Avishai Cohen’s singing voice might not have anywhere near the kind of masterful technique we would attribute to his bass playing, but it possesses the similar prayer-like sensuous qualities that grace both his bass and composition.

Those qualities are heard throughout this reissue of songs previously released in 2008, exclusively in Israel where it became a best seller. It’s made up of Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish), European Ashkenazi and ancient Hebrew song traditions from his Jewish heritage. At the time, Cohen had just moved from New York where he’d resided since 1992, to his native Israel. In 2009 Cohen followed this recording up by singing in his native language for the first time internationally on the album Aurora. At the time he was keeping company with a pair of sidemen who have since become jazz stars in their own right, the influential New York-based drummer Mark Guiliana and pianist Shai Maestro, a compatriot of Cohen’s.

On ‘Shalom Aleichem’ Cohen sings a haunting reverb-y cantorial melody with its spiritual fervour illustrating the kabalat Shabbat prayer from which it originates. The track is a perfect example of that element of prayer and calm associated with Cohen’s output that has seduced so many to his take on contemporary jazz. Sensitive Hours might not be jazz as such, but the spirit and soul of improvisation still runs through Cohen’s veins on this album.