Bio : Anat Cohen

With The Anat Cohen Tentet, woodwind virtuoso Anat Cohen brings audiences an evocative and exciting experience centered around the clarinet. Both on stage and on their critically acclaimed releases, Happy Song and 2019’s Triple Helix, the Tentet weaves a tapestry of sounds, freeing Cohen to explore the full range of the clarinet’s dynamics and demonstrate its vastly expressive character. As JazzTimes says, “With the clarinet she becomes a singer, a dancer, a poet, a mad scientist, laughing – musically – with the sheer delight of reaching that new place, that new feeling, with each chorus.” The Tentet’s repertoire draws on Anat’s diverse musical loves, from Brazilian music to African grooves, and from vintage swing to touching ballads. Above all, the Tentet is another synergistic collaboration between Anat and co-producer/co-arranger Oded Lev-Ari, who is her partner in Anzic Records and who has been a kindred spirit since their high school days in Israel.

The perennial winner of “Clarinetist of the Year” titles from DownBeat, JazzTimes, and the Jazz Journalists Association, Fresh Air’s Terry Gross credits Cohen with “bringing the clarinet to the world” and The New York Times hails her a “Master.”