World of jazz from Tal and friends
Winning a music competition at the Sydney Opera House saw jazz pianist Tal Cohen win a $15,000 grant to make the album of his dreams, writes Yael Brender.
MUSICIAN Tal Cohen was born in Israel, grew up in Perth and has been living in the United States for the past four years, living out his dream as a jazz performer.
Cohen, 33, is back in Australia performing at jazz festivals in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney and celebrating the upcoming release of his second album, Gentle Giants on the New York label, Inner Circle Records.
Given the array of talented musicians featured on the new album, it’s almost a miracle that the record was made at all.
“The album is a collaboration between musicians from all over the world,” Cohen told The AJN. ”It’s a cool representation of what happens when Australian artists merge with American artists.”
The collaboration has its roots in 2011 when Cohen was studying at Perth’s Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and playing the occasional gig with Philadelphia-based saxophonist and composer Greg Osby.
They toured around Australia in 2014 and will play together at the Melbourne Jazz Festival and the Sydney Con International Jazz Festival next week.
Cohen also toured in 2011 with his friend saxophonist Jamie Oehlers, performing around Australia. They recorded an album together titled Yellow Sticker, which received air play on the radio in Israel, Europe and Australia.
“Then one day in 2013 I woke up to an email from the University of Miami, offering me a full scholarship to do a Masters in jazz piano performance,” said Cohen. “I played with so many great musicians in the United States. I met all sorts of talented people and got to perform with them. We had such a great time.”
One of the jazz greats was four- time Grammy winner Terence Blanchard, who played the trumpeting alligator Louis in the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog. Cohen and Blanchard performed together in Miami, before flying to Los Angeles to play at the Blue Note’s 70th birthday party.
In 2014, Cohen took part in the finals of the prestigious Barry Harris Jazz Competition in Miami and won first place, which led to him meeting bassist Robert Hurst, a six- time Grammy winner, and talented young drummer Nate Winn.
In 2015 Cohen was back in Australia for performances in Perth and a competition at the Sydney Opera House which saw him win a $15,000 grant for a new album. Cohen immediately headed to New York to produce the record of his dreams with musicians including Osby, Hurst, Winn and Oehlers.
Cohen admits that the collaboration was a risk, because none of the other band members had ever played together.
“I love it,” said Cohen emphatically of the album. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“I was the connecting string,” he added. “And it couldn’t have gone any better. They were experienced and non-judgmental and just let the music happen. It just came naturally to us and that’s what’s on the album. It’s a cool representation of that moment in time.”
The Tal Cohen Quintet performs at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival on June 2 (Bookings: www.melbournejazz.com) and at the Sydney Con International Jazz Festival on June 4 (Bookings: www.music.sydney.edu.au/event-listings).
The Gentle Giants album will be released on June 27.
REPORT: Yael Brender
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