by Paul Wilson
Igor Kogan – “In A Big City” Self-Released
Born in Russia, Igor Kogan began playing the violin at age seven. At fifteen, he immigrated to Israel, then to the US where he switched to bass and studied at The New School For Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. He has played at many prestigious venues around the world. His US performances include Jazz at Lincoln Center and Steinway Hall, both in New York. He now resides in Los Angles where he is a busy session player contributing to music, TV and movie scores. “Big City,” his first release under his own name, is his own take on the places he’s lived – all of which were “big cities.” This is traditional jazz with a standup, acoustic bass as the lead instrument. Kogan is joined by a horn section, piano, drums and track 8, “Vocalese,” is, not surprisingly, a vocal track. Most of the tracks were medium tempo with one or two displaying a faster paced beat. I thought it sounded quite large scale despite having only five musicians. All in all, I enjoyed “In a Big City” in a pretty big way.
Overall: 8
Sonics: 8
