Yonathan Avishai

Israeli-born pianist Yonathan Avishai, now based in France, has built a reputation for his reflective and harmonically layered style within contemporary improvised jazz. He first surfaced across European stages during the closing years of the 1990s and reached broader attention a decade later through his role in the Israeli ensemble Third World Love, where he worked alongside trumpeter Avishai Cohen and bassist Omer Avital. The two Avishais have sustained a long-running partnership that encompasses the intimate duo recording Playing the Room as well as quartet projects such as Ashes to Gold. Leading his own ensembles, Avishai earned praise for the trio outings Modern Times in 2015, the 2019 ECM release Joys and Solitudes, and Shapes and Sounds, issued in 2024.

Tel-Aviv native Avishai, born in 1977, studied classical piano during childhood before encountering jazz in adolescence. By age fourteen he was directing his own bands and performing regularly in reedist Arnie Lawrence’s groups. Additional early experience came through appearances with visiting figures that included trumpeter Marcus Printup, vocalist Allan Harris, and saxophonist Walter Blanding, Jr. Participation in a Tel-Aviv musical collective exposed him to numerous community and cultural projects, one of which facilitated his 2001 relocation to Alsace under an exchange initiative. Subsequent stays in Dordogne led to studies in musicotherapy at Bordeaux’s Atelier de Musicotherapy; after completing the program he taught classes and conducted workshops while maintaining an active performance schedule.

During this period he assembled the Third World Love quartet with longtime associates bassist Omer Avital, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, and drummer Daniel Freedman. The group documented its work on the albums Third World Love Songs in 2002, Avanim in 2004, and New Blues in 2008. Parallel activities included recordings with Bachir Mouhali and stage collaborations with director Sharon Mohar and Compagnie L’air du Jeu, among them the 2010 children’s production Il était une Fois un Gribouille. Also in 2010, Avishai and Mouhali released the duo album Soledad.

After settling in Yonne, Avishai joined bassist Avital’s quintet for the sessions New Song in 2014 and Abutbul Music in 2016. He simultaneously formed a trio featuring bassist Yoni Zelnik and drummer Donald Kontomanou, which issued Modern Times in 2015 and The Parade in 2016 with saxophonist/clarinetist César Poirier as guest. In 2017 he appeared on trumpeter Cohen’s ECM debut Cross My Palms with Silver.

Avishai returned to ECM in 2019 with his own trio on Joys and Solitudes. That year also brought another duo encounter with Cohen on Playing the Room. He participated in Cohen’s subsequent quartet releases Naked Truth in 2022 and Ashes to Gold in 2024. A further trio album, Shapes and Sounds, surfaced in 2024 on the Paris-based Jazz & People imprint.