Toronto Jazz Fest & The Rex: Avishai Cohen Big Vicious (Show 2)

Charismatic and world-renowned trumpeter Avishai Cohen is globally recognized as a musician with an individual sound and a questing spirit, an ever-creative player-composer open to multiple strains of jazz and active as a leader, co-leader, and sideman. Aside from the acclaimed work with his quartet over the last several years, and previously his trio work under the moniker Triveni, the trumpeter has also recorded and toured the world as part of the Mark Turner Quartet, the SFJAZZ Collective, Jazz100, Zakir Hussain, and the 3 Cohens Sextet – with his sister, clarinetist-saxophonist Anat, and brother, saxophonist Yuval.

Cohen launched his exuberant band Big Vicious in 2014, rounding up players to shape the music from the ground up and co-authoring much of its newest material together with them. The band draws upon long-standing friendships: Avishai Cohen and guitarist Uzi Ramirez attended the same high school, while guitarist/bassist Yonatan Albalak and drummer Aviv Cohen have played together in diverse ensembles since the early 2000s. Ziv Ravitz, recruited as second drummer in 2018, completed the line-up, with a brief to bring some of the colours and energies of Avishai’s acoustic quartet — with whom Ziv has toured extensively — into the Vicious admixture.

“We’re all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier,” Avishai says, summing up the musical range of his bandmates. “Everyone’s bringing in their backgrounds, and that becomes part of the sound of the band.” Textures from electronic, ambient, and psychedelic music are all part of the blend, as are grooves and beats from rock, pop, trip-hop and more. “In the combination of everything, this is a magical group,” adds Ravitz. “It’s very special because you would expect it to explode, with total drama. But the music is deep, and very melodic.”

Named as the Artistic Director of the International Jerusalem Festival, Cohen has also been voted a Rising Star on three consecutive occasions in the DownBeat Critics Poll.

Event Artists

Avishai Cohen Big Vicious

Toronto Jazz Fest & The Rex: Avishai Cohen Big Vicious (Show 2)

Date/Time
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
10:30 pm - 11:59 pm

Location
The Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar
194 Queen St W
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5V 1Z1

Price
No Information

Phone
No Information

Website
https://torontojazz.com/schedule-2026/

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