Born in Tel Aviv, Anat Cohen came to New York two decades ago to study the masters of jazz. In so doing, the clarinetist and saxophonist started a bit of a stampede: Today, Israel is exporting some of the most vital jazz out there.
After years of also studying the music of South America, Cohen has chosen to name her newest record Claroscuro. It’s the Spanish variation on the Italian art term ‘chiaroscuro’ ‘” the technique of contrasting light and shadow. Cohen spoke with NPR’s Guy Raz about her home country’s emergence as a jazz capital, what changed for her when she came to the U.S., and where her mind goes when she performs.