Yesterday, as I was reviewing the Jazz birthdays, I noticed one of the showcased albums on the sidebar. The album was Breather and the artist was Shlomi Cohen.Since the name sounded, and the album looked, interesting I thought I’d give it a listen. What I found was a very, very talented new musician. Who has been nominated for a Grammy as part of the nominated album “Frutero Moderno” by Gonzalo Grau & La Clave Secreta. He is also collaborates with Colombian Harpist Edmar Castaneda, bringing his incredible and unique form of music to the world. Shlomi is also a member of the horn section of the Bernie Worrell Orchestra (founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic). Now, where he finds time to record Breather, his debut solo album, I don’t know, but somehow these ultra-talented people always find a way don’t they!
The music on Breather is fresh and original and is steeped in the sounds of the Middle East, and well it should be, because while Shomi now calls New York home, he was raised in Tel Aviv, with parents from Morocco and Yemen!
From a review at Bop N Jazz:
The great comedian Martin Mull once stated that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Shlomi Cohen is the epitome of why I rarely write the more traditional dry as dust technical analysis of a work. Music is from soul. The creative process and artistic integrity can not be accurately graded on a purely technical scale. Shlomi Cohen is as technically gifted as he is artistically proficient. Not only is Breather a groundbreaking release for improvisational music, this is a release that will have an immediate impact on saxophone literature worldwide. There are thousands of performers that can play the notes, Shlomi Cohen makes the music. Full Review
On the album Shlomi makes the music using: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone Saxophones, Duduk, Clarinet, Yamaha WX5 Wind Controller, Programming, Producer; and he uses them all to great effect!! I am not that big a fan of sax, but Shlomi just may make me change my mind! I reall, really, really like this album. As well,as the video below for the song Tzur!! And it goes without saying that you all should check out this album!!
And once again the Safari is off to check out Frutero Moderno” by Gonzalo Grau & La Clave Secreta and the music of Edmar Castaneda!! Because if they added Shlomi to their projects they must have good taste and know how to recognize talent!!
Here’s Shlomi’s Facebook Page
