Louis Armstrong hit “Tiger Rag.” The performance was recorded for a very special live album, Interaction. Support the show

  --------  

  40:47
• Jon Irabagon - Server Farm

  Send us your thoughts! Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records.[1]Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition[1] and one of Time Out's "25 essential New York City jazz icons",[2] Irabagon is known for the breadth of his work on a jazz continuum ranging "from postbop to free improvisation, avant country to doom metal".[3] His "extraordinary eclecticism"[4] has led to performances with such diverse artists as Wynton Marsalis,[5] Lou Reed, Evan Parker, Billy Joel, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Bertha Hope, Herbie Hancock, Conor Oberst,[6] Christian McBride,[7] Mike Pride,[8] Kenny Barron, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Bill Laswell, Peter Evans,[9] Tyshawn Sorey, Ingrid Laubrock,[10] Ava Mendoza,[11] Mick Barr, and Tom Rainey.Irabagon's many projects as bandleader include a quartet with Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura, and Rudy Royston,[12] as well as a trio with Mark Helias and Barry Altschul.[13] He is also a member of the Mary Halvorson Quintet, Septet,[14] and Octet;[15] the Dave Douglas Quintet;Support the show

  --------  

  41:46
• Claire Cope - Every Journey

  Send us your thoughts! An oft-repeated Chinese proverb states, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Looking back from a vantage point several steps along her own proverbial journey, British composer and pianist Claire Cope came to discover that no matter how daunting a venture may become, it’s always taking that first step that requires the most courage. That realization provided the inspiration behind Every Journey, the gorgeous second album by Cope’s Ensemble C.Every Journey will be released on March 7, 2025, to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. The occasion is significant given the fount of inspiration that Cope found in the stories of intrepid women pioneers who undertook their own daring journeys. The books of writer and explorer Jacki Hill-Murphy were key resources – specifically Adventuresses, a compendium of stories of 18th and 19th-century female explorers, and The Extraordinary Tale of Kate Marsden, about a Victorian nurse who trekked across pre-Revolutionary Russia to find a possible cure for leprosy. Musically, the groundbreaking compositions of Maria Schneider provided a luminous north star for Cope’s own writing.Arriving five years after Ensemble C’s acclaimed debut, Small World, Cope’s follow-up represents significant evolutions in both the composer’s life and her musical vision. Where Small World offered Cope’s introductory statement as a composer, a path she arrived at onlygradually, Every Journey is a remarkably assured expansion of that mindset. Significantly, Ensemble C has bloomed from a septet to an 11-piece group, allowing for a wealth of new colors and possibilities, of which Cope takes bold and vibrant advantage. The intricate music she’s devised for the ensemble reflects her existence in both the jazz and contemporary classical music realms. Closer to home, Cope became a mother in the interval between albums, a development that can’t help but deepen one’s insight and empathy.Support the show

  --------  

  33:08
• Nisha Smith & Tom Harris : Live in Manchester

  Send us your thoughts! When Nishla & Tom met in Manchester in 2019, they quickly realised they had made a rare musical connection. Over the years, the pair’s work has blossomed sideways into an array of creative projects, but at the core of their partnership is a deep respect for the history and culture of the music they play, and a preoccupation with drawing out the characters and stories they find there.Last winter, Nishla & Tom played a two-night residency at Manchester’s Low Four Studios in front of a live audience. In the candlelight glow, they recorded a selection of their favourite songs– all approached with musical freeness, and drawn through their joint lens into a curious, winding narrative. The result is a live duo album, tinged with melancholy and their signature playful questioning. Nishla Smith (voice), Tom Harris (piano).  "Her voice is exquisite, a symbol of unreachable beauty." The Guardian on Nishla “Simply sublime.” The Reviews Hub on Nishla & TomSupport the show

  --------  

  38:53
• Laura Anglade - Get Out of Town

  Send us your thoughts! French and American singer Laura Anglade is a promising storyteller hailing from the idyllic town of Brousse-le-Château, France. She draws inspiration from Carmen McRae, Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Billie Holiday, Michel Legrand and Barbra Streisand, among others.Laura has made a mark in the music scenes of New York, Paris, London, Toronto and Montreal, collaborating with some of the world's finest musicians, including Peter Bernstein, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ben Paterson, Ira Coleman, Reg Schwager, and Neil Swainson, to name a few.In 2022, she joined singer Melody Gardot across the east and west coasts of the United States and Europe. Laura has performed in renowned venues such as Olympia (Paris), the Royal Festival Hall (London), Town Hall (New York City), the Ace Theatre Hotel (Los Angeles), and the main stage at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal.Her debut album, ‘I’ve Got Just About Everything’ (Justin Time Records, 2019) was met with praise by critics and fans alike. Her second JUNO-nominated album, ‘Venez Donc Chez Moi’ (Justin Time Records, 2022) is a duo recording featuring Montreal guitarist Sam Kirmayer, with whom she was awarded the “Prix Opus" for Jazz Concert of the Year in 2023. With her latest release, “April in Paris,” Anglade introduces a cappella – the young protagonist isalone, looking forward with both excitement and trepidation to a new life ahead. She inhabits the character in her vocal, breathing life into an experience she can relate to even if she hasn’t lived it exactly.“I’ve been reflecting recently on the parallels between acting and singing,” she explains. “Each art form is an extension of the other. Singing, like acting, is rooted in human expression, in the power of a good story. I never pursued musical theater growing up, but I’ve found that the deeper I getinto this music and grow as a person, the more each song feels like performing a role. I visualize each song as if it were a monologue in a film, and somehow shape-shift myself into the part. That led to this album having a distinct beginning, middle and end.”Support the show

  --------  

  40:55

More Music podcasts

Trending Music podcasts

About The Jazz Podcast