Moonchild: John Zorn's Moonchild - Songs Without Words Genre: Avant Metal Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 2006 Category: Scares The Horses My Rating: 3/10 Personnel Mike Patton, Vocals Trevor Dunn, Bass Guitar Joey Baron, Drums “Hellfire.” Starts fairly rough with Patton's vocals; half way through briefly has almost a Red Hot Chili Peppers or Faith No More feel, suggesting some of Patton's musical roots. “Ghosts of Thelema.” The slow introduction with mainly bass & drums has a Painkiller feel. Patton's vocals are high like the spooky child in a horror movie, but as we hit the two-minute mark there is a crescendo on solo drums and thereafter the vocals are occasionally guttural. “Abraxas.” Intermittent glossolalia from Patton bookended by directionless, abrasive instrumental passages. “Possession.” After a static introduction the fast 5/4 passage that follows is a surprise and Patton vocalises with international language sounds close to the mic. This varied track of over five minutes is the first one on the album that grabs my attention. “Caligula.” Extreme, game-style with Baron chopping & changing the rhythms. “616.” Again, a slight Painkiller feel. The instrumental section is slow but speeds up with virtuosic drum lines from Baron on the brief vocal sections. “Equinox.” A fast, dynamic passage alternates with a slow, static one. No Patton on this track that I noticed. “Moonchild.” Patton sounds diabolical over a gloomy, threatening background. “Part Maudit.” La Part Maudite is a book by frequent Zorn namecheck Georges Bataille (here presumably mis-spelled?): the title is translated as The Accursed Share. Patton squeals repeatedly, then doubles the drums, then does it all again. “The Summoning.” Baron plays delicately on the cymbals while Patton sighs, croaks & breathes threateningly. “Sorceress.” Baron keeps up a constant roll on the drums, breaking only for Patton's vocal entry. Dunn’s bass is disagreeably distorted. Even coming back to this album with the experience of the six Moonchild albums that followed it, this is pretty gruelling and notably short of the pounding riffs that make some of the middle-period Moonchild albums so appealing. Whether through Bill Laswell's presence (as mix engineer) or due to Zorn alone this album has quite a Painkiller feel, and is certainly no more accessible. I find that this album weighs upon my mood: it's pretty depressing and only for those wanting to gaze long & hard into the abyss.
I love this one! I saw it live in London before hearing the cd, I was quite shocked. It must've been one of their first concerts, the group was the most concentrated I've ever seen them. I received the cd the week after the concert. A couple of years later (not sure about the time frame though) I saw them live again in my city, Madrid. Sold out concert, mostly Patton fans who thought he had gone apesh*t crazy, especially for the Heliogabalus solo encore.
Teresa De Avila is quietly playing in my family room this AM and it is a (mostly) meditative delight. Easily a 9/10 for me.
I can't imagine a time when I wanted to hear Moonchild and wouldn't reach for (at least) three other Moonchild albums before that one. And I definitely can’t imagine a time when I wanted to hear four Moonchild albums back-to-back!
Actually, I never bought another Moonchild after that one, figuring one was plenty. Suggest me another?
All are their own thing, but for me both Ipssissimus and The Crucible are essential, plenty of Zorn and Ribot there, and Dunn madness as well. Both are classics for me.
I agree, and both got decent scores from me here. We haven't got to the two Templars album but I can say right now that they aren't in the same league. Which leaves Heliogabalus ... I'll be interested to discover what my score is for that one because it's quite an album!
Uri Caine: Moloch, Book of Angels volume 6 Genre: Solo Piano Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 2006 Category: Accessible/Relaxed My Rating: 8/10 Personnel: Uri Caine, Piano (Just to state the bleedin’ obvious!) “Rimmon.” Although Caine's style is a lot looser than Chick Corea’s, this piece has a strong Corea feel due to its Moorish feel and rather soaring presentation. “Domiel.” A heavy 5/4 in the left hand gives way to ecstatic lines in the right hand on a piece with somewhat of a Stride feel. “Mehriel.” A delicate waltz. “Savliel. Game-style head though Caine's virtuosic improvisation is far from chaotic. “Tufrial.” Begins with a music box feel. Caine plays this overtly “Eastern” piece with a light touch. “Jerazol.” High-spirited Jazz. “Harshiel.” Another piece with a Moorish feel. “Dumah.” Accenting in the left hand gives this a dance feel while the right hand improvisation is free-flowing Jazz with Blues inflections. The ending is very cute. “Harviel.” Slow Tango in the left hand, fast Arabesques in the right hand with a Jarrett feel. The improvisation on this track is varied & inventive, straying notably from the initial feel. “Segef.” Spirited, fleet piece with robust dynamics. “Sahriel.” An “Eastern” ballad with a romantic feel. “Shokad.” A “Jewish” dance with a playful feel and bracing dissonances. “Zophiel.” A flowing tango with a rather uninteresting head. At five minutes feels long. “Hayyoth.” A game-style head followed by playing that is cheerfully wild but not abrasive. “Nuriel.” Sentimental, yearning piece that for me is the standout on the album. “Ubaviel.” Exhilarating Jazz with quite a loose, extemporised feel. “Hadrial.” Fragile, mysterious piece with the lightest of touch. “Cassiel.” Raucous, percussive performance and a delightful jeu d’esprit. “Rimmon.” I'm not sure whether this is an alternate take or a planned reprise but, while similar, it's a longer version. I've tended to neglect this disc and was quite startled to discover that it's actually a full 77 minutes long: a double album in the old money. That length actually works against the listener because there's so much music here that the album has a tendency to fade into the background but every track is clearly distinguished the abundance of performance strategies is striking. Hard to see why anyone would dislike this album and it feels like must-own from Book Two.
John Zorn, The Stone Issue One Genre: Mixed Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 2006 Category: Accessible/Weird My Rating: 5/10 Personnel John Zorn, Saxophone Dave Douglas, Trumpet Mike Patton, Voice Rob Burger, Organ/Electric Piano Bill Laswell, Bass Ben Perowsky, Drums “Introduction.” Still & calm with organ from Burger & sighing vocals from Patton. “Interlude 1.” Squeals and other animal noises from Patton. “Part One.” Laswell & Perowsky set up a groove with a Masada front-line. At nearly seven minutes this is fairly accessible and an interesting twist on the original Masada quartet. “Interlude 2.” Free improvisation with the usual extended techniques from Z&D plus Patton. “Part Two.” Sleazy film cue feel on a track lasting over sixteen minutes. Zorn's alto is creamy and the bass riff keeps things ticking over. Burger’s Fender Rhodes adds atmosphere and Patton is mercifully quiet. Drums pick up in the fifteenth minutes to provide some sense of climax. “Interlude 3.” Gloomy bass from Laswell over static textures. “Postlude.” Balmy & static with Miles-esque muted trumpet from Douglas. Subdued fluttering from Zorn. “Coda.” Agitated (& familiar) alto lines from Zorn over a dissonant backdrop for nine minutes including profound bass from Laswell, who emerges with distorted lines late in the piece. I think that I only managed to get to The Stone at its original location two or three times. Zorn's concert space on Avenue C was a spartan black box with no external features to draw attention to it: getting to it was a chore; sitting in it a rite of passage. (The Bayreuth of the Downtown scene?) We were there in the cold of winter for Christmas 2013 when they opened for a particularly starry improv night: Zorn, Mori, Ches Smith, Courvoisier, Feldman, Uri Caine, Chris Otto, David Watson, Nonoko Yoshida & Chuck Bettis. This signed, numbered limited edition CD was recorded to benefit the venue although it wasn't recorded there but instead at Bill Laswell’s studio, enabling some multi-tracking of Patton's vocals. Proceeding without track breaks, this has a coherent album feel but for me it is blighted by too much Patton in the first half, where his extreme vocabulary sits ill in what is otherwise a fairly accessible framework. It's important to emphasise that most of the album (32 minutes of 47) is really contained in three tracks, all of which have something to recommend them. Overall, by no means negligible although I couldn't recommend it as an early purchase.
Long years since I listened to this one, I remember in some parts it reminded me to In a silent way!!
Nova Quartet: Nova Express Genre: Acoustic Jazz Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 2011 Category: Accessible/Scares The Horses My Rating 9/10 Personnel John Medeski, Piano Kenny Wollesen, Vibes Trevor Dunn, Double Bass Joey Baron, Drums “Chemical Garden.” Skittering, angular piece with rapid changes and game-style elements. “Port of Saints.” Sinister, atmospheric piece with vibes playing a Bagatelle-style head later doubled by piano. Baron employs precise touches on ride cymbal; Wollesen dominates the first half, then Medeski takes the lead for the second half of the piece. “Rain Flowers.” Urgent walking bass, a semaphore fast line for vibraphone, then a breakdown followed by Medeski’s dramatic 6/4 ostinato goaded on by Baron's drums. The Zappa-esque atonal lines are wonderful. Mid-track things turn on a dime and we have a lounge-jazz feel over easy bass playing. “The Outer Half.” A 6/4 dance with hallucinatory atmospherics from bowed vibraphone. Sounds just like Burroughs tribute should. Then (after an atonal episode) flowing, chic Jazz. Brushes “solo” from Baron. “Dead Fingers Talk.” Free improvisation feel with occasional vocal sounds. A head is heard late in the piece. “The Ticket That Exploded.” One of my favourite Zorn pieces. The stop-start feel of this piece with game-style wildness breaks into another propulsive ostinato from Medeski with fiery playing from Wollesen. After a breakdown the driving rhythm returns but now it is Medeski running wild at the top of the piano, then a return to the head, chaos and a big chord to end. “Blue Veil.” A restless bass rhythm played on a single note co-exists with probing improvisation for the first three minutes of this piece. Bass solo over stasis, then Baron cues a 6/8 rhythm on cymbal that sets up Wollesen for the sort of gaily elevated music we might expect from an Alhambra or Gnostic album. After that we return to the opening sounds until the end of this substantial, seven minute tracks. “IC-2118.” Wollesen is absent from this track, which proves to be a somewhat abrasive game-style piece for piano trio lasting well over seven minutes. “Lost Words.” Short, rather static piece. Lyrical bass solo. “Between Two Worlds.” Bluesy piano introduces a calm consonant finale. I gave Dreamachines 10/10 and this album comes so close to the same score. Nova Express is a genuinely thrilling album, defining a musical style that combines atonal lines with extreme improvisatory virtuosity. Zorn's presence as conductor is keenly felt on these turn-on-a-dime pieces and the sense of musical cut-ups means that this music exists, as promised, as a tribute to William Burroughs.
John Zorn: John Zorn's Game Pieces volume 1 - Xu Feng Genre: Game Piece/Avant Rock Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, Recorded 2000 Category: Weird My Rating: 4/10 Personnel Fred Frith, Guitars John Scott, Guitars Chris Brown, Electronics David Slusser, Electronics Dave Lombardo, Drums William Winant, Drums “The Valiant Ones.” A sort of Avant Rock track with more or less straightforward angry guitars and drums. “Legend Of The Mountain.” Notably weirder start (although by no means as “blank” as game pieces from the Parachute years). The electronics performers come to the fore, providing manic elements. “Dragon Gate Inn.” After a synthy beginning this shorter track is dominated by samples with prominent atonal lines at one point from one of the guitarists. “Trouble At Spring Inn.” Metal percussion introduces more of the same. “Hsia Nü.” Static start with tortured melodic lines on one guitar. Speedcore elements. “A Touch Of Zen.” Atmospheric start with gong sounds (some sampled?) & meditations from atonal clean electric guitar. From around 5’30” the pieces has several false endings or silences before rising in volume with distorted guitars. “Mosquito” sound in the right channel. The piece seems struggling to lift out of its reverie for a while but eventually succumbs to it, ending with an ambient feel. “The Fate Of Lee Khan.” Hardcore feel with myriad elements and Lombardo running wild, clearly distinguishable by his blast beats from the more orchestral percussion of Winant. Bracing. “The Assassins.” Prominent sampled electronics with noir pastiche elements, alternating with faster elements. Manipulated voice samples. Later, wah guitar with driving drumbeats and phenomenal drumming to end. “The Beauty Of Yang Hui-Chen.” A hubbub of samples featuring manipulated voice samples, early Zappa feel. “Hidden Fortress.” Stasis with sampled car horns & “laser” sounds etc. Thunderous drumming including blast beats. Stasis to fade. “Raining In The Mountains.” Calm with some unease. Delicate cymbal work with a Gamelan feel. Xu Feng was composed in 1985 directly after Cobra and Zorn specifies in his liner notes that it is either to be performed by the forces on this disc or by six drummers. The music was intended to be combative. This disc was designed to inaugurate a new series of recordings (many of the game pieces still do not appear in the catalogue) but I suspect that even with the second volume featuring Cobra the series sold so badly that it was quietly retired. While live performances of game pieces remain a draw, even Tzadik with its loyal audience has struggled to turn a profit on them. Writing notes on this album was largely a futile endeavour. The sound overall has the sense of multiple collages with jump cuts back & forth between them, but drums (often aggressive) are consistently the driving element and the presence of electric guitar often means that the sound-world defaults to some sort of hard rock. Lombardo in particular is a force of nature on this album. At 74 minutes, Xu Feng can be tiring on the ear although it's too random to require the Scares The Horses label: just the words game piece should be warning enough! If you're feeling adventurous enough to try an experimental rock album in the first place then you'll probably be alright with this and I struggle to think of another Zorn album that does exactly this. On the other hand the sample work does (already) sound somewhat dated in places and my own thirst for this sort of music is easily quenched.
The First 99 1973 - 3 First Recordings 1980 - 1 Pool / 2 Hockey 1983 - 2 Yankees 1985 - 5 The Art of Memory II 1986 - 5 The Bribe / 8 The Big Gundown / 7 Cobra / 5 Xu Feng 1987 - 5 News For Lulu 1988 - 6 Spy vs Spy 1989 - 4 Naked City 1990 - 6 New Traditions in Asian Bar Bands 1992 - 2 Guts of a Virgin/Buried Secrets / 8 Leng T’che 1993 - 8 Radio 1993 - 7 Kristallnacht 1994 - 8 Alef (Masada 1) / 8 Beit (Masada 2) / 8 Gimel (Masada 3) / 10 Live in Jerusalem 1994 - 6 Dalet (Masada 4) 1995 - 7 Hei (Masada 5) / 7 Vav (Masada 6) / 4 Filmworks 3 / 4 Minor Swing 1996 - 9 Voodoo / 9 Bar Kokhba 1997 - 3 The Art of Memory / 5 Euclid's Nightmare 1998 - 4 Downtown Lullaby / 5 Songs For Children 1999 - 8 Taboo and Exile 2002 - 2 IAO Music in Sacred Light 2003 - 6 Buck Jam Tonic / 10 Masada Guitars / 7 Voices in the Wilderness 2005 - 8 Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass / 6 Masada Rock 2006 - 6 Malphas BoA3 / 4 Orobas BoA 4 / 8 Moloch BoA 6 / 3 Moonchild / 5 Astronome / 5 The Stone 1 2007 - 6 Asmodeus BoA 7 2008 - 8 The Rain Horse / 5 The Dreamers / 8 The Crucible / 5 Zaebos BoA 11 2009 - 7 Femina 2010 - 7 Ipsissimus / 5 The Satyr's Play / 7 Interzone / 10 In Search Of The Miraculous / 7 Ipos BoA 14 2011 - 4 Enigmata / 8 At The Gates Of Paradise / 9 Nova Express 2012 - 4 The Classic Guide To Strategy 4 / 8 The Concealed / 10 Mount Analogue / 6 Nosferatu / 7 Abraxas BoA 19 / 4 Rimbaud 2013 - 10 Dreamachines / 6 On The Torment Of Souls / 9 Tap BoA 20 / 4 @ / 6 Lemma / 8 The Book of Heads 2014 - 8 Shir Hashirim / 5 Valentine's Day / 6 The Dream Membrane / 10 Adramalech BoA 22 / 6 Transmigration Of The Magus 2014 - 5 Fragmentations Prayers & Interjections / 7 In The Hall Of Mirrors / 7 Psychomagia / 7 The Alchemist 2015 - 4 The Hermetic Organ 3 / 6 Simulacrum / 4 Hen to Pan / 9 Olympiad 2016 - 8 Sacred Visions / 9 Flaga BoA 27 / 6 Commedia Dell’Arte 2017 - 6 There Is No More Firmament / 5 Paimon BoA 32 / 10 Leonard BoA 30 2018 - 6 Insurrection / 9 Tiferet BB6 / 4 Netzach BB7 / 9 Da’at BB11 / 7 Salem 1692 2019 - 8 The Hierophant 2020 - 7 The Turner Études / 8 Virtue / 6 Azoth (10 x Seven, 9 x Eight, 8 x Eighteen, 7 x Fifteen, 6 x Seventeen, 5 x Fourteen, 4 x Twelve, 3 x Three, 2 x Four, 1 x One)
John Zorn: Filmworks XIII (2002 volume three) - Invitation To A Suicide Genre: Chamber/Soundtrack Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 2002 Category: Relaxed/Accessible My Rating: 9/10 Personnel Marc Ribot, Guitar Rob Burger, Accordion Erik Friedlander, Cello Trevor Dunn, Double Bass Kenny Wollesen, Vibes/Marimba/Drums “Invitation To A Suicide.” This theme is so memorable and striking that you could overlook that it's also quite clever: three bars of 7/4 followed by what (I think!) is a bar of 13/8. Either way, a piece that deserves a classic status. “Suicide Waltz.” Relaxed, Francophile Jazz waltz with accordion prominent and solos for bass & vibes. “Shifting Sands.” Darker, with Bluesy accordion, a steady introductory guitar figure, vibes and (overdubbed?) marimba. Ribot comes to the fore playing clean with delay. “East Greenpoint Rundown.” Marimba plays a 7/4 riff that ties into the main theme. Ribot is quintessentially himself on the first solo here with great crunch tone and loads of reverb. Burger soars on the second solo. “Time Twist.” A drunken, persistent guitar riff with wheezing accordion and cello atmospherics. “The Suicide Kid.” Friedlander takes the lead on this carefree waltz, beginning unaccompanied and then playing the melody with a warm, rich tone before Burger joins in. Solos from accordion & cello, who work well together towards a rapturous end. “Billet Doux.” Short reprise of the main theme. “Suicide Blues Pt. 1.” Slow Blues (naturally) with an extended (& highly idiomatic) solo for guitar. “Trance Dance.” Slightly sinister piece in 6/4 with accordion solo. “Lonely Are The Dumb.” Blues in sepia on the “suicide waltz” theme with a plodding feel and vintage guitar. “Moon Moods.” Resonant vibes with dreamy guitar chords and atmospherics. “Bugsy's Jazztet.” Pastiche feel on a track where Friedlander plays pizzicato and Ribot contributes quirky feedback. “Suicide Blues Pt. 2.” More of part one, characterised by “Morricone-esque” low accordion. “Roary's Waltz.” Cello & accordion trade lines on a melodic piece. “Getting Suicidal.” Short cue with Ribot again very Bluesy. “Final Retribution.” Ribot on nylon string guitar providing accompaniment to a 7/4 track that again ties into the main theme. This is a highlight, with at one point multi-tracked accordion. “Aftermath.” The main theme reworked as a gloomy piece with sobbing cello and guitar atmospherics. “Unjust Reward.” Hardcore reworking of “East Greenpoint Rundown” just to catch out anyone playing this album as a bedtime treat. If I count accurately this is the hundredth album I've covered in this thread, placing our eponymous disc in a place of suitable honour. Invitation To A Suicide is so easy on the ear, so charming (final track excepted) that it hardly sounds like a John Zorn album at all, or for that matter like a 21st century album. Its strong identity and contained sound-world mark it out as a must-own but it's an outlier in the discography, as likely to engage a sceptic as a fan.
A lot of Zorn's cds and therefore specific songs blend t0gether (or get forgotten) over the decades, but I totally agree that “Invitation To A Suicide” is memorable - it's been one of my favorites since it was released.
Painkiller: The Prophecy Genre: Free Improvisation/Dub Label & Year of Release: Recorded live 2004-5, Released on Tzadik, 2013 Category: Scares The Horses My Rating: 3/10 Personnel John Zorn, Alto Sax Bill Laswell, Bass Guitar Yoshida Tatsuya, Drums “Prelude.” Screaming alto and chaos for two minutes. “The Prophecy.” A single improvisation of over an hour! Zorn plays creamy & morose to begin with. Laswell gets funky and takes a solo around the six minute mark, which prompts shrieking in the alto and then some post-Bop lines. Fluttering, then circular breathing. Stasis at eleven minutes in with bass playing with delay, Zorn on a single note (more circular breathing) as drums & bass switch it up with an Avant Rock feel. Drum solo, then bass with wah pedal. Stasis for highly effected bass solo in the higher register of the instrument. Zorn back with screaming. Around the 21 minute mark more stasis leading to faster work from bass & drums over droning lines from Zorn. At the 25 minute mark upbeat Jazzy lines from Zorn as the trio coalesces briefly, then the beat slows gradually to what seems to be an ending point. Suddenly Laswell diverges into a new direction with delayed lines for a few moments, inspiring Zorn to more circular breathing with a rich harmonics over a bass drone. Explosions from Yoshida. A Rock, almost Metal, feel as we reach the half way point. A fresh start with Zorn in a quirky mode around minute 37, showing more aspects of his usual vocabulary. Yoshida lays down a backbeat, has second thoughts, starts up a second backbeat that Zorn locks into with a repeated phrase for a few measures. Around the 42 minute Zorn actually solos “properly”, quoting the start of a Masada head along the way. Heavy distortion from Laswell suggests/quotes Heavy Metal. Premature applause at 45 minutes from an audience worried about catching the last bus. A static section with relaxed, Jazzy sax lines. A sense of whipping up for a climax around the fifty minute mark but instead fluttering from Zorn. More applause at 51 minutes and now Laswell starts up a dub groove, at which Zorn puts delay on his alto. Metallic feel as the piece enters the final ten minutes; obtrusive filter effects from Laswell. More applause at 58 minutes but the drummer decides to take a solo while the audience get their coats on. Laswell cooperates by starting up again with heavily distorted lines. Zorn decides to give it a few more screams & squeaks. In the final minute we really get a sense of an ending, greeting with understandable jubilation by the audience. “Postlude.” After a wild & noisy start, Zorn plays with delay against Laswell's dub backing. Then sheer fury before Laswell starts up a riff. I've commented before that long improvisations may leave Zorn the altoist too exposed: inventive though he is there are definite stylistic tics and this album is tiring for the listener. Laswell is probably the MVP on this disc, showing his full range on bass, but it's an instrument that doesn't particularly speak to me. Yoshida does what he can but is sandwiched uncomfortably between the two. Not much to enjoy on this disc unless you're a Painkiller specialist or a glutton for punishment.
Masada: Zayin Genre: Acoustic Jazz Label & Year of Release: DIW, 1996 Category: Accessible My Rating: 9/10 Personnel John Zorn, Alto Sax Dave Douglas, Trumpet Greg Cohen, Double Bass Joey Baron, Drums “Shevet.” This is an interesting piece, not only having a strong head that is heard at the beginning and end but also having a strong sense of structure. Baron takes a spot in the middle but none of the quartet runs wild, making this eight minutes a rather contemplative experience. “Hath-Arob.” Well-known game head frequently performed live. In addition to chaos we get a full-tilt Jazz episode. “Mahsav.” Bass introduction to what would become Book One’s “greatest hits”, twice performed on the Bar Kokhba album alone. This is a fairly restrained, enjoyable performance of the relaxed cha-cha-cha. “Shamor.” Funereal start leads to loose, spacious playing on a static bass feature with raucous heckling from Z&D. “Bacharach.” In a nod to the composer this a joyous little miniature. I'm not aware that the word has any clear meaning in Hebrew although it was a common Jewish name from the twelfth century onwards. The piece is therefore highly idiosyncratic and a must-hear. “Otiot.” The bass improvises throughout with almost reverential support from the front line and delicate stick work from Baron. Good. “Nevuah.” After a fairly long & playful head Baron starts up a fast beat with walking bass and Zorn unleashes some creamy post-Bop lines. After Douglas's solo Zorn is back with more to say and we get some hot counterpointing. Baron takes control with brief solo episodes before duetting with Cohen. The head provides a very cute ending. “Kedem.” Douglas, muted, plays distantly with bass accompaniment on the long, static preamble; in fact we are deep into the fourth minute before the bass riff starts up and we begin the head proper. This is another well-known piece and it is here played sotto voce by Z&D as if attempting to repress Baron's probing drum feature. A highlight. “Zemer.” Riotous Jewish party music with the head repeated throughout. “Evel.” Slow, smokey piece produces Bluesy, muted lines from Douglas matched by sultry playing from Zorn. Nice solo from Cohen. “Tekufah.” Dazzling piece with a slippery head beautifully played by Z&D. Cohen’s ostinato is a toe-tapper. Douglas & Zorn trade economical, full-voiced solos. Baron performs throughout as though the piece is a drum feature and he's the only one who got the memo. Killer end to the album. Recorded on April 16, 1996 at the band's fourth studio session Zayin is a particularly strong entry in the series yielding several of the group's best-known vehicles. It's one of the most “democratic” recordings by the original quartet with sax & trumpet often relinquishing the spotlight to Baron & Cohen and making this overall perhaps the most accessible way into the quartet. This gets the highest 9/10 I can award ... only the need to prevent Masada 10s overrunning the listings held me back.
Nova Express Quintet: Andras - Book of Angels volume 28 Genre: Masada Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 2016 Category: Relaxed My Rating: 3/10 Personnel John Medeski, Organ/Piano Kenny Wollesen, Vibraphone Trevor Dunn, Acoustic & Electric Basses Joey Baron, Drums Cyro Baptista, Congas/Percussion “Meresin.” Detailed, upbeat head. Medeski's B3 is rather gloomy. “Yofiel.” Cocktail bar piano with lush keyboard runs and an insipid head. “Sabiel.” Dunn's bass guitar economically summons up the spirit of Ribot as Wollesen sounds the repetitive, circling head. Over the space of six minutes nothing much seems to happen. “Hemah.” The piano announces a stately theme before diving into good-natured Trad Jazz piano. Wollesen takes a solo but the whole thing is over in fewer than three minutes with the anthem reprise. “Sahaviel.” Queasy head voiced by vibes & organ. Wollesen, then Medeski, are very “Eastern” on their solos. “Ramiel.” Musically this is quite interesting with a 6/4 metre enlivened by an additional skip signalled by two beats on the conga. I'd like to have heard some other band playing it. “Ithuriel.” This is a processional march which is quite strong but it's ruined by the animal noises supplied by Baptista. “Kakabel.” The vibes play with saturated resonance throughout to the extent that this Gnostic-style piece sounds badly recorded to my ears. “Huzia.” Light, consonant played simply on piano with restraint. I could imagine hearing this in a film but it's very slight. “Tatrusia.” Perky but featherweight piece. Andras is an album that bitterly disappointed me when it was released ... how can it carry the Nova name when it is so bloodless & mediocre? In my Amazon review at the time I described it as a “dud” under the review title “Nobody's Best Day At The Office” and I'd be the first to admit that my hatred/contempt for it gets in the way of my enjoying what pleasures it might offer. Temperamentally this is a Dreamers album and I feel as aggrieved by its blandness as I would if it was instead a full album of screaming aggression. I feel that I should say something else unpleasant about this album but you get the gist.
John Zorn: The Circle Maker Genre: Masada Label & Year of Release: Tzadik, 1998 Category: Accessible/Relaxed My Rating: 10/10 Issachar Personnel Mark Feldman, Violin Erik Friedlander, Cello Greg Cohen, Double Bass “Tahah.” Lively, urgent piece that packs a lot of impact into a short length. “Sippur.” Relaxed, mid-tempo dance with solos for all three musicians. “Karet.” Game-style head. You know how these go. “Hadasha.” Slow, suspenseful head leads to atmospheric & probing performances. “Taharah.” An arco chorus alternates with a delicate pizzicato verse on this charming piece with a waltz feel but occasional “skips” in the metre. “Mispar.” A partial canon in the head sets up rapturous counterpointing between violin & cello. “Ratzah.” Euphoric & Jazzy with Feldman channeling his inner Grapelli. “Zebdi.” Game-style head. “Yatzah.” At eight minutes this is by far the longest track here, beginning with tragic, cantorial lines in the cello. At about 2”15” the bass sets up the slow-stepping riff and we get some quirkiness before the violin announces the queasy head and solos inventively with some extended technique. “Malkhut.” Game-style head. “Hodaah.” Magical dance with metre that shifts between 7/4 & 6/4. “Elilah.” Solo cello piece in a Romantic style with dramatic double-stopping. “Meholalot.” Encore-style signature piece with joyful & flamboyant soloing. A highlight. “Kochot.” After the slyly sneaking head is announced the cello & violin solos are delicate & restrained with gorgeous touch. Bass takes an extended solo. “Lachish.” Game-style head with especially aggressive bowing. “Shidim.” Suspenseful piece with Cohen's steady ostinato underpinning inventive “effects” (some extended) from F&F. “Aravot.” Solo violin piece with the feel of a bravura caprice. Presumably a game-style head but the performance is not chaotic. “Moshav.” Just cello & bass on this slow tango with rhapsodic soloing from Friedlander. Zevulun Personnel Mark Feldman, Violin Erik Friedlander, Cello Greg Cohen, Double Bass Marc Ribot, Guitar Cyro Baptista, Percussion Joey Baron, Drums “Lilin.” The head is often very delayed on this 6/4 dance but less so on this studio version. Ribot, on guitar effects, is barely perceptible for the first half with almost the sense of the sextet being an augmented MST. (Note that he is fourth billed on the liner notes whereas we have come to think of him as “first amongst equals” in this ensemble.) “Hazor.” Ribot takes the lead on this merry cha-cha-cha with Baptista commanding on manual percussion. “Kisofim.” Slow, dreamy dance with extended clean solo from Ribot. Strings reduced to discreet chordal work on a rather sleepy piece. “Khebar.” Infectiously happy piece that could be considered a signature piece for this ensemble. Pizzicato cello solo, then guitar, then pizzicato violin, then cello & violin duet. “Laylah.” Sinister film cue with (everyone's favourite track note!) Bloogle Resonator and abundant percussion. “Teli.” Baron, who has hitherto taken a supporting role, jumps into life alongside Cohen's busy bass. Cello & violin counterpoint energetically whipping up some of the excitement of the Masada quartet. “Tevel.” Balmy exotica along what would later be Dreamers lines with Ribot's clean guitar featured throughout. “Eitan.” Baptista's menacing castanets are a key feature of this short piece. “Ner Tamid.” Shifting metres (and more castanets) introduce a short drum feature on which Baron plays with brushes. “Idalah-Abal.” Tam tam is prominent here. After an introduction, cello plays the famous head with help from guitar and then takes the first solo. Violin is heard high over the guitar solo but Ribot turns up the gain, becoming crunchy for the first time on the disc. The longest track on the disc but could be longer. “Gevurah.” Another dance with plenty (maybe too much?) of Ribot improvising in a vintage R’n’R style. If you're a beginner uncertain what to buy and scared to make a mistake, The Circle Maker is for you. Featuring two hours of music from two of the superstars of Masada Book One (the Masada String Trio and the Bar Kokhba sextet) this is beautifully played with melodies given full rein. It's not perfect (some of the second disc is too sleepy for my tastes) but it probably has more legitimately 10/10 music than most other 10/10 albums (from any artist).
