Clarinetist Supreme Anat Cohen continues to create a wide swath of sounds. She’s recently done Brazilian duets and trios, and now brings together her richly textured tentet under the direction of Oded Levi-Ar. The result is a wonderful mosaic of colors that create an overall view that is gorgeous from a distance and engrossing when observed up close.
Cohen’s warm reed delicately floats along the pretty and pastoral “Milonga Del Angel” while dreamy to the cocktail blues of her own “Miri.” The team of guitarist Sheryl Bailey, bassist Tal Mashiach and drummer Anthony Pinciotti give a fun and vaudevillian herky jerky to “Lonesome train” and the horn section of Nadje Noordhuis, Nick Finzer and Owen Broder give a New Orleans Shving to the hip “Footsteps and Smiles.”
The three-part title track is a richly created “Concerto for Clarinet and Ensemble,” as Cohen mixes classical and klezmer on the fun “First,” Goncalves delivering rich ivories for the lovely “For Anat” and Noordhuis teaming with Pinciotti’s snappy sticks on the peppy “Last.”
This is an album that mixes celebration, style and sizzle in a way that makes you beg for a local tour. I saw them last year and am still checking out Anat’s site for a return trip.