Riff Cohen

Riff Cohen is an Israeli singer, songwriter, composer, and actress who has long been a local pride and an international phenomenon. She arrives at the beating heart of the Jerusalem Jazz Festival with a show that has graced massive stages for audiences of fifty thousand and toured major festivals across Europe and Turkey. On our “Love” stage, Riff will perform a selection of beloved songs, filling the Sculpture Garden with sounds spanning her fifteen-year career.

This performance is a unique journey of dance and rhythm, featuring music Riff has collected and researched over the years, connecting and fusing edges and building musical structures that blend styles and traditions from all directions. Her influences travel all the way from North Africa, including Moroccan Gnawa and Algerian Raï, to Middle Eastern Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Classical Egyptian styles, reaching as far as the Balkans.

Riff’s songs are rich with Maqams and unique scales, performed in diverse musical and linguistic languages including French, Arabic, Hebrew, and English. All of this is gathered with meticulous curation and unique arrangements, infused with the modern, contemporary touch Riff brings to each of her hits. In doing so, she weaves a rich, energetic tapestry with a unique language and an unmistakable personal fingerprint.