Third Up!

You do understand, do you not, Dear Readers, that we here at RJA are professors, and as such we are BUSY!. They workin' our asses off nowadays in the American University, so we don't get around to fun stuff such as updating blogs as much as we should do.

This is all my way of saying: next up = ANAT COHEN!

And this is BIG!

Here's what appears about her in this morning's SF Chronicle:

The young Israeli-born clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen plays with feeling, fervor and finesse on this wide-ranging record. Working with fellow improvisers Jason Linder on piano and Fender Rhodes, bassist Omer Avital, Daniel Freedman on drums and percussion and guitarist Gilad Hekselman, Cohen serves up a felicitous mix of originals and classics that move in fresh ways but never lose the melodic thread. They bring out the beauty and fire of "Siboney" by the great Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, the clarinetist unleashing a passionate solo in the dancing montuno section. She alternates between B-flat and bass clarinet on a moving version of John Coltrane's floating meditation "After the Rain," skitters and sails through a briskly invigorating take on Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz" and gets to the soulful heart of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come."


There's also a really good pic of her there, and guess what? The players mentioned are the ones gonna be here! December 9, people. Get ready!