Winter Poems Yuval Cohen Quartet

• 1 First Meditation 05:25
• 2 The Dance of the Nightingale 06:36
• 3 Avia 04:48
• 4 Winter Poem 05:23
• 5 Song for Lo Am 06:24
• 6 For Charlie 04:50
• 7 The Unfolding Nature of Iris 06:21
• 8 Helech Ruach 04:04
• Total Runtime 43:51

Info for Winter Poems

Soprano saxophonist Yuval Cohen’s debut for the label is a thrilling offering that captures the brother of long-time ECM traveller Avishai Cohen charting innovative paths through eight originals in graceful interplay with his quartet. Pianist Tom Oren, bassist Alon Near and Alon Benjamini on drums are longtime acquaintances of Yuval’s who are not only outstanding instrumentalists in their own right, but share a deep, intuitive understanding for the leader’s musical language and improvisational approach. “I’m very fortunate to be able to play with these young guys,” says Yuval. “I’ve known them for a long time – they’re three beautiful souls and talents with whom I had a great time shaping this music together.” Throughout the album, the saxophonist demonstrates his own understanding of chamber jazz dynamics and explores a broad range of influences – from folk idioms to motif development borrowed from classical music – to lyrical and contemplative, but also energetic and uplifting results.

“Classical music is as much part of me as jazz is,” says Yuval, who was educated in classical music from an early age and, in return, today teaches in Israel’s music education environment himself. “It’s that early formal training that gives you a very clean tone, forces you to develop strict in tune playing. There’s many more qualities in the classical tradition that are useful in jazz and other contexts and genres.” And there’s no one particular genre in which Yuval and his quartet navigate – instead they juggle with a multitude of idioms, wrapped in subtle, familiar interplay that spans a broad dynamic spectrum.

The classical aspect is rather tangentially grazed, part of an underlying musical understanding than bound to any deliberate element. For example, before the final version of the title track “Winter Poem” came to fruition, the quartet used to introduce the piece with a fragment from Franz Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle. The arpeggiated minor pattern played by pianist Tom Oren would still make the perfect bedding for the downward moving piano motif from the cycle’s opening song “Gute Nacht” (it shares the same tonality) in this final version, but as Yuval enters from below, moving upward, new paths are broached and directions taken – “it’s all somehow connected to the literature of classical music,” notes Yuval.

Other influences reign equally strong. The closing piece “Helech Ruach” – the title’s Hebrew term translates to “mood” – is inspired by what Yuval considers an “Israeli classic”, “Hu Lo Yada Et Shma”, written by one of his idols, the Russia-born Israeli popular song composer Sasha Argov. And while working on “Song For Lo Am”, Yuval had Charles Lloyd’s “direct approach and straight forwardness in his playing” in mind – “the harsh mixed with the tender”. Its minimalist, blues-shaped design captures the group at its most intimately expressive.

Folk music undertones of the Levant-region are omnipresent in those songs and also bring an earthy quality to more balladic expositions like the opening “First Meditation”. The flute-like quality of the saxophone’s upper register, through the sensitive playing of Yuval, further emphasises that folk song connotation, while “The Dance of the Nightingale” and “Avia” are injected with yet another compositional facet of Yuval’s. A livelier quartet emerges here, highlighting the players’ technical chops while revealing deeply lyrical melodies at the same time. Tom Oren’s discerning and masterful keyboard playing in particular stands out.

Neither Parker nor Haden are the adressees of “For Charlie”, as jazz aficionados might expect. Instead, the song is dedicated to Chaplin, whose films inspired the music. Yuval felt compelled to use the melodica for this occasion and “schlepped it all the way to France just for this piece”. On “The Unfolding Nature of Iris”, the group is drenched in a soft-spoken rubato context with each player in deep conversation.

The album was recorded in Pernes-Les-Fontaines in September, 2023 and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Yuval Cohen Quartet:
Yuval Cohen, soprano saxophone, melodica
Tom Oren, piano
Alon Near, double bass
Alon Benjamini, drums

Yuval Cohen Quartet
Yuval Cohen’s chamber jazz quartet is a personal take on the classical world queen: the chamber group.

Yuval Cohen, one of Israel’s main jazz artists, composed special repertoire for this band, and in a gentle transparent contrapuntal texture, Cohen finds the direct path into the hearts of his audiences.

Yuval Cohen
Soprano saxophonist, composer and bandleader Yuval Cohen, has developed his own unique sound and melodic approach to jazz composition and improvisation, creating his chamber jazz genre.

Lee Konitz, Lew Soloff, Arnie Lawrence, Reggie Workman, Anat Cohen - Avishai Cohen (3 Cohens), Omer Avital, Eric Harland, Aaron Goldberg, Jason Lindner, Matt Penman, Greg Hutchinson, Aaron Parks, Jonathan Blake, Garry Versace, Gilad Hekselman, Shai Maestro – All just a few of the wonderful world renowned figures with whom Yuval has played with. ​

Yuval is a leading figure in the Israeli jazz education.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel (1973), Yuval has studied music at the Tel Aviv Conservatory, at the School of Arts, and at the “Thelma Yellin” High School for the Arts. During his studies he was selected to perform the Glazonov Concerto for alto saxophone and string orchestra, and toured Europe and Israel as a soloist. ​

In 1996 Yuval Graduated Berklee College of Music (Summa Cum Laude). While at Berklee, Yuval was awarded the college prizes for outstanding achievements and the woodwind department award. His compositions were chosen to represent the college in the prestigious journal Jazziz.

In 1997 Yuval received a full scholarship for a masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music.

Yuval’s debut CD, Freedom, received excellent critics, and is being regularly played on the Israeli radio channels.

His family band, the 3 Cohens, has4 albums, and is playing regularly in the US, Europe, South America and Israel (www.3cohens.com(

In June 2010 Yuval's second album, "Song Without Words", was released (Anzic Records). This new album, a duo with pianist Shai Maestro, received outstanding critics, and is considered one of the best jazz albums in Israel.

In July 2010 Yuval received his Masters in Composition (M.Mus) from the Rubin Academy for Music and Dance in Jerusalem.

In October 2010 Yuval won the prestigious Landau prize in the category of Jazz performance!

In 2013 Yuval's album "Hakol Zehavi", an intensive work on the music of Iraeli composer David Zehavi got wonderful critics, and on 2017 Yuval won the prestigious Prime minister' s award for composers in the field of Jazz.

Yuval is the head of the jazz studies department Jerusalem academy for Music and Dance, head of the jazz studies at the Israeli conservatory of Tel Aviv, a teacher at the Thelma Yellin high school of the arts, and at the New School branch at the Tel Aviv Music Conservatory.

Booklet for Winter Poems