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, she studied classical piano as a child and began improvising from an early age, all the while remaining open to the many musical sounds of her environment.
In the early 1990’s, Anat came to the United States to study jazz, looking to balance a natural tendency towards freer playing with a firm grounding in the tradition. Her sojourn resulted in her self-produced debut album Peel, and commissions to write for various ensembles including chamber and chorus and orchestra. Her most recent commission was premiered at the Opera House in Tel Aviv in January 2006.
Anat received two artist-in-residence grants from the Jerome Foundation as well as the Creative Connections award from Meet the Composer. A session recorded with drummer Paul Motian, bassist Ed Schuller, and clarinetist Perry Robinson was brought to the attention of the legendary producer Manfred Eicher ECM Records, and the resultant CD was released in 2007 as A Long Story.
An important presence on the NYC alternative jazz scene and equally highly regarded in her homeland, Anat currently splits her time between Israel and the US and performs with bassist Gary Wang and drummer Roland Schneider in her touring band, the Anat Fort Trio.
