3 Cohens / WDR Big Band

Interaction

Released: March 2025

Interaction captures The 3 Cohens and WDR ensemble joining forces for an evening of originals and classics arranged and conducted by Oded Lev-Ari. 

The members of all-star family jazz band The 3 Cohens — featuring Anat Cohen (clarinet), Avishai Cohen (trumpet) and Yuval Cohen (soprano saxophone) — have always taken time out from their ever-burgeoning careers as soloists and bandleaders to reconvene for music-making together. The siblings developed a deep musical bond growing up in Tel Aviv, with improvising together becoming second nature for them. The 3 Cohens recorded four studio albums over a decade: 2003’s One, 2007’s Braid, 2011’s Family and 2013’s Tightrope, with the last three released by Anzic Records, the indie label founded by Anat with kindred-spirit producer-collaborator Oded Lev-Ari. DownBeat put The 3 Cohens — with Anat the middle child to the elder Yuval and younger Avishai — on the cover of its January 2012 issue, hailing the trio’s “chemistry, alchemy, telepathy.” Ten years on from that milestone, the 3 Cohens reunited for a live collaboration with Germany’s lauded WDR Big Band (a Köln-based ensemble that has been performing jazz on West German Radio since 1957); the program showcased tailormade arrangements by Lev-Ari of compositions by himself and each member of The 3 Cohens, as well as two of their favorite classics: Gerry Mulligan's “Festive Minor” and the Louis Armstrong hit “Tiger Rag.” The performance was recorded for a very special live album, Interaction.  

 

  • Yuval Cohen (Soprano Saxophone)
    Anat Cohen (Clarinet)
    Avishai Cohen (Trumpet and Effects)
    Oded Lev-Ari (Conductor)

    WDR Big Band:
    Saxophones: Stefan Pfeifer-Galilea, Johan Hörlén, Paul Heller, Ben Fitzpatrick, Jens Neufang
    Trumpets: Andy Haderer, Rob Bruynen, Wim Both, Ruud Breuls
    Trombones: Raphael Klemm, Jonathan Böbel, Mattis Cederberg, Andy Hunter
    Rhythm section: Billy Test (piano, Fender Rohdes), Hans Dekker (drum set), John Goldsby (double bass)

    Recorded live at Kölner Philharmonie, June 16, 2022
    Executive Producer: Arnd Richter
    Recording Producer: Christian Schmitt
    Recording Engineer: Walter Platte
    Recording Technician: Raimund Wunderlich
    Project Coordinator: Claudia Brede
    Mixed by Christian Schmitt & Walter Platte
    Mastered by: Christian Schmitt
    Artwork & Design by: Sean Smith
    Produced by: Oded Lev-Ari, Yuval, Anat and Avishai Cohen

  • Shufla de Shufla (8:49)
    Catch of the Day - for A&M (7:11)
    Tiger Rag (8:04)
    Naked Truth Pt. 2 (7:40)
    Festive Minor (4:18)
    Trills & Thrills (7:58)
    Footsteps & Smiles (7:03)

  • DownBeat: 5 Star Rating
    By Frank Alkyer | Published March 2025

    There is such an incredible amount of interaction going on throughout this album that the title is a slam dunk. First, there’s the interaction between the 3 Cohens — clarinetist Anat, trumpeter Avishai and saxophonist Yuval — just a sister and her two brothers drawing on a lifetime of laughing, playing, sharing meals and simply being family together. They finish each other’s musical statements. They blend their instruments into beautiful threads like a homemade patchwork quilt.

    Add in their interaction with the famed WDR Big Band, an organization known for its inventive collaborations with everyone from Steve Gadd and Dave Stryker to Joe Zawinul and Patti Austin. Under the conduction of Bob Mintzer, the Cologne, Germany-based ensemble has earned its way to the top of the big band pantheon in today’s landscape.

    This album presents musicianship of the highest order. The live set (performed to a packed auditorium in 2022 at the Kölner Philharmonie) kicks off with a wickedly swinging “Shufla de Shufla” (Aramaic for “best of the best”) that shows off Avishai’s massive skill and versatility as a trumpeter, into a masterful solo by Yuval and off to Anat’s silk-soaked blues clarinet lines. This particular interaction spills over to include WDR’s pianist, Billy Test, who is up to the challenge of bringing this conversation to a tipping point. All three Cohens bring tunes to the program. Avishai penned “Shufla de Shufla” and the sweetly mournful “Naked Truth Pt. 2.” Yuval wrote the bouncy “Catch Of The Day (For A&M).” And Anat brings in the great show closer “Footsteps & Smiles,” previously heard on her album Triple Helix. But adding to the interaction, just as producer George Martin was often considered “the 5th Beatle,” we have someone who could be called “the 4th Cohen.” Composer and arranger Oded Lev-Ari grew up with the Cohen siblings and has been part of their inner orbit from the beginning. Here, Lev-Ari arranged all of the tunes for big band, went early to rehearse with the WDR and stepped in to conduct the concert. His tune “Trills & Thrills” brings an entirely different element to the proceedings: a sense of the grandeur of modern big band writing. The program features two classics as well: Nick LaRocca’s “Tiger Rag” and Gerry Mulligan’s “Festive Minor.” The sum total of these interactions? A rare opportunity to hear amazing soloists, maybe the best big band on the planet and the breadth of what happens when large ensemble music and family sit down for an evening-length, full-course “meal.” Bon appetit!