Avishai Cohen

Avishai Cohen was born in 1978 in Tel Aviv

Cohen was born in Tel Aviv on May 23, 1978, into a musical family. His older siblings Anat and Yuval played wind instruments, and he took up the trumpet as a child. At 10 he played with the Rimon School Big Band, and as a teenager he performed with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.

He studied at the Thelma Yellin high school and then received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1996 he took part in recording Shalom Hanoch's album, and he later appeared on most of Hanoch's albums.

In 1997 he won third place in the Thelonious Monk jazz trumpet competition and moved to New York. At Smalls Jazz Club he formed a group with bassist Omer Avital. In 2002 he founded the quartet Third World Love, which recorded 5 albums.

His debut album as a leader, The Trumpet Player, came out in 2003. He recorded The Big Rain Trilogy in 2007 and 2008 and appeared that year in the film American Gangster. From 2016 he released albums on the ECM label, including a 2019 duo album with Yonathan Avishai.