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Anat Cohen brings new -­-­ and old -­-­sounds to the clarinet

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Anat Cohen (Andrew A. Nelles/Chicago Tribune / November 9, 2012)

Howard Reich

Arts critic

3:21 p.m. CST, November 9, 2012

Only one clarinetist on earth could have come up with the album "Claroscuro," its stylisticbreadth expressing the singular esthetic of soloist Anat Cohen.

That Cohen careens on this disc from original compositions to Brazilian fare, from historicrepertoire to bracing new music sums up her approach to the art of jazz improvisation andcomposition. That she makes all of this music sound as if belongs to a single continuum says agreat deal about her gifts as bandleader and soloist.

Cohen, however, finds nothing unusual at all about the range of repertoire she explores in"Claroscuro" and elsewhere in her musical life.

"I don't even think about it as many different directions,"says Cohen, who will be leading her quartet Sundayevening at Evanston SPACE.

"All these directions that are on the album are part of mynormal week of music. … I play with the Louis ArmstrongCentennial Band when I'm in town (in New York, wherethe Israeli clarinetist is based), more modern music,(Brazilian) choro. It is different worlds, but I feel myself inall of them equally."

More important, Cohen and her colleagues make thelistener feel comfortable in these musical settings, despitethe stylistic gulfs among them. This can be credited, inpart, to the fervent lyricism of Cohen's playing, whichmakes itself heard regardless of the score at hand. Then,too, Cohen has found a kindred spirit and empatheticcollaborator in pianist Jason Lindner, whose tonallysensitive approach to the keyboard matches hers to theclarinet.

Yet Cohen acknowledges the striking contrasts on therecording simply by calling the album "Claroscuro," aclarinet-­centric play on the word "chiaroscuro," whichrefers to an artistic technique of setting off light and shadein an image or object.

"Basically, first I make music, then I listen to whatselections are on the album and I look for a name todescribe it," says Cohen.

"When I was checking out (this) music, I said there's a lotof really dark and dense parts to the album, and also verybright and uplifting parts, and I was looking for a title thatwould describe that contrast.

"Then I thought about chiaroscuro, the painting thatemphasizes shade and light, and I thought that would beperfect."

Certainly "Clarascuro" casts many different kinds of light,from the high romanticism of Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose"to gently swaying phrases of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "OlhaMaria," from pianist Lindner's aptly named "Anat's Dance"

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to Artie Shaw's classic "Nightmare." The contributions ofguests Paquito D'Rivera on clarinet, Wycliffe Gordon ontrombone and vocals and Gilmar Gomes on percussionadds shades of texture and tone, making "Claroscuro" oneof the most striking and ambitious recordings in Cohen'sdiscography.

For though Cohen brought characteristic high spirits to her"Notes from the Village" (one of the best recordings of2008) and an unmistakable accessibility to "Clarinetwork:Live at the Village Vanguard" (2010), "Claroscuro" reachesmore deeply into the lyrical core of her art.

All of this work could serve to heighten the profile of aninstrument long marginalized in jazz. For although theclarinet enjoyed immense popularity during the Swing Era,thanks largely to the work of Benny Goodman and ArtieShaw – both of whom transcended the world of jazz tobecome pop stars – it has struggled to be heard in ournoisier musical world.

"It's always mind-­boggling to me that you say 'clarinet' and'jazz,' and people immediately say 'Benny Goodman,'"observes Cohen. "It's so ingrained in people'sconsciousness: Benny and the sound of the clarinet in jazz.

"It's not the case with trumpet or saxophone or piano."

But why?

"He was really so famous that I don't know anybody, besides Louis (Armstrong), who has beensuch a household name in jazz – that's when jazz was pop music," says Cohen.

"Clarinet is not part of (today's) sound. You don't hear in recordings on any modern sound.You don't hear it in any R&B band. It's really not there."

Which makes Cohen's efforts all the more notable. Though as a child growing up in Israel shebegan her studies on clarinet, she eventually moved to saxophone before returning to theinstrument for which she's now known around the world. The process was gradual, however,leading Cohen to believe that "the clarinet chose me more than I chose the clarinet."

And the art of jazz is the beneficiary.

Also worth hearing:

Umbrella Music Festival. The seventh annual event, which opened Wednesday, bringstogether improvisers from both sides of the Atlantic.

Here's the complete lineup for the rest of the weekend:

Darius Jones Trio at 9 p.m.;; Joe Morris solo, 10 p.m.;; Chicago Underground Duo, 11 p.m.;;Friday at Elastic, 2830 N. Milwaukee Ave., second floor;; $20;; 773-­772-­3616 or elasticarts.org.

Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, 9 p.m.;; Adolphe's Ax, 10 p.m.;; William Parker's In Order toSurvive, 11 p.m.;; Saturday at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.;; $20;; 773-­227-­4433 orhideoutchicago.com.

Fred Van Hove solo, 9 p.m.;; Harrison Bankhead Sextet, 10 p.m.;; Sunday at the Hungry Brain,2319 W. Belmont Ave.;; $15 suggested donation;; 773-­935-­2118 or umbrellamusic.org.

Sabertooth's 20th Anniversary: Can it be fully two decades that the Sabertooth OrganQuartet has been playing the Green Mill? Apparently so, and to mark the occasion, the bandwill augment its regularly scheduled late-­night Saturday show with a celebratory evening. 9p.m. Friday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway;; $12;; 773-­878-­5552 orgreenmilljazz.com

"Memories N' Time": The Muntu Dance Theatre will launch a collaboration with

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composer Reginald Robinson and several top Chicago musicians in a project that examinesthe roots of jazz, ragtime and related genres. Though the completed piece won't be unveileduntil fall of 2013, this performance marks the kick-­off of the project. Among the musicians:vocalist Maggie Brown, trombonist Steve Barry, saxophonist Ari Brown, drummer AvreeaylRa, bassist Yosef Ben Israel and trumpeter Robert Griffin. The performance is presented bythe non-­profit Jazz Institute of Chicago as part of its ongoing JazzCity concerts in the parks.7 p.m. Friday at LaFollette Park, 1333 N. Laramie Ave.;; free;; 312-­427-­1676 orjazzinchicago.org

Joey DeFrancesco: The world's reigning virtuoso of the Hammond B-­3 organ swings intoChicago regularly throughout the year, and he's always worth hearing. DeFrancesco's mix ofseemingly effortless virtuosity and unmistakable musicality proves consistently satisfying. He'lllead a trio. 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday;; 4, 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday;; at the JazzShowcase, 806 S. Plymouth Ct.;; $20-­$25;; 312-­360-­0234 or jazzshowcase.com

To read more from Howard Reich on jazz, go to chicagotribune.com/reich.

hreich@tribune.com

Twitter @howardreich

Anat CohenWhen: 7 p.m. SundayWhere: Evanston SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., EvanstonTickets: $22-­$38;; 847-­492-­8860 or evanstonspace.com

Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune

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