MASADA

After West Coast clarinetist Ben Goldberg in 2009 reformed his old project New Klezmer Trio (with drummer Kenny Wollesen and acoustic bassist Greg Cohen) for his new album, the question when he will touch Zorn's material for his another release became just a question of time. Both Wollensen and Cohen are long time Zorn's collaborators, so no strange their just next release is based on Zorn's Masada material.

Luckily "Baal.." was recorded by quartet, not trio - fourth member this time is NY downtown based pianist Jamie Saft. He added plenty of melodic and rhythmic piano elements to album's music what in combination with strong Zorn's compositions made album really better.

When listening every new Masada's Book Of Angels every new release I believe one could expect to hear almost always quality if a bit predictable mix of klezmer and free-jazz.This album is not an exemption: soulful and melodic klezmer is mixed with free improvs almost 50/50 and the result is predictably attractive. Possibly main moment which makes this release more interesting is Goldberg is one of leading clarinet player nowadays (ok, there are not too many of them on jazz scene), so even more or less know music sound different and more unusual.

In all - not masterpiece,but one more strong Masada's Book Of Angels series' release. My rating is 3,5.

Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista-led NY downtown-based quartet plays John Zorn composed,produced (and released on his Tzadik Records) compositions.

Music is based on Eastern European Jewish folk (klezmer) or it's modern free-jazz flavored version,for years promoted by John Zorn as Masada's Book.Possibly, most interesting moment of all album's music is how organically klezmer roots are melted in Brazil percussion rhythms and how attractive can sound such exotic mix of acoustic Middle East instruments as oud,Latin percussion and jazzy piano/pump organ.

Not revolutionary album, it has many pleasant and beautiful moments on it. World music's legacy with doze of jazz and scent of NY downtown.

This album opens long and very diverse Masada's Book of Angels series. Piano man Jamie Saft is regular John Zorn's collaborator on different projects, here he plays with own full- acoustic jazz trio (with two other musicians,collaborating with Zorn - bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Ben Perowsky.

Music on this album is very melodic, a bit melancholic jazz - from post bop to contemporary , heavily based on Masada's klezmer tunes. Another element you can easily recognise in this album's music is contemporary music. Well balanced between "serious" and "attractive", this album's compositions present great example of modern jazz. All musicians are extremely competent,and Saft's piano is just excellent!

Great release for jazz lovers, this album lacks adventure - very professional and not boring at all, it sounds too safe for music, associated with John Zorn. And a bit too comfortable.

Masada's Book Two - release of so-called Masada Quintet (classic Masada plus pianist Uri Cane) and Joe Lovano as guest.

Usually I wait every new Masada's release because you never know, what version of klezmer - jazz will you find on each. Happily, often every such release is pleasant surprise. Don't want to say "Stolas" is unpleasant - great usually piano-less Masada's quartet plays there with pianist and additional sax player (in fact - not additional, but just another, because Zorn himself plays on one song only).

But - I wasn't pleasantly surprised this time at all. Usual klezmer based jazz, but in form of quite conservative bop/cool jazz/post-bop. With nice acoustic piano, melancholic sax and all other genre's attributes. Pleasant acoustic music, but didn't I hear it hundred times before?

Possibly this release is oriented more to avant-jazz haters, with its openly conservative direction? Maybe yes. But as a result we have average vintage klezmer-based album without sparks at all. Not bad but ... let say a bit boring. Zorn himself,Tzadik label and some more artists released endless amount of klezmer based music during last 20 years. Do we need one more standard album of this genre?

Still nice listening for more conservative fans of early modern jazz though.

Everyone familiar with Masada's Book of Angels series know, that all releases are different, and it's often difficult to describe music, recorded on one or another of them.

Balan, recorded by Cracow Klezmer Band, is one of most difficult to be described. Not because music is complex or very unusual there,more because all difference is in muances and atmosphere.

All klezmer-avant movement grew up from NY downtown, and Zorn and his Tzadik label gave us the possibility to listen very unusual versions of Jewish folk rooted free jazz/avant music. In that sense there is not such a big difference with this release - you will find one more version of klezmer based music.

Main difference (at least for me) is that musicians there are from one of a few place, where klezmer lived as day to day folk music, from one of historical Jewish culture capitol - Krakow. So, returning back to roots in some sense,

I was born and grew up in another biggest center of Jewish world culture - Wilno, and perfectly remember Jewish families living in neighborhood. In fact, all my childhood was spent between them, No, I never heard klezmer played as folk music in my childhood, but I perfectly remember that specific atmosphere, Jewish culture and everyday life in place,where lived their mothers and grandmothers. Klezmer iz organic musical component of their live and character - melancholic, emotional, funny,sad...

Music,played by Cracow Klezmer band is too chamber to be accepted as original Yiddish folklore, too academic and too ... avantgarde. But possibly because their music was born right on its roots, it has some very natural, very authentic feeling.

Bayan (kind Eastern European accordion with buttons instead of keys on right side),violin, acoustic bass, percussion and strange wordless vocals. Plus strings quartet as guests. Music sounds quite refined ,sometimes almost academic, but every second of it is full of that indescribable soulful feeling you can hardly find in overseas klezmer sound.

Far not most experimental or avant, this music attracts more by its atmosphere and emotional level. Must have for everyone interested in klezmer avant roots and klezmer as cultural phenomena in general.

John Zorn's Masada is a long lasting free jazz and klezmer mix based project. Some like their first series (original Masada albums, John Zorn & Co. original line up and NY downtown free jazz+ klezmer emotional tunes), many afraid of too big influence of avant jazz on later recordings (played by different musicians, but based on Masada's material).

I agree there is some truth in such opinion, especially for newcomers. Happily, this excellent avant guitarist Marc Ribot album is different. Being one of Masada Book Two (Book Of Angels) release, this music has its roots in Masada. But in fact, you can listen there avant power trio (with great bassist Trevor Dunn on board), playing electrified jazz fusion,very close to your usual jazz rock.

Marc Ribot's guitar is heavy, screaming and scratching, often close to shredding, but melodic and melancholic Masada tunes give to all music structure and compositional finishing. Main accent is put on atmosphere, emotions, not on technical superiority, so music is very alive and attractive. There are only few real "free jazz" moments, and in whole this album could really be listen by wide auditory - from heavy instrumental rock fans to electrified jazz rock lovers to NY downtown sound maniacs.

Really recommended! For many fans it could be really accessible and attractive step to avant territory without big risk to be disappointed!

My rating is 4+!

Third John Zorn's classic Masada album is a great one. Nor is it very different from previous two, but there the music became that essential mix of free jazz and klezmer all Masada's are so well-known. Usual collaborators team (Dave Douglas / trumpet,Greg Cohen / bass,Joey Baron / drums) besides John Zorn on trumpet shows there all the best they could play. Jewish folk melodies (if someone doesn't heard what the klezmer is just imagine hot mix of Eastern European and Balkan folk ,slightly scented with Middle East sounds) are great raw material for excellent free jazz improvisations of excellent jazz musicians. Two trumpets interplays sound as explosions on the back-up support from rhythm section (which is a source of excellent improvs by itself).

John Zorn's Masada has a decades of own history, which continues nowadays. It is perfect entry place to newcomers to Zorn's music and to klezmer jazz as well. Very recommended for everyone interested in world free jazz amalgam. For those familiar with other classic Masada's albums this one is not very different, even if could be placed between best of them.

I waited for this album from its very first days of release, and now I am listening to it. Yes, it is what I expected: electric band of Zorn's most regular collaborator's play Masada variations, mixing them with some 60-s movies soundtrack melodies.

Most of all this album attracts me by rare possibility to hear Masada -based real electric guitar based fusion. Guitarist Marc Ribot is this album's hero for sure. Just imagine airy, vintage sound recordings full of electric guitar soloing, old keyboards, vibraphone - and all these machinery are used to play Middle East and Eastern European (or klezmer, what is possibly more correct) tunes based melancholic, even nostalgic music.

A bit minimalistic, this music will catch you not by its technique, but by unbelievable atmosphere you didn't hear by years.

In whole - Zorn's best team is playing simple and genial music, possibly their best work for years. It's only a bit pity - Zorn's trumpet could add that small ingredient this music needs to be named masterpiece.

With no doubt - 4+.

At the end of year 2009 John Zorn announced he will record 12 (!) new albums during 2010,one every month. Today is just very first days of March,2010, but three his albums are released yet, so possibly he will fulfil his announcement.

Mycale is very first Zorn/Masada album of 2010, released on "The Book of Angels" series. I listened it with double high interest ( possibly, it will show, what will happens during this year with Zorn's music, all these 12 albums, you know...). And as very often with Zorn's releases, I was pleasantly surprised. This work is not just another usual klezmer-free jazz Masada variation ( great music, but quite deeply explored by Zorn till now).

This album is minimalistic VOCALS ONLY (!) work, based on klezmer tradition! Four great female vocalists sing Masada -rooted songs a-capella ! All vocalists are quite respectful singers itself, but this vocal quartet sounds excellent. I hardly can remember any other vocals- only album there on PA (for sure, I can miss something). The nearest one is almost vocals only Diamanda Galas debut work (but she uses some electronic noises and loops there).

Israeli born AYELET ROSE GOTTLIEB is collaborated with Zorn's Tzadik records from 2006 (where her second CD was released). She composes and performs improvisation music, beside of own project works for theatres music as well. BASYA SCHECHTER is a leader of her own band, Pharaoh's Daughter , swirling Hasidic chants, Mizrahi and Sephardic folk-rock, and spiritual styling filtered through percussion, flute, strings and electronics. Argentina-born jazz-singer SOFIA REI KOUTSOVITIS sung with Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra ,John Scofield and many others. Moroccan French world fusion singer MALIKA ZARRA is a hot name in clubs around Europe with her elegant mix of Berber folk, French pop and lounge jazz.

Eleven short songs show excellent combination of voices, folky, oriental, klezmer and jazzy tunes. Overall, I can name that music a-capella folk world recording. The album is short, and you will listen it with a pleasure! Strong and interesting beginning of 2010, let's wait what will be next Zorn's surprise.

Everything is set for the John Zorn Year in Music, but it all depends on the artistic triumph of the 12 albums the American composer is planning for 2010, one for each month. Whether or not it will be that way, the news is still seriously thrilling, especially for connoisseurs. I wonder instead if the idea itself, however surprising, is in any way radical, coming from such a prolific artist. There's a serious dose of showing off in his current ambition, lacking probably the most a no-matter-how-risky (even for a serial thinker like Zorn) inter-conceptuality between the 12 works. We can rather say that it's a record number of releases (for Zorn, not for Tzadik as well), either continuations of already matured series, either having to do with relatively new conceptual resolutions. But this thing has been going on for more than a decade anyway.

The first album from the big sequence (Mycale: Book Of Angels Vol.13) has its own share of "junk trivia", easy to be remarked with an observant eye. Compared to the 12 volumes of the original Masada project, this one now stretches further in an indeed unforseen way, strengthening the belief (one confirmed a long time ago, anyhow) that klezmer has become more than just a second great musical and compositional orientation for John Zorn. But the most interesting detail has to be the novel vocal approach (the album being introduced to us as being in an exquisite "a cappella" spirit) of a form of music that, until now, has been the subject of numerous instrumental interpretations and visions, harmonised in jazz, experimental, chamber music or, undeviatingly, klezmer. Even on the bigger scale, what we have here is a pretty notable and rare comprehensive example of vocal Zorn. Beyond any meaning of comparison, I don't believe the intention of this vocal project can be likened with precursor traditions, such as collages of voices, the "spoken words" manner (in the memorable Spillane or elsewhere), the incantations from the slightly-daemonic oriental New Traditions In East Asian Bars, the occult studies at the crossroad of the 90s with the 00s, or, to exhaust all instances with the most extreme case of all, the hardcore katharsis practiced by Patton or Eye, as well as several other directions, mostly experimental but never concretely imposing. At least through its presentation, Mycale is alludingly promising and hard to neglect.

After all, what could be more appealing in this album? Certainly not so much the new Zorn collection item itself, as perhaps his most intimate involvement in conceiving a Book Of Angels album, and certainly not so much the new slice of cult fantasy and contemporary stilistic klezmer, as a sensible motion outside the center of such a sphere. John Brackett described klezmer as one of the traditions Zorn looked into based on a principle of approaching the rarely-approached. Hereon, just like the instrumental interpretations off the previous album didn't necessarily reflect "the Masada klezmer", but each of the artists' class, neither is the vocal music off Mycale exclusively klezmer-related, but tends to go instead with a subtly richer pallette. But the above-mentioned principle does mount, at least concerning the folklore hand-picked by Zorn for this work, and valiantly describes the music, at least until everything slips into something lighter, or the quartet's performance places itself above the music or the style.

We mustn't expect something original from the composer. As far as the musical experience goes, it is pleasant enough for the simple music fan, but also with moderate enough valences, reduced to vocal style and accents, to make the initiated find it hard to believe that they're listening to something truly special (a curse I sadly think it hits every volume, in comparison with the much more tonic Masada model recordings). Regardless how much a cappella, I can't feel classical choral sustenance at all, but rather a twice between folk (with fragments from Pessoa sounding rather more expressive than the ones of a more esoteric origin) and vocal jazz. The studio effect is austere; there's also little to talk about improvisations or other means of evading out of form. Imitating here, for 4 voices, typical Masadian compositions written so many times for instruments, the music has a structural profile, revealing both the individuality of each voice (everything tending to always start from a rhythmic foundation, on which the solistic melodicity blossoms soon after) and the unitary if variable success of the dialogues born between them (I can't feel harmony elsewhere but in the choruses, the rest dealing with something else). Occasionally, such details are more discrete, musicality prevailing, yet I can't deny that several more such moments would have been desirable.

Vocal art in a never presented before form by John Zorn, a new and fresh musical variation of the Masada canon, an equally fine debut for a new decade in the artist's career, a reasonably styled album or just pleasant-proned music. At least one of these reflects what it's all about in Mycale.