Tal Cohen - Gentle Giants (Independent 67890 5)

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Following on from his 2015 Freedman Fellowship win in Australia, pianist, composer and arranger Tal Cohen has recorded two albums, one a duet with the Perth-based saxophonist Jamie Oehlers, Innocent Dreamer, and another duet, Intertwined, with the USA vocalist Danielle Wertz with whom he studied at the University of Miami while completing his Master’s degree there. This latest offering, recorded in the USA, features both New York heavyweight Greg Osby on alto saxophone and Perth-based Jamie Oehlers on tenor saxophone. Both make good use of extended techniques and contrastive dynamics throughout the album and Robert Hurst on bass and Nate Winn on drums play flawlessly also. On the tracks The Gentle Giants, and Lo Haya:Part1, Cohen continues to prove himself as a masterful player and conceptualist whose use of space and deft light and shade, highlights the theory that the energetic sound-scapes heard on Gavetch and Ducks are not always necessary to make a huge impact on the listener. His music skillfully engages improvisational moods from the frenetic to the soothingly gentle. At all times its Cohen’s jazz mastery that permeates throughout the arrangements, and the album’s success rests, in some measure, on his artistry in that realm, which for the most part is well above par and reflects his ongoing commitment to tradition and his continuous reach for originality. Overall the album is an interesting and very successful step forward for one of contemporary jazz’s most exciting, emerging composers and improvisers.

Barry O’Sullivan