Name: Haggai Cohen-Milo
Occupation: Double bassist, composer
Nationality: Israeli
Current release: Haggai Cohen-Milo's new album Gravitations is out via XJAZZ!.
Topics that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I love great coffee and I care about it a lot, however, I will not snob the DB filter Kafe when on the train ;)  
I got into chess recently, thanks to my 9 year old daughter. I became a little obsessed, learning openings and a little theory, playing online every day, following the top level players. I love it.

If you enjoyed this Haggai Cohen-Milo interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



For your latest release Gravitations, what did you start with? If there were conceptual considerations, what were they? Tell me a bit about the way the new material developed and gradually took its final form, please.

The Gravitations project started without a name. I was approached by Prof. Daniel Kuhnel, the director of the Hamburg Symphoniker, to compose my original ‘reactions’ to three classical masterpieces.

My first reaction was that I am not interested in doing a jazz arrangement of the classical pieces or something like “classical meets jazz” but if he was interested I could compose completely new music which will be inspired by and gravitated around the three classical pieces. He decided to trust in this process and this is how it started.

We chose music by Mahler, Debussy and Verdi. I composed my reaction to each of them, and we played them through 2025 in concerts at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg. Those concerts were recorded, and once I had that music in my hands it was clear that it had to be released in some form.

I chose a collection out of the 3 concerts (in total about 4 hours of music) to fit on an album. So it’s a kind of a snapshot, a little window into the full Gravitations project, and still it stands on its own as an album.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I love to play music with my friends, I love the act of playing, for many reasons. So basically my main motivation is to get to that, to the play, in a group. When I get to compose this is what I think about; how would it be to play it, what can it feel like, how can I compose for that specific group of musicians to get them turned on.

The other thing that gives me the biggest impulse is other music. More than half of my compositions time is spent on listening and learning other people’s music. Active listening, extracting all sorts of information and getting curious by other music always gets me going.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Very interesting … This changes very much.

In some cases I have defined an idea which I wanted to achieve, for example one of the songs on the new record is called “Descending Chords.” It was composed with my partner James Shipp and we knew from the beginning the shape of the accompaniment and the harmonic structure.



The melody was written much more freely, just trying to satisfy the ear. However, many times I would just search for a sound for a couple hours, like getting lost in a new city, and eventually just stumble on what I was looking for without knowing what it was from the start.

The rigor of the work is similar, the path is different.

What was your own learning curve/creative development like when it comes to interpretation - what were challenges and breakthroughs?

At the beginning I was trying to focus on the question, ‘why’ am I doing this. In the context of classical music, we wanted to show that those pieces are still very much alive, they have so much more to give, more than the usual museum-like concert hall experience.

The first step was to investigate the scores, to learn as much as possible about the original piece and composer, the history, the personal stories behind it all. I knew that everything I need for my composition is already there, I just need interesting ways to excavate and use it.

I started copying the original scores but in different ways, just dynamics, just rhythms, throwing away the notes. I would put on the Debussy and play with the orchestra, improvise around it. I would isolate one or two bars and look at the orchestra score horizontally rather than vertically, all sorts of play. The more I dug into it the more I could get out of it.

One of the key phrases often used with regards to interpretation are the “composer's intentions”. What is your own perspective on this topic and its relevance for your own interpretations?

I wonder what this phrase “composer's intentions” actually means. During the composition process I was very busy with what Mahler, Debussy and Verdi had in mind when they worked. Not specifically about how to perform each passage of their piece but more in the big picture, the politics in the environment they existed in, what was their composition a reaction to?

The three pieces I was dealing with are all very different.

Mahler composed what he called “six symphonic songs” in Das Lied von Der Erde after his 8th symphony. He was afraid to compose a 9th symphony because of the “curse of the 9th” where many known composers at the time died while working on their ninth symphony. He wrote music to ancient poems describing the human condition. This all factors into my composition.

Verdi wrote a Requiem Mass, a Christian religious ceremony. I decided my reaction would also be a ceremony of devotion, not connected to any specific religion but a personal one, where each of us is allowed to participate in our own way, but still keeping the original “composer’s intention” if you will.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

I don’t have specific requirements. I want to work, I want to write this music and play it. And I will do it under many changing circumstances.

I do believe in the work itself, in investing time and effort. I usually compose on my piano (or any piano), when a lot of the process is done in my head first.

I sometimes make sketches and play them with people around me. I record myself while composing and I’ll listen later, sometimes with a friend, sometimes with my wife. I do this to see how I feel listening back to my idea in the presence of another person.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

I think this connects to the question before. I do not have a ritual, I just do it.

When I’m working on a project it’s in my head all the time. I would sit at my piano/computer and finalise ideas at 7am or at 23:00 at night, for hours at a time or for a few minutes.

Anything goes.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Important distinction you’re making here. My tendency is to keep everything in control, but this is a trait in myself I’m aware of and actively trying to let go.

I think there is a balance of keeping control and letting go, and I’m constantly playing with it. I love having people around me with the natural tendency to lose control, I envy this quality.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

There is an element of spirituality the same way when I play with my daughters or hang out with my wife or friends. The creative process is a part of life, it’s always happening, not just with music. There is not a distinction for me. Sometimes I'm more connected and sometimes less, I still go for it.

I think at specific moments I feel this kind of release or catharsis and maybe this is what people think of when they connect art to spirituality, I’m not sure. It’s all kind of one thing for me.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practice?

I allow the process to continue, always.

In practice, with the Gravitations project for example: I was always composing until the last minute, I would come to the first rehearsal with the complete score for the band which was just finished the day before. At this point the composition is complete you could say, however since rehearsal is just starting and the music goes from notes on the page to actually being played so many changes are being made in this process. I would hear things I didn't anticipate and change them, the musicians will have comments and again the music will change.

Almost before each concert, minutes before going on stage I will still make a change in the form of a solo section or a melody, those usually end up being some of the best moments in the concert. And when we get to play it again, we will still make more adjustments.

Once I got to see Paul Simon soundcheck with his band (afternoon, on stage, before a concert in Oakland). And he was still rehearsing with the band, and making changes and adjustments. It just seemed like he was still curious to try and explore, the music was never stale.

How do you think the meaning, or effect of an individual piece is enhanced, clarified or possibly contrasted by the EPs, or albums it is part of? Does each piece, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

I don’t have a clear answer on this. It very much depends on the kind of album.

And so much is in the ears of the listener. What I mean is, even when I listen to the radio, or a playlist, or a mix tape (which I love) and even when the songs are shuffled, some kind of logic or story or a journey is emerging.

Consistency is only one consideration when making an album, that’s all I'm saying.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?

I think production has a massive role. I think the listener, first and foremost, gets a ‘sound’, a total impression. This has a lot to do with values other than the composition and performance. I think a terrible mix can ruin a song, but no great mix can save a bad song or performance.

Composition and performance go hand in hand. I think if the composition is right for the band, the band will sound better playing it. Although I also think a great band can sound great playing some lame compositions, but the compositions are still lame (who can even decide what’s lame, or good or bad, happy to talk much more about those topics, but for us here, I hope my points are clear).

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I’m trying to make it all just a part of my life, nothing too special, just keep on keeping on.