Noir

Israeli multi-reedist Anat Cohen aligns her saxophones and clarinet alongside a big band on her latest album Noir. With a strong, confident sound, she leads the Anzic Orchestra through ten Oded Lev-Ari- arranged Cape Verdean carnaval tunes, Brazilian choro and jazz standards.

An appropriate opening “La Comparsa”, named after the band that plays during Carnaval in Cuba, kicks the disc off playfully. It quivers with a grand jubilance as the horn section crescendos in happy resplendence, urged on by Cohen’s whirling, swirling lines. The string section opens “Cry” with a romantic overture that paves the way for the album debut of Cohen’s clarinet. Here horn lines are at their most tender. The group, including her two brothers, Yuval on soprano saxophone and Avishai on trumpet and flugelhorn, shows off a brisk flexibility throughout the rest of the disc, embodying swinging drama and classic elegance, with Cohen acting as court jester, playing off the crowd and pulling tricks from her sleeve.