8

6.0

UK release date 12.07.2007

Double-bassist and bandleader Avishai Cohen has a reputation for blistering live performances, presenting a hotter, more visceral style of jazz.

Past records like ‘Continuo’ and ‘At Home’ demonstrated his compositional and arrangement abilities, but could not fully capture the live excitement that is a fundamental part of his band’s appeal. ‘As Is…Live at the Blue Note’ goes some way to correcting the balance. This handsome CD and DVD set presents a band that can perform a tricky, eclectic sound in a live setting. Highlights of this energetic album include the choppy ‘Etude’ (Fiddler on the Roof meets Take 5), the rhythmically befuddling ‘Caravan’, the stunning melodic cogency of ‘Feediop’, and the pensive, Hebraic melodies of ‘Remembering’ and ‘Elli’. When Avishai’s bass comes to the fore the results are scintillating, whether it’s his strong, percussive and slap-style bass, or more careful, melodic lines. Sam Barsh’s classical and jazz pianism is also impressive, and the only let down here is Jimmy Greene’s saxophone, which lacks bite. But overall, Avishai Cohen’s achievement is to banish the idea of jazz as laid back, cool or easy, with a band that are never content to groove or sit back.

No sooner have you cottoned on to one idea, they whisk you off to another without a moment’s rest or repetition.
Words Adam Green