Berlin-based double bassist and composer Haggai Cohen-Milo returns with Gravitations, a new album that pushes classical repertoire into uncharted territory. Out June 13, 2025, and recorded live at Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, the project features original compositions sparked by works from Mahler, Verdi, and Debussy. But rather than arranging or quoting them, Haggai Cohen-Milo uses these pieces as points of departure, pulling their emotional threads into a new framework shaped by jazz, improvisation, and spoken word. The album brings together an exceptional group of collaborators, including saxophonists Emma Rawicz and Maria Kim Grand, trumpeters Philip Dizack and Justin Stanton, and poet-performer Stimulus. Its first single, Lacrimosa Part One, out May 9, takes Verdi’s Lacrimosa and filters it through something more intimate and offbeat. “I was chasing the feel of the bass line, and writing a kind of tearful day song for myself,” Haggai Cohen-Milo says. “At some point, the sadness became a little absurd. That’s when I found the melody.”
At its core, Gravitations is about building community through music – a space where classical and jazz traditions don’t just coexist but are pushed into new territory. Recorded in one-take sessions, the album captures the risk and immediacy of live performance, embracing its imperfections and intensity. Rather than blending genres, Gravitations pulls them apart and reassembles them into something unpredictable and alive. It’s a record that asks for close listening, reframing the familiar in ways that feel both personal and unfamiliar.
The Gravitations performances continue with a live premiere at Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle on June 14, 2025, followed by additional festival appearances and a new interdisciplinary staging in Shanghai in October.