01. La Comparsa 02. No Moon At All 03. Carnaval de Sao Vicente 04. Do It 05. Cry Me a River 06. You Never Told Me That You Care 07. Medley: Samba De Orfeu / Struttin' With Some Barbeque 08. Cry 09. Bebe 10. Ingenuo
Ted Nash - Alto Soprano Saxes / Flute Billy Drewes - Tenor Sax / Clarinet Scott Robinson - Baritone Sax / Bass Clarinet Frank Greene - Trumpet / Flugelhorn Tanya Darby - Trumpet / Flugelhorn Avishai Cohen - Trumpet / Flugelhorn Deborah Weisz - Trombone Yonatan Voltzok - Trombone Guilherme Monteiro - Guitars Barak Mori - Bass Ali Jackson Jr. - Drums (tracks 2/4/5/6/8) Antonio Sanchez - Drums (tracks 1/3/7/10) Duduka Da Fonseca - Drums (track 9) / Percussion (tracks 3/7) Ze Mauricio - Percussion Erik Friedlander - Cello Robert Burkhart - Cello Greg Heffernan - Cello Yuval Cohen - Soprano Sax (track 7)
Produced by Anat Cohen and Orded Lev-Ari Recorded by Dave O'Donnell at Avatar Studios NYC, August 2006 Mixed by James Farber at Avatar Studios NYC, October 2006 Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound NYC, November 2006 Design by Pamela Gelbert Cover Painting by Paul G. Oxborough
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.
All About Jazz:
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 muscula