College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Anat Cohen is, as The New York Times has said, "the real deal." She is regularly named "Clarinetist of the Year" by jazz publications like DownBeat and the Jazz Times. But calling her a "jazz musician" doesn't begin to reflect the expansive character of her music - reflected by the fact that her two Grammy nominations this year were for Best Latin Jazz Album and Best World Music Album.

Cohen alone is impressive, but in her appearance Wednesday, April 11, at the University of Dayton she’ll be part of what she calls the Anat Cohen Tentet. That’s 10 musicians, all from New York City, and playing a host of instruments: trumpet, drums, guitar, sax, bass, piano, trombone, cello, accordion, percussion and — of course — clarinet.

The group’s tour comes on the heels of a CD release — Happy Song — which AllAboutJazz.com describes as “just the kind of ray of sunshine that's worth waking someone up to share.” The Tentet’s repertoire draws on Cohen’s diverse musical loves, from Brazilian music to African grooves, and from vintage swing to touching ballads.

Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and raised in a musical family. She started clarinet studies at age 12 and attended the Tel Aviv School for the Arts; she later entered the country’s prestigious Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts. After serving in the Israeli military, Cohen attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston on scholarship, and now lives in New York City.

The Anat Cohen Tentet will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the University’s Kennedy Union ballroom. The concert is the final event of the ArtsLIVE season, and made possible by the Cityfolk JazzNet Legacy Endowment.

- Eileen Carr, ArtsLIVE coordinator