Avishai Cohen Trio, Live @ Auditorium Parco Della Musica Ennio Morricone, Rome – 03/11/2023
By Riccardo Rossi

The Roma Jazz Festival 2023 continues with its varied program of events and after last October 12’s preview with Ibrahim Maalouf, followed on November 3 by the unmissable performance of John Scofield and his Trio, it arrived on the evening of November 3 to offer the audience the three-piece formation led by Israeli double bassist, composer, singer and jazz bassist Avishai Cohen.

The Sala Petrassi gradually filled with an indistinct buzz, made up of voices and colours, which were then completely quiet by the time the room lights went to sleep.

Having arrived on stage, the three began to play without any preamble, something that would be repeated throughout the concert.

Where, however, the words did not come because they were unnecessary, the heart of the project materialized in a rhythmically unstable flow, in a kaleidoscope of influences that started with Avishai’s vigorous double bass and then channelled the melody of Guy Moskovich’s piano, between classicism and improvisation, until finally incorporating into this marvellous interweaving the furious and passionate pacing of the very young drummer Roni Kaspi.

Cohen’s latest album, Shifting Sands, thus comes to life in an elegant and unpredictable comings and goings of nomadic sounds that have no home, inner places and real horizons that amalgamate into an evening of music suspended in time.

There is no proper ending or epilogue, only the certainty of Avishai alone on stage for a little curtain call between voice and double bass.

Shortly thereafter it will be time for remembrance, for a small sliver of light, for a passionate and passionate lineup of musicians, for a small flame that single-handedly ignited galaxies of restless souls giving them new perspectives through which to filter and dialogue with the “quicksand” of reality.

Read the original review in Italian at: HERE