Miller Theatre Opens Jazz Series with Anat Cohen Tonight

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts kicks off the 2013-14 season of its Jazz series with Anat Cohen QUARTET tonight, October 12, 2013, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets: $25-$35; Students with valid ID: $15-$21.

AND

WARREN WOLF QUARTET on Saturday, November 2, 2013, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets: $25-$35; Students with valid ID: $15-$21.

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey: "I am thrilled to welcome two extraordinary voices in modern jazz back to the Miller stage this fall. The Anat Cohen Quartet became a fast favorite of our audience at their debut two seasons ago. Cohen's innovative mix of musical influences makes her original works mesmerizing and her charisma and playfulness onstage make her performances downright joyful. Vibraphonist Warren Wolf made his Miller debut last season with Christian McBride's Inside Straight and I'm delighted for him to return with his quartet. His straight-ahead jazz respects established traditions while still leaving room for his immense talent and vision. What a great lineup for fall."

Since 1990, Miller Theatre has put a spotlight on unique voices in modern jazz. In a city so heavily steeped in jazz music, Miller Theatre continues to shift attention uptown and distinguish itself not only with a sharp focus on great jazz artists but with an artfully curated and diverse season series.

TONIGHT, October 12, 2013, 8:00 p.m.

Anat Cohen Quartet

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th street)

The Anat Cohen Quartet is back for a second appearance on the Miller stage, on the heels of their enormously popular 2012 debut. Influenced by klezmer, reggae, funk, and Latin rhythms, and known for her expressive, charismatic performances, Cohen has earned accolades from audience, critics, and peers alike, including jazz great and frequent collaborator Paquito D'Rivera who has called her "one of the greatest players ever on the clarinet."

ARTISTS:
Anat Cohen, clarinet and saxophones
Jason Lindner, piano
Joe Martin, bass
Daniel Freedman, drums

Saturday, November 2, 2013, 8:00 p.m.

Warren Wolf Quartet

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th street)

Following his electrifying appearance last season with Christian McBride and Inside Straight, virtuoso vibraphonist Warren Wolf returns to Miller as a bandleader. Wolf draws on his varied musical knowledge and experience working with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, and Esperanza Spaulding, creating inventive new melodies and modern reinterpretations of classic tunes. At once boldly expressive and finely nuanced, Wolf is "an artist of immense ability and taste" (DownBeat).

ARTISTS:
Warren Wolf, vibraphone
Alex Brown, piano
Kris Funn, bass
Billy Williams, Jr., drums

Anat Cohen (clarinet and saxophones): An established bandleader and prolific composer, conversant with modern and traditional jazz, classical music, klezmer, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and an expansive timeline of Afro-Cuban styles, Anat Cohen has established herself as one of the primary voices of her generation on both the tenor saxophone and clarinet.

Born in Tel Aviv, Cohen began clarinet studies at age 12 and played jazz on clarinet for the first time in the Jaffa Conservatory's Dixieland band. At 16, she joined the school's big band and learned to play the tenor saxophone, which she later played in the Israeli Air Force band. In 1996, Cohen matriculated at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Upon relocating to New York, she quickly found work in various Brazilian ensembles like the Choro Ensemble and Duduka Da Fonseca's Samba Jazz Quintet, and started performing with David Ostwald's "Gully Low Jazz Band," which explores the music of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and their Pan-American contemporaries.

Cohen has performed for audiences at New York's Village Vanguard, Jazz Standard, Iridium, The Jazz Gallery, and the JVC Jazz Festival. She has also appeared at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center, San Francisco's Yoshi's, Boston's Regattabar, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Her July 2007 engagement at the Village Vanguard in New York was an historic one as she became the first female reed player and the first Israeli to headline at the club. In 2010, Anat Cohen released the album Clarinetwork: Live at the Village Vanguard, inspired by the music of Benny Goodman and celebrating his centennial, featuring an all-star rhythm section including Benny Green, Peter Washington, and Lewis Nash. Her 2008 album Notes from the Village, her fourth album as a leader, features compositions written by Cohen as well as her interpretations of songs by Fats Waller, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, and Ernesto Lecuona.

Cohen's accomplishments have been recognized in a flurry of awards and distinctions from critics and fans alike; the Jazz Journalists Association named Anat Cohen Clarinetist of the Year from 2007 to 2011, the first time in the history of the awards that an artist has earned top clarinet honors five years running. Her 2007 albums Noir and Poetica both appeared on many year-end best-of lists, including those of Paste magazine, The New York Sun,Slate, JazzTimes, and others.

Warren Wolf (vibraphone): Warren Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist who lives in Baltimore. As a youth, Warren attended Peabody Preparatory of The John Hopkins Institute in Baltimore, where he studied with former Baltimore Symphony member Leo LePage. While at Peabody, Warren played many popular styles of music, including classical, jazz, and ragtime. After graduating from The Baltimore School for the Arts in the spring of 1997, Warren headed north and enrolled at Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, Warren studied with Caribbean Jazz Project vibraphonist Dave Samuels. He also began to experiment with many different music styles outside of jazz and classical, such as hip-hop, R&B, drum-n-bass, funk, rock, gospel, world music, Latin, and many others. After years of training at Berklee and sitting in with musicians at the legendary Wally's Café, Warren landed the weekend gig at the club for the next three years-playing drums, not the vibraphone. Warren also co-led a quintet with trumPeter Jason Palmer at Wally's.

Warren is a former faculty member at Berklee College of Music. He taught in the college percussion department teaching piano classes for entering freshman drummers. He has also taught private lessons at Berklee for drummers and mallet students. At Berklee Warren had the chance to play and record with many of the worlds best musicians, including Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Lewis Nash, Christian McBride, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Bobby Watson, Roy Hanynes, and Danilo Perez.

Warren has recorded five records as a leader: Incredible Jazz Vibes, featuring Mulgrew Miller on piano, Vicente Archer on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums; Raw, featuring Darren Barrett on trumpet, Walter Smith on tenor saxophone, and Lawrence Fields on piano; Warren "Chano Pozo" Wolf; Black Wolf, featuring Mulgrew Miller on piano, Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, Rodney Whitaker on bass, with Warren on vibes, drums, and piano; and Warren Wolf, released on the Mack Ave. label and featuring Christian McBride on bass, Peter Martin on piano, Greg Hutchinson on drums, Tim Green on alto/soprano sax, and Jeremy Pelt on trumpet.

Warren can also be heard on recordings by drummer Adonis Rose (On The Verge), trumpeter Jeremy Pelt (Identity), and the new Bobby Watson group Live & Learn (From The Heart). Warren is featured on the Inside Straight record Kind oF Brown. Warren is a Mack Ave. recording artist.

Upcoming concerts in Miller Theatre's Jazz series:

(Single tickets: $20-$35; Series season tickets: $72-$104 for four concerts; All concerts begin at 8:00 PM)

Anat Cohen Quartet
Saturday, October 12, 2013

Warren Wolf Quartet
Saturday, November 2, 2013

Aaron Diehl Trio
Saturday, November 23, 2013

Miguel Zenón Quartet
Saturday, March 1, 2014

Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall. Directions and information is available online at www.millertheatre.com or via the Miller Theatre Box Office, at 212.854.7799.