Recipient Information
Location
New York, New York
Project Title
SoundVisions
Year of Award
2025
Grant or Fellowship
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant
Grant Amount
$39,540
In fall 2025, the Anat Cohen Tentet will create new work inspired by the lived experiences of the blind and visually impaired community at VISIONS at Selis Manor and The FMDG Music School, fostering deeper connections and expanding their artistic practice and repertoire.
About the Artist
Clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen is a multi-Grammy-nominated jazz artist acclaimed for her expressive virtuosity, genre-crossing imagination, and magnetic stage presence. With over 25 years of global performance and recording experience, she has emerged as a transformative force in contemporary jazz. Equally at home in chamber ensembles and large-scale productions, Anat is a visionary bandleader, composer, educator, and cultural ambassador.
Her expansive discography—21 albums as a leader or co-leader—spans swinging originals, Brazilian choro, Afro-Latin grooves, and modern jazz, reflecting a profound fluency across styles. Central to this body of work is the Anat Cohen Tentet, a vibrant large ensemble co-directed with long-time collaborator Oded Lev-Ari. The Tentet seamlessly blends intricate orchestral textures and expansive frameworks with open improvisation, moving between precision and spontaneity. Their Grammy-nominated album Triple Helix exemplifies their daring scale, emotional range, and narrative sophistication.
Oded Lev-Ari, a lauded composer, arranger, and producer, has played an essential role in sculpting the Tentet's sound. His artistic partnership with Anat has enabled the ensemble to become a platform for grand, original jazz storytelling that both honors and reimagines tradition.
Anat's recent album, Bloom, showcases her chamber ensemble Quartetinho—comprised of Tentet members—and is celebrated for its "daring virtuosity and soulful joie de vivre" (All About Jazz). The group's nuanced, intimate interplay offers a counterpoint to the Tentet's sweeping scale, yet maintains the same boundary-pushing ethos. Her latest live recording Interaction (2025) brings her together with her siblings in The 3 Cohens and Germany’s WDR Big Band, with arrangements by Oded LevAri.
As a frequent headliner at international festivals including Newport, Umbria, and North Sea Jazz, and on stages like the Village Vanguard, SFJAZZ, and Chicago Symphony Center, Anat bridges cultures and audiences through music. Her work has been spotlighted by NPR's Fresh Air and The New York Times, underscoring her influence as both artist and cultural ambassador.
With an unshakable commitment to innovation, community, and crosscultural dialogue, Anat Cohen continues to redefine jazz in our time. Her collaborations—especially through the Tentet with Oded Lev-Ari—embody artistic excellence, inclusivity, and an ever-expanding vision for what jazz can be.