LEWISTON — Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen can take the Sephardic melodies his grandfather sang in prayer, or his mother hummed while washing dishes, and make them groove.

He can take a sinuous and spontaneous jazz bass line and turn it into a Top 40 hit.

The composer, bassist and singer will perform Sunday, Oct. 17, at Bates College as part of his North American tour featuring the players and songs from his 2009 album "Aurora," which has lyrics in Hebrew, English, Spanish and Ladino. Supporting Cohen will be vocalist Karen Malka, percussionist Itmar Doari and oudist Amos Hoffman.

“It’s a very good practice for any musician to learn to sing. It’s a beautiful practice in humility, an ongoing craft,” Cohen said about why he took up singing after decades as a successful jazz bassist. “But you have to take care. You have to like yourself enough to listen to yourself. To accept things that don’t always come out just how you imagined them. It is very exposed.”

While he was growing up, Cohen's mother would sing Ladino songs, the Spanish-based language of the Sephardic Jewish tradition, as she went about her day. The sound of her — along with the influence of his father and grandfather singing in the Sabbath and the classical training he received on piano — stuck with him.

“When I was really young, Bach’s music fascinated me. He sustains two melodies at the same time, and one supports the other: Without one, the other can’t exist,” Cohen said. “It’s like a fifth dimension that comes into play when I’m listening to and creating music.”

Cohen’s sojourn in New York as a young man also made an indelible stamp on his music. There, he went from working construction to playing with jazz great Chick Corea and as many Latin ensembles as he could manage. He enjoys drawing on Latin grooves and tucking them into his arrangements.

Though Cohen sings in Hebrew and Ladino, he has few qualms about being misunderstood. Thinking back to his first revelatory experience listening to his sister’s Beatles albums, he recalls the joys of imagining his own stories to match the compelling songs he fell in love with.

"I could make up my own images because I didn't understand the lyrics, or only half understood,” Cohen said. “The honesty of that music was stronger than any language and that’s what I long to transmit with my own music."

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Tickets are $12 for general admission, $6 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at www.batestickets.com. For more information, call 786-6135 or visit olinarts@bates.edu.