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Anat Fort

For Anat Fort, Music is a colorful mosaic of sounds. Having grown up in Israel where she studied classical piano, listened to 80's pop and soaked up the diverse sounds of the Middle East, it is no wonder that this rich kaleidoscope of sounds and influences would eventually become her stylistic signature. A natural improviser from a very young age, it was not until her late teens that she discovered the depth of jazz. The next step was coming to the United States to study with people who were part of shaping up this music like Harold Mabern, Rufus Reid and Norman Simmons. It was then that Anat started writing music, developing that aspect of her creative talent through the study of classical and jazz composition. In 1999 Anat self-produced her first CD, Peel, that features an all-original program. The CD received excellent reviews, giving her the impetus to form a working band. But little did she know that the collaboration she would form with drummer Roland Schneider and bassist Gary Wang would continue to be her main vehicle of expression over a decade later. Having created a strong presence on the New York jazz scene, the Anat Fort Trio has traveled extensively in the US, Canada, Europe and Israel to play the most prestigious jazz venues and festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, JVC Jazz Festival, The Opera House in Tel Aviv, Jazz at Lincoln Center among many others. Anat received two composition grants from the "Jerome Foundation" and one from "Meet the Composer". She has received commissions to compose pieces for orchestra and improvisational piano ("Tzohar", 2000), chamber ensemble ("Ktanot", 2002), choir and jazz trio ("Mekayitz El Kayitz", 2007) and many more. She has played with many jazz greats such as Paul Motian, Ed Schuller and Perry Robinson with whom she recorded her second CD, "A Long Story" in 2004. This collaboration brought her to the attention of ECM Records producer Manfred Eicher who decided to produce the recording without their having initially been in the studio; a rare occurrence. The CD came out in 2007 and received outstanding reviews worldwide. The success of her first ECM CD resulted in a long-awaited project, the first recording of the Anat Fort Trio: "And If". This recording came out in 2010 and like its predecessors, features all Anat's original compositions. And If was selected by Slate Magazine as one of the Ten Best Jazz CD's of 2010, an honor she shares with one of her most influential jazz heroes, the legendary Keith Jarrett.

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Album Review

Anat Fort Trio: The Berlin Sessions

Read "The Berlin Sessions" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Non credo esista oggi nel jazz un altro piano trio che operi stabilmente da 20 anni. La pianista israeliana Anat Fort l'ha formato nei primi anni duemila col bassista Gary Wang e il batterista Roland Schneider, registrando notevoli album per l'ECM (uno ampliato al nostro Gianluigi Trovesi) e la Sunnyside. Come altri dischi usciti nel 2023, questo è stato registrato sul finire della pandemia covid, dopo i mesi d'isolamento forzato che hanno visto i tre partner confinati ...

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Album Review

Anat Fort Trio: The Berlin Sessions

Read "The Berlin Sessions" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


"They said nobody makes CDs anymore. So I made a DOUBLE CD with stuff I've never recorded. Ever." So says Israeli pianist Anat Fort. To borrow a term from the United States' 2016 presidential election, Fort “doubled down" on the “nobody makes CDs" thing. Bless her for that. That double CD is The Berlin Sessions, featuring Fort and her longtime trio mates, bassist Gary Wang and drummer Roland Schneider. Fort released her debut recording, ...

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Multiple Reviews

A World of Piano Trios

Read "A World of Piano Trios" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


The piano trio format is alive and well, judging by this disparate collection of piano trio albums (mostly: a couple of them feature a guest vocalist on a track or two). They come from Israel (recorded in Berlin), Slovenia (recorded in New York City), Greece (recorded in Hungary), Boston, and Asheville, North Carolina. Traditionally the pianist is also the leader, but this collection also includes one cooperative group and one led by the drummer. Anat Fort Trio ...

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Live Review

Anat Fort Quartet at Cornelia Street Café

Read "Anat Fort Quartet at Cornelia Street Café" reviewed by Tyran Grillo


Anat Fort Quartet Cornelia Street Café New York, NY February 20, 2018 It's easy (and tempting) to think of a great musicians working together like cogs in a well-oiled machine, but when basking in the waves of pianist Anat Fort and her quartet with altoist Michaël Attias, bassist Gary Wang, and drummer Rudy Royston in the intimacy of the Cornelia Street Café, it was impossible to think of them as anything less than ...

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Live Review

The Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi at the Rubin Museum of Art

Read "The Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi at the Rubin Museum of Art" reviewed by Budd Kopman


Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi Rubin Museum Of Art New York, NY July 8, 2016 Pianist/composer Anat Fort's trio last played at the Rubin Museum of Art in November, 2008, and it seemed like the packed house had collectively been waiting for its return. Applause, and even cheers washed over the stage as she was introduced; it felt like a homecoming. The concert was part of the CD release tour for her new album, Birdwatching, ...

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Live Review

Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi at the Rubin Museum of Art

Read "Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi at the Rubin Museum of Art" reviewed by Tyran Grillo


Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi Rubin Museum of Art New York, NY July 8, 2016 On July 8, 2016, Israeli pianist Anat Fort made a welcome return to her New York comfort zone. Having forged relationships with many of that city's greats over the years, not least of all drummer Paul Motian, reputation preceded reappearance at the Rubin Museum of Art, where her trio with bassist Gary Wang and drummer Roland Schneider, ...

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Album Review

Anat Fort Trio with Gianluigi Trovesi: Birdwatching

Read "Birdwatching" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Israeli pianist/composer Anat Fort augments her longstanding trio with bassist Gary Wang and drummer Roland Schneider by adding Italian reedman Gianluigi Trovesi (who plays alto clarinet throughout) for her third ECM album, following 2010's And If. The trio had long been based in New York City, but since Fort 's return to Israel and Schneier's return to Berlin the band is now spread between three countries--which only makes their reunions more joyful. Fort and Trovesi first played together as a ...

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Recording

Anat Fort Trio - "And If"

Anat Fort Trio - "And If"

Source: AAJ Staff

OVERVIEW: When it comes to music, I'm all about the mood. Thankfully, the career I have allows me to listen to music almost all day long—and not softly from computer speakers or a radio; I use a set of Shure SRH840 professional studio monitoring headphones which provide great detail, instrument separation, and a level of isolation that allow me to turn up the volume. Although I write my reviews at home after a critical listening session, I do spend a ...

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Performance / Tour

Anat Fort Trio at Philadelphia Art Alliance on February 23

Anat Fort Trio at Philadelphia Art Alliance on February 23

Source: Ars Nova Workshop

On Wednesday, February 23, Ars Nova Workshop presents the Anat Fort Trio at Philadelphia Art Alliance. The group dialogue between pianist Fort, bassist Gary Wang, and drummer Roland Schneider has been ongoing for ten years, and this deep relationship is evident on 2010’s spellbinding ECM debut, And If. In a 2007 interview with All About Jazz, Fort made the following comment about the trio: “The music is sometimes so subtle that you really need it to be there with no ...

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Recording

Anat Fort - And if (ECM, 2010)

Anat Fort - And if (ECM, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Pianist and composer Anat Fort made a big splash in 2007 with her previous album for ECM, A Long Story, and this follow up shows that she has continued to make progress in forging her own unique musical path. Supported by her core trio mates Gary Wang on bass and Roland Schneider on drums, the group develops a dreamy, lyrical sound that is layered with ideas and concepts. The album is book-ended by two compositions dedicated to the great drummer ...

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Event

The Anat Fort Trio Performs for Parkinsong 4--A Night to Benefit Parkinson's Research in Bethesda, MD on Sept 7th

The Anat Fort Trio Performs for Parkinsong 4--A Night to Benefit Parkinson's Research in Bethesda, MD on Sept 7th

Source: Michael Ricci

Celebrated pianist and composer Anat Fort will perform an evening of music with her Anat Fort Trio on September 7th at the Ratner Museum in Bethesda, MD to benefit Parkinson's disease research for Parkinsong 4. Parkinsong Records will produce the event as part of their long standing tradition of bringing great music and artists to the forefront of the fight to find a cure for Parkinson's disease. An independent record label and non-profit foundation, Parkinsong was created by the children ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anat Fort

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anat Fort

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anat Fort's birthday today!

JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Anat Fort

With Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, Elvis Costello, John Coltrane and Egberto Gismonti among her many formative influences, Anat Fort’s music can also subtly hint at her geographical origins. Born near Tel Aviv... more

Website | Videos | Articles

Follow Anat Fort @ AAJ

Put AAJ's Musician of the Day box on your ...

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Performance / Tour

Ayelet Rose, Anat Fort and Michael Winograd in Philadelphia

Ayelet Rose, Anat Fort and Michael Winograd in Philadelphia

Source: All About Jazz

The trio will perform original music that combines a jazz sensibility with middle-eastern rhythms, klezmer sounds and free improvisations

Ayelet Rose Gottlieb's (Composer, Arranger, Vocalist) sound draws on a wide range of musical approaches. In her music you will find a unique improvisational approach infused with elaborate composition, spiced up with Middle Eastern scales and adventurous texts. She currently resides in New York City and was born in 1979 in Jerusalem, Israel. Her mother's family traces Sephardic roots in Jerusalem ...

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Performance / Tour

Anat Fort Trio (Fri) Gnu Vox Special (Sat) Eivind Opsvik's Overseas (Sun) & More This Week at Cornelia Street Cafe

Anat Fort Trio (Fri) Gnu Vox Special (Sat) Eivind Opsvik's Overseas (Sun) & More This Week at Cornelia Street Cafe

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

CORNELIA STREET CAFE New York 212-989-9319 between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St. Fri Feb 01, 9:00PM & 10:30PM ANAT FORT TRIO Anat Fort, piano, composer; Gary Wang, bass; Roland Schneider, drums Sat Feb 02, 9:00PM GNU VOX SPECIAL: SEAN WOOD, BECCA STEVENS AND AMANDA BAISINGER Sean Wood, voice, ...

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Performance / Tour

Pianist Anat Fort to Perform October 28 in the Jazz Room at William Paterson University

Pianist Anat Fort to Perform October 28 in the Jazz Room at William Paterson University

Source: All About Jazz

Pianist and composer Anat Fort, a graduate of William Paterson University's acclaimed jazz studies program and a rising presence on the alternative jazz scene, will perform with her trio on Sunday, October 28 as part of the University's fall 2007 Jazz Room Series. The concert will begin at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus in Wayne. Prior to the concert, Fort will be the guest for “Sittin' In," an informal discussion about jazz, at 3 ...

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Performance / Tour

Anat Fort Trio with Special Guest Perry Robinson on clarinet at Chris' Jazz Cafe on October 6, 2007

Anat Fort Trio with Special Guest  Perry Robinson on clarinet at Chris' Jazz Cafe on October 6, 2007

Source: All About Jazz

Anat Fort trio plus guest Perry Robinson on clarinet will be performing at Chris' Jazz Cafe on October 6, 2007.

ANAT FORT TRIO PLUS PERRY ROBINSON Anat Fort - piano Gary Wang - bass Roland Schneider - drums Perry Robinson - clarinet

October 6, 2007 Sets starting @ 8 & 10 Chris' Jazz Cafe 1421 Sansom St Philadelphia PA Info: ...

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Interview

Pianist Anat Fort Interviewed at AAJ

Pianist Anat Fort Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

While her discography as a leader consisted, until this year, of only one self-released album (Peel, 1999), New York-based, Israeli-born composer/pianist Anat Fort has been working steadily for years. Few contemporary jazz pianists have as graceful and developed a playing style as Fort--her use of rests, her love of space, and her classically-imbued phrasing are, once you've encountered her, immediately recognizable. She's just as good a composer, however, and it's the songs on her 2007 ECM debut A Long Story ...

"One of 2014 best live shows" John Kelman, Allaboutjazz 2014 "Anat Fort will be one of the great voices of modern jazz of the 21st century. She is already among the most creative writers and most elegant performers of the past decade". Andrea Canter, jazzPolice 2010 "In Anat Fort’s music, I...hear an imperishable flavor of ninguns and, as Dizzy Gillespie used to say, the endless, flowing music of the universe". Nat Hentoff, JazzTimes 2007

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Berlin Sessions

Sunnyside Records
2023

buy

Colour

Sunnyside Records
2019

buy

Birdwatching

ECM Records
2016

buy

And If

JazzMa Records
2011

buy

And If

ECM Records
2010

buy

A Long Story

ECM Records
2007

buy

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