Anat Cohen with Several Members of the RJA

Top Ten Jazz Recordings for 2008

This little jeu d'esprit of jazz enthusiasts is coming up fast, parlor-game-wise.

Here's a whole bunch of them from The Jazzhouse.

Stay tuned for the RJA members' contributions.....

This one is gonna be great

Our last show of 2008 is a great one! We're proud to present the Anat
Cohen Quartet on Tuesday, December 9 at 8 pm in the Kate Buchanan Room on
the HSU campus.


Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students and seniors and are
on sale now online at http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/tickets.htm and
at Peoples Records and the Works in Arcata and Eureka.


The Israeli-born clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen is one of the most
heralded young jazz musicians today. The Jazz Journalists Association
named Anat Cohen its "Up and Coming Musician of the Year" for 2007, and
since then her profile has only grown: more awards from DownBeat and the
JJA; headlining gigs at the Village Vanguard; feature stories in Jazz
Times, DownBeat and on NPR; and a star turn at this year's Monterey Jazz
Festival. Live performances by her quartet have reviewers gushing. "Sheer
musicality is their guiding force," says Jazz Times; "they just see no
reason not to have a hell of a grand time playing." Here's a sampling of
her other recent press:


"Yes, she is the real deal."—The New York Times


"Cohen makes it seem easy, mixing a gift for melody and an improvisational
fluidity that has few peers today."—DownBeat Magazine


"Cohen has emerged as one of the brightest, most original young
instrumentalists in jazz...[she] has expanded the vocabulary of jazz with
a distinctive accent of her own."—The Washington Post


"She alludes to the mystical in a merry way."—The Village Voice


An accomplished bandleader and prolific composer, conversant in modern and
traditional jazz, classical music, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and a
wide range of Afro-Cuban styles, Anat Cohen has established herself as one
of the primary voices of her generation on clarinet and soprano and tenor
saxophones.


Her quartet includes another Israeli-born musician, Gilad Hekselman on
guitar, along with the Americans Joe Martin on bass (here last year with
David Berkman) and Daniel Freedman on drums.


For more about Cohen and to hear streaming audio of her music, go to
http://redwoodjazzalliance.org/cohen.html




--
Become a member of the RJA and help us continue to bring world-class jazz
artists to Humboldt County. http://redwoodjazzalliance.org/underwrtg.htm



The Redwood Jazz Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz
performance and education by visiting artists in Humboldt County. For more
information about us, please visit our web site at
www.redwoodjazzalliance.org

Happy Birthday, Ben

Jazz Musician of the Day!

Should we not....

....talk to this guy about coming round to Arcata next year, in Season #4?

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!

First Up!

Our first show of the year is right around the corner! The Donny McCaslin
Trio (McCaslin on tenor sax, Hans Glawischnig on bass and Ted Poor on
drums) is playing Fulkerson Recital Hall this next Tuesday, September 9 at
8 pm.


For more about McCaslin and to hear streaming audio of his music, go to
http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/mccaslin.html


Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students and seniors and are
on sale now online at http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/tickets.htm and
at Peoples Records, the Works in Arcata and Eureka and the Metro.


Speaking of the Metro, we're sure many of you have heard that they'll be
closing their doors for good later this month. The Metro was one of the
first local businesses to sign on as an RJA supporter and we'd like to
urge you to support them now. They're trying to sell off their entire
inventory and there are good discounts to be had. Go to the Metro this
weekend, get your Donny McCaslin tickets and buy a couple of CDs. It will
be much appreciated by the good people there.


We'll see you Tuesday night!