John Zorn's Masada - Book 1, Book 2 and Beyond...

Vol. 32 said to be Mary Halvorson, though I can't seem to confirm it anywhere.

 

Confirmed by Tzadik to the fan site Masada World on Facebook on 7/3

 

Bring on multiple books of Naked City.

 

That's actually an awesome idea.

 

I first saw it on Facebook also, but couldn't find any info on Tzadik. Sounds like they did confirm it though.

 

I feel like Tzadik has been promoting the "final release" in Book Two for what feels like it must be going on two or three years now. Every time a new volume comes out, they seem to advertise it on the site with the old, "As Book Two draws to a close" bit. LOL.

Any word on recordings for Book Three? His bands have been playing what he was calling Book Three songs for almost three years now. Have these newer songs just been absorbed into Book Two and he's just carrying on under that umbrella?

 

Book 3 is due as a boxed set in the Autumn ... they haven't segued from 2 into 3 without saying. I think that they may have put out sets of numbers to multiple artists for Book 2 and been uncertain about how many full volumes that they would issue. I've got no information backing that up, but the idea was clearly to get enough volumes to cover the number of pieces and they may have built some flexibility into how the final series would reflect that. I think that the number of volumes may also reflect the satisfaction of Zorn with the project because later discs that may well have taken longer to prepare have been very successful indeed.

 

Eeeeeep... odds are good that I won't be able to afford a Tzadik-priced box set. Even if it is worth every penny.

Hope JZ moves to (lossless) downloads sometime soon.

 

Some used to be available available on us.7digital.com. When I just double checked before posting, I see that they are gone except four of the non-Tzadik albums. I bought half of last years releases there.

A Mary Halvorson album will be an instant buy for me. Her albums in general are. Even every album I've heard where she's not the leader is worthwhile.

 

Yeah, there used to be a chunky selection of 16/44 downloads at HDTracks too. Bought a couple, fine quality.

But those were all older titles. New releases never showed up there.

Will check out Mary Halvorson, thanks. New to me.

 

It hasn't even been listed yet but with about ten discs it's going to be a serious outlay: $150-200 unless they limit it as well. Plenty of time to save up though.

 

Any further word on the Book 3 box?

 

I heard something about it being pushed off to March 2018 or something like that ... can't find my source for that right now. It seems to be all complete and ready to go. The best source of information other than Tzadik's site will be Downtown Music Gallery and they haven't listed it yet.

 

Echoing the love expressed for the Tap album with Metheny: if you don’t have it, you’re missing out. Maybe the best Metheny release in the last decade.

 

I've been a little surprised that the end of the Book of Angels series hasn't generated more attention (like some articles assessing the series, for instance). I feel like people are really sleeping on this stuff--maybe because Zorn is so prolific? But is there a more impressive recording project in this century so far? I'd say not, based on what I've heard (a little over half the releases).

 

I think that a lot of people bounce off Zorn hard the first time that they run into the wilder stuff, so the audience that he retains over time is small but fervent. Also, he's a known quantity so no critics gets to look like they have their finger on the pulse by championing him. He was as fashionable as all giddyup when Naked City and The Big Gundown hit but thirty years went by and only those who follow him realise that his creative capacity is very much undimmed.

I agree Book of Angels must be right up there amongst the most prodigious & rewarding recording projects of the century (in fact, I'd struggle to think of another one as significant since some of the ethnomusicology field recording projects of the mid-20th century). Yet it's a tiny proportion of his work ... the Arcana series of books may well be the most impressive series of books on new music for the century, for example.

 

The Book Beriah is available for pre-order!

John Zorn: The Book Beriah

 

$250 for ten CDs with a bonus disc. So tempting.

 

I think that's for the signed version--the CDs without John Zorn's John Hancock are $150.

I'm (reluctantly) leaning toward the digital downloads at $75. I'm trying to decide if the packaging (which I'm sure will be lovely) is worth the extra $75.

 

Aha, thanks for the clarification. I only glanced at it. I think I may be able to do the $150. I did just get a raise after all...

 

I'm not a fan of Pledgemusic ... the tiers on that site always seem crazy. I don't see Zorn’s signature as being worth an extra $100 & the t-shirt is unnecessary, but the price for the boxed set is actually pretty decent. For me this set was always going to be autobuy but I might just contact Downtown Music Gallery and see if they have any stock of this allocated.

 

I'm still on the fence, considering the fact that I'm laying out for 11 CDs without having heard a single note, and not knowing who's playing. Having said that, if the quality of Book II is predictive of what we're getting here, it's exciting.

That's not a terrible price, either, considering the typical cost of items on Tzadik, plus, I'm sure the Chippy art is going to be fantastic.

 

The Overview tab on the PledgeMusic page has all the deets.

 

I had split browsers open while I was working. Failed to see that...Thanks, Rob!

I'm torn...There are some wonderful musicians here. I am a big fan of many of the more recent collaborators who are involved, like Spike Orchestra, Klezmerson, Abraxas, etc. It's bittersweet, though, as a long-time fan, not seeing many of the older Zorn compatriots on there, like the String Trio and the Bar Kokhba Sextet. No Masada reunion (as there had been for Book II) or Dreamers, no Marc Ribot.

It's admittedly a little difficult seeing that generation age as the newer one becomes more prominent.

 

I pitched it to my wife and she said, do it.