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" There's always this joke that I say in Israel: people don't really have discussions; they just try to convince the other people that they are wrong or they are right - they just try to impose their opinion on the others. Sometimes I think it's easier to avoid talking about things and just make music. "

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" With cab drivers, I always say I'm from Brazil. I don't say I'm from Israel. It's happened more than once that someone is blaming me for the government's policy. And I say, 'Listen, I live here. I'm a musician. I don't call the shots.' "

Anat Cohen

Government

" I feel like sometimes I get even more goofy onstage than I am offstage. I'm not trying to make the music less than what it is. Even if it's hard for me and I have to think about a lot of details, it's none of the audience's business. I don't want them to feel that I'm having a hard time. "

" The clarinet chose me more than I chose the clarinet. "

Anat Cohen

Clarinet

" The clarinet is not so dominant in Israeli music as it is in klezmer. I heard klezmer when I was growing up, but for some reason I avoided it. I listened to Louis Armstrong instead. But the sense of melody is the connection between jazz and klezmer. "

" My everyday life is not just walking around on clouds. But you have to give the really special things in life importance and not let the temporary things roll you off the road. "

" There are a lot of Israeli musicians in New York because you want to grow and go onstage, and eventually you have to get out of Israel to do that because there aren't enough places to play. "

" Clarinet is often associated with certain genres, like swing or folk music. I combine the old and new, using the clarinet as an expressive tool and not in one genre. I'm just happy that people are drawn to what I do. "

" I'm working really hard to get the clarinet out of that hole, that Benny Goodman thing. "

" I have an ambivalent feeling about the Israeli army. Growing up in Tel Aviv, being involved in the arts, the last thing artists want to do is fight. "

" Sometimes I get off stage, and I almost have no recollection of what happened. It's almost like a trance; it's very bizarre. "

Anat Cohen

Stage

Sometimes

" When I got into high school, clarinet was not really in fashion. Everybody had electric bands. "

" I was focusing on sax while at Berklee, but then I started to play Brazilian choro and Colombian music. I was doing more folkloric stuff on the clarinet because it works better. Finally, I realized I was working more on the clarinet than the saxophone, and I started to feel more comfortable on it. "

Anat Cohen

Music

Feel

" The best part about living in New York is that you are able to play with different people in different styles in the same week. It's really part of who I am as a musical person. I try to incorporate everything that I encounter. "

" Clarinet is an incredible instrument. It's a great, expressive instrument. "

" To me, music is a luminous experience. Whenever I'm immersed in it, life lights up for me, no matter what else is going on. "

" I have two brothers that are musicians. My older brother, Yuval, is a saxophone player. My younger brother, Avishai, is a trumpet player. "

" The clarinet has always been my baby. I just didn't know that for a while. "

" Avishai my brother always says to the audience, 'If you weren't here, it would just be a rehearsal.' So it's important to me to acknowledge and engage them. I know that they are there for me, and I'm humbled by that. "

" We still have to overcome the notion that a clarinet squeaks. People need to remember what a beautiful instrument it is, including in popular music. "

" I could never really figure out why people would live in a kibbutz. I'm such a city girl. "

" When I play the clarinet, I am 100 percent myself. It is as if it is part of my body. I can play whatever I think. Let me just read a melody and make it as sweet as I can. "

Anat Cohen

Body

I Am

" I flow between modern and traditional jazz, between samba and choro - all maybe in a week's time. "

" My father knew classical music very well. Driving in the car, listening to the radio, he could name every composer, every movement, what piece it was. I was fascinated by the way he recognized who wrote what. "

" I think maybe the only time I think of being a woman... is being on the road and making sure my musicians are fed and they sleep. 'Are you OK? Do you need some water? Are you hungry? Can I get you a cookie?' I'm not sure all the men bandleaders do that. "