The three jazz stars of the Cohen family - Yuval, Anat and Avishi - will arrive this week for a joint show at the Culture Hall in Tel Aviv.
Before the performance, we talked with them about the significant path they went through together and separately on the way to conquering the peaks of the world music scene.
Three times a week in the late 1980s, David and Belha Cohen's white commercial vehicle left the school of arts in Tel Aviv for the Conservatory of Music in Jaffa.
The couple's three children - Yuval, Anat and Avishi - were always in the car, and since it was a large car, each time additional children joined it.
From 4 in the afternoon until 9 in the evening the three of them played in the orchestra (big band) led by Avraham Felder, and even when they returned home they didn't really stop playing.
Today, three decades later, all three are at the top of the world jazz scene, and "along the way" have conquered almost every possible peak.
Prizes galore
In 2010 Yuval won the Landau Prize for Jazz Composers and in 2017 he won the Prime Minister's Prize for Composers.
In addition, he coordinates the field of jazz studies at the Stricker Conservatory and often performs in Israel and abroad.
Avishi has also won prestigious awards and titles, has already released four albums on the prestigious ECM label, was a member of one of the most important jazz groups in the USA, the San Francisco Jazz Collective, and played on the soundtrack of the movie "American Gangster". Anat is the only Israeli jazz musician who was Nominated for the American Grammy Award (three times) and for more than a decade she was chosen as the "clarinet player of the year" on behalf of the Jazz Press Association in the USA.
During the years of the "golden age" of American jazz there were quite a few "jazz families", but in the modern era they can be counted on one hand.
The first time the three appeared together on the same stage was in 2003 in Poland: the eldest brother Yuval on the soprano saxophone, Anat, the middle one, on the clarinet, and the "younger" brother Avishai on the trumpet.
The one who initiated the composition was Yuval, who was invited to perform in the country with the jazz band he led.
The enthusiastic reactions from the audience, including the Prime Minister of Poland who was present at the concert, along with the excitement of the three from the class, led them to joint performances around the world, and four albums under the name "The Three Priests".
At the end of the week, after a long period of not performing in Israel, the "priests" reunite for two performances at the Culture Hall in Tel Aviv.
We took the opportunity when they were all together to talk with them about their success individually and together.
When asked about the reason why three children from the same family become one of the best jazz musicians in the world, each priest - or priestess in Anat's case - has a different answer.
"Freud would say that maybe we should have breathed a lot," answers Anat and laughs.
According to Yuval, "We had incredibly supportive parents, and the best teachers, an excellent learning environment and also great luck."
Avishai attributes success to family music from a young age.
"When three musicians play together it should be so on top in terms of sound, intonation, harmony and melody," he says, adding that "the combination of three musicians together made each of us move forward and play better."
Was there jealousy or competition between you?
According to Avishi, "If there was a competition, it would be a violation - the desire to play well, to impress the brothers on the one hand and also of course the natural desire to stand out. Even when one of us made a mistake and the other two would joke about it, it was always with humor and love."
From Anat's side, it sounds a little different: "There was no jealousy, the opposite - only support and encouragement."
And according to Yuval, "as a child there was no jealousy, simply because Anat and Avishi were somewhere in the back, who counted them anyway? (laughs). There was never competition, there was paragon."
Berkeley's tribute
As befits the eldest brother, Yuval laid out the path for those who came after him, and after all three had completed significant musical military service, they continued to specialize at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, USA, a breeding ground for jazz musicians from around the world. For one semester, all three studied together and even They lived in the same apartment. "Every place I went to in Berkeley they said: 'Oh, that's Yuval and Anat's brother,'" says Avishi. Anat agrees with every word: "I came to Berkeley after Yuval, and because he was an outstanding student, I got credits and got a better start." In light of their great success, Berklee organized a musical event and a magnificent dinner for the three stars they raised. The Berklee president explained their relationship as "the priestly element".
In the joint performance in Tel Aviv, the three priests will be joined by international Israeli pianist Yonatan Avishi, who has been living in France for the past few years and knows them as a child from the art school and the Jaffa Conservatory.
"He is part of our family," they confirm.
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