Music has always been an inseparable part of human life. It connects with a person in a unique way, touching the deepest strings of one’s soul. Avishai Cohen, who is a jazz musician, gave a concert in Switzerland in 2011 called “Seven Seas”. His band consists of three people, himself on the contrabass, a pianist, and a drummer.
It is fascinating how three people can create such a spectrum of notes and sounds. At the end of the concert, Avishai switches instruments with the pianist, taking his place, while the pianist picks up the contrabass. It was done with such mastery that the time of the switch was not noticed at all. This shows the great talent of these musicians through their versatility, originality, and great musical skill. The style played by these gentlemen was mostly jazz. It is a style that has been around for a long time. It encompasses many different instruments and because of this, jazz bands have sounds that are very different, satisfying a large number of fans. But also there were moments during the piano solo, which reminded me of classical compositions.
There was fast-paced playing of the piano, which seemed very complicated and hard to accomplish, as well as slow and melodic. The drummer is also very imaginative, being able to drum at a different pace, keeping the rhythm perfect for his fellow musicians. The way he uses his drum set is very interesting. Many times he used the rim of the drum to make the rhythm and sometimes he used only the drum sticks themselves. At one point the drummer made some sort of “sweeping” motion on one of his drums, to create a sound effect, which added to the originality.
Comparing the drummer to other drummers in different styles of music, it would be obvious to say that he is very skilled, both in the speed of drumming and variation of rhythm. When Avishai was playing contrabass, he mostly used his fingers on the strings, which created more of a rhythmic sound. It was not as melodic and it would be great if he used the fiddlestick more, which at some points of the concert he did. But it was probably done for a purpose, as jazz has many styles, which make it very rich and unexpected, leaving room for more compositions and sounds. One thing that was somewhat surprising is the amount of connection with the audience.
While playing, the band seemed to be mostly immersed in themselves, their own world. From one perspective it is a good thing because this way the artists really connect with the music, feel its flow, and play from the heart and soul.
This can be seen from their emotions, when the pianist closes his eyes and leans towards the piano, the drummer moves to the rhythm, and the contrabass player dances along with the music or hugs his contrabass, showing his unique and close relationship with it. All of this is great but I feel as if the audience was left out of this experience. Usually, musicians at live concerts talk more to their audience.
They make jokes, ask questions and opinions, explain their reasons for writing a certain song and what it means to them. But nonetheless, the concert was a good experience. The audience seemed pleased as they gave standing ovations and the music was touching and heartfelt. It is a fact that music will always be a great part of human society, pleasing in times of pleasure and supporting in times of grief.