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The future of Zorn’s Masada Book Two
Every time I talk about it, I’ll state that Masada Book Two is one of the best series on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. The quick premise: One page of music in a book of 300+ tunes, given to others to interpret and record.
Who has done it so far (bold being my faves so far): Jamie Saft Trio, Masada String Trio, Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier, Koby Israelite, The Cracow Klezmer, Uri Caine, Marc Ribot, Erik Friedlander, Secret Chiefs 3, Bar Kokhba Sextet, Medeski Martin & Wood, Masada Quintet featuring Joe Lovano, Mycale, The Dreamers, Ben Goldberg Quartet, Masada String Trio, and Cyro Baptista’s Banquet of the Spirits.
All seventeen thus far as stupendous releases… you can’t go wrong, especially if you love improvisational jazz and klezmer. Listen: Amazon search page.
Good Aural blog posted the following yesterday:
According to John Zorn, Tzadik records will release about four—possibly five—more Masada Book Two albums in 2012. It’s amazing to think that we’ll be hearing volumes 18, 19, 20, 21, and maybe even 22 of Zorn’s Book of Angels by the end of next year.
Want a preview of who’ll be playing on these upcoming volumes? Here are the new Book of Angels releases planned for 2012:
New Klezmer Trio
Clarinetist Ben Goldberg is a pioneer in avant-garde Jewish music. His New Klezmer Trio released their first album, Masks and Faces, in 1992; it was reissued on Tzadik in 1996. New Klezmer Trio has since released several more albums on Tzadik: Melt Zonk Rewire and Short for Something.
In 2010 Goldberg recorded Baal: the Book of Angels vol. 15 with Masada book veterans Greg Cohen, Jamie Saft, and Kenny Wollesen. This new Ben Goldberg Quartet was assembled and conducted by Zorn himself.
Finally, Goldberg plays clarinet with the acoustic ensemble Tin Hat, which appeared on the Masada anniversary album Voices in the Wilderness.
David Krakauer
David Krakauer is a clarinetist firmly rooted in both klezmer and classical music. His band, Klezmer Madness!, incorporates elements from funk, jazz, and a variety of other genres. He has collaborated with the Kronos Quartet and made several releases on Zorn’s Tzadik label, including Klezmer Madness! and Klezmer, NY.
Given that Krakauer has collaborated with Uri Caine and played both clarinet and bass clarinet on John Zorn’s seminal Kristallnacht, it’s only natural that he should (finally!) record a set of tunes from The Book of Angels.
Pat Metheny
Guitarist Pat Metheny recorded the acclaimed free jazz album Song X with Ornette Coleman and recorded Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint” with Kronos Quartet. Metheny’s upcoming Book of Angels entry is planned as a solo performance.
And Beyond…
Whatever Masada Book Two compositions remain will be recorded on one or two albums by artists not yet announced. Once those are completed, we’ll have finally reached the end of this chapter in Masada’s legacy. But for hardcore fans of this music, there’s still plenty to come.
On the horizon: Masada Book Three.
Good Aural apparently heard the news from John Zorn himself. I had heard rumors of the Pat Metheny one in the past, and the other conspirators are consistent with who Zorn has worked with in the past. I’m hoping Mike Patton’s Fantômas does something in this series in the future. It’s not out of the realm – they did one song for the Unknown Masada album in 2003 (a pre-cursor to the Masada Book Two concept). Oh, or the Moonchild Trio!! That would kick ass.
~Dan – np: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium 
Erik Friedlander to play John Zorn (1/8/2011 in Eugene, OR)
New York cellist Erik Friedlander is coming back to Oregon. I saw him last year in Portland performing his Block Ice and Propane songs. This time, he’s coming to Eugene to play his songs from John Zorn‘s Masada Book Two: Volac.
The solo cello show will be Saturday, January 8, 2011 @ 7:30 at the John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts in Eugene, Oregon.
Tickets are on-sale now. For more info:
http://theshedd.org/divP/series.aspx?event=1868
Check out the album, Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 8 (Volac)…
~Dan – np: My Brightest Diamond – A Thousand Sharks Teeth
John Zorn – Masada Book Two Marathon (NYC)
MASADA ‘BOOK OF ANGELS’ MARATHON!
February 17th & 18th
2 nights. 10 bands. 19 musicians. 1 inspiring book of music!
Written in a flash of creativity during three months at the end of 2004, the 316 compositions in John Zorn‘s Book of Angels (aka Masada Book Two) contain some of his most lyrical and inspiring music. Performed by a wide variety of ensembles over the past 5 years the music has generated 13 CDs to date, with 4 more scheduled for release in 2010. This special Marathon concert brings together 10 different groups in two evenings-five bands per night. Don’t miss this special downtown event presented at the historical Henry Street Settlement at the Abrons Art Center! $30 in advance / $35 at the door (Separate admission each night)
Tickets at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/710455
Featuring: Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, Cyro Baptista, Kenny Wollesen, Jamie Saft, Erik Friedlander, Mark Feldman, Ben Goldberg, Shanir Blumenkranz, Sylvie Courvoisier, Tim Keiper, Brian Marsells, Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Basya Schecter, Malika Zarra, Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, John Zorn, and more
DAY 1 February 17th (Wednesday) at 8pm
Banquet Of The Spirits
Ben Goldberg Quartet
Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier
Mycale
Masada Sextet
tickets for Day 1 https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7904665
DAY 2 February 18th (Thursday) at 8pm
Uri Caine solo
Masada String Trio
Jamie Saft Trio
Erik Friedlander solo
Masada Quartet
tickets for Day 2 https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7904675
I wish I lived in NYC!
The Masada Book Two Series (to date):
~Dan – np: Yuka Honda – Memories Are My Only Witness
* Favorite Instrumental Albums of 2009 *
Disclaimer (with a nod to Andy Whitman of Paste): No, I haven’t heard all 8,000+albums released this year. I’ve heard about 200 of them, which makes me at least 97.5% likely to be wrong. I make no claims to objectivity. These albums are my favorites from 2009. You might think that the one you’ve heard that I haven’t heard is the best album of 2009. And you might be right. So go ahead and vent. Enjoy!
As I start this post, I will say that this is all very subjective and really put together for my own purposes. I’ll also state that, yes, some of the music below does have some vocals. For the most part, it’s sequestered to a track or two on a long CD of mostly instrumental goodness. My list, my rules, and/or my breaking of the rules. With that being said, all of the artists below tend to be in the jazz and instrumental frame of reference anyway.
Hopefully my spilling out of music that I like finds interest with someone else. But if not, thanks for stopping by… check out their webpages, SpaceBook pages, yadda yadda yadda. OK, now on to the best of what’s hit my ears this year on the mainly instrumental front…
Honorable mentions: Uri Gurvich‘s The Storyteller, John Zorn‘s Filmworks XXIII: El General, Ahleuchatistas‘ Of the Body Prone, Secret Chiefs 3‘s Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini (The Severed Right Hands of the Last Men), and Skerik & The Dead Kenny G’s Bewildered Herd.
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 Osso String Quartet – Run Rabbit Run: A Tribute to Sufjan Stevens’ Enjoy Your Rabbit (Asthmatic Kitty) :: I feel lucky that I got to witness the world premiere of Osso playing Sufjan Stevens’ Enjoy Your Rabbit at MusicNOW Fest 2007 in Cincinnati. I think almost immediately after that show, I emailed Asthmatic Kitty to see if they were going to release audio or video of that performance. Little did I know that they’d do me one better by putting Osso into a studio to record the full length stringed tribute. Huzzah! While the novelty of the initial project has worn off for me, the musical arrangements stand firm. I really dig Osso and I’m looking forward to their further collaboration with Sufjan, My Brightest Diamond, or their own pieces.   |
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 Mike Patton – Crank High Voltage Score (Lions Gate) :: Well, Mike Patton pretty much took a year off of Ipecac stuff due to Faith No More reuniting. I supposed this score satiated me, but I would have loved for Mondo Cane to make its way out the door in 2009 (as was initially promised by Patton himself). Anyway, this album has a couple of vocal tracks, but overall, it features Mike’s voicebox gymnastics and razor-edged composition schizophrenia that I’ve loved since I first got into Mr. Bungle… Fantômas… and the rest of his vast body of work… |
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 Feldman / Caine / Cohen / Baron – Secrets (Tzadik) :: This album snuck on me as I was re-listening to my 2009 CDs. It has that klezmer jazz feel as is common in the Tzadik Radical Jewish Culture series, but it also has a much more accessible feel as well. With Uri Caine’s piano in the mix, he almost adds a Vince Guaraldi aspect to the klez-jazz that permeates. |
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 Jónsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps (indie) :: Sigur Rós is one of my favorite groups, and a few years ago frontman Jónsi started an arty project with his partner Alex. At first it was a hand-printed notebook and a few musical things on MySpace, but it transformed into a full album as time went along. It’s much more ambient when compared to Sigur Rós – but definitely appeals to fans of Jónsi’s main band. In other news… they have a raw, vegan cookbook PDF on their website (for free)… holy cow… I’m totally gonna make some raw strawberry pie when the season comes around. That and many other recipes look flippin’ delicious… much like the music. Yeah, this is a music blog, right? Sorry for my drooling over “Icelandic rockstar” recipe books. |
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 Wadada Leo Smith with Jack DeJohnette – America (Tzadik) :: I love trumpet… I have some of Wadada’s other work, and I usually find it to be hit or miss. I wasn’t coming in with a lot of preconceptions or whetted appetite about this album, and after the first spin, I loved it. It’s fairly sparse sonically, with only Wadada on trumpet & flugelhorn and Jack on drums. The sound from his horns is so brilliant and melodic, yet searching. I hope they can get together for a 2nd duo outing sometime soon. This wins my “best surprise” award for instrumental albums in 2009. |
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 The Fantastic Terrific Munkle – Music To Dance To (Jazz Groove Australia) :: I got into the Fantastic Terrific Munkle via band member Julian Curwin, who put out his fantastic Tango Saloon out on Ipecac a few years ago. Munkle and Tango Saloon have similar jazz meets groove meets world music meets danceable rhythms. This one was harder to get, as I had to directly order it from Australia (but at least they accept PayPal in US dollars). I wish I could find similar luck with Tango Saloon’s second album, Transylvania (still no stateside release, and the AUD to USD conversion is killin’ me these days). |
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 900X – Music for Lubbock, 1980 (Asthmatic Kitty) :: I got this download for free from Asthmatic Kitty along with the other Library Catalog Music Series (they’re great in supplying review subjects to music bloggers), and the 900X album simply surpassed the others in the collection, if you ask me. I ended up buying it on vinyl… a great addition to the collection. I don’t know if 900x (or James McAlister dba 900x) have any future plans for further releases of this nature. I hope so. |
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 McTuff (Skerik & Joe Doria) – McTuff, Volume 1 (indie) :: Joe Doria’s tribute to Jack McDuff has turned into a great Northwest jazz quartet (and trio when Skerik isn’t available). I’m lucky to have seen them a couple times thus far. Skerik’s sax is fantastic, Doria’s hammond keeps the groove, Lewis’s drums are killer, and Coe’s guitars really know how to burn (which I didn’t really pick up on until the 2nd time seeing them live).   |
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 Roberto Rodriguez – The First Basket (Tzadik) :: Roberto Rodriguez’s Cuban-meets-Judaic music have been some of my favorites out of Tzadik the last few years… this one was a bit different. It’s a score to a film (of the same name) that follows the history of Jewish basketball… its scope covers klezmer, classical, rock, dixieland, and more. Its variety is what helped this album beat out his other 2009 album from the list this year (Timba Talmud is also really good). |
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  Medeski Martin & Wood – Radiolarians II & III (Indirecto) :: Starting in 2008, MMW set out to record three albums back to back to back, heading out on a short tour before each album and going directly into the studio and then out on the road again. They swung through Eugene in late 2008 as part of the Radiolarians III Tour. By that time, only R1 had come out; so the crowd didn’t really know the material being played. They played two sets, one set of experimental meets groove and one set of the eventual R3 material. Near the end of 2009, they released the Evolutionary Boxset (all Radiolarians albums with tons of extras: vinyl/live/remixes/DVDs)… great material from a fantastic groove-oriented jazz band. I’m stoked, as they’re coming through Eugene again in Feb 2010. Yay! |
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 Wynton Marsalis – He and She (EMI Blue Note) :: Wynton is a great trumpet player, puts on a great live show, writes and releases great music, and he’s also a jazz bigot. Sigh. |
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 Eyal Maoz’s Edom – Hope and Destruction (Tzadik) :: Great Jewish instrumental rock. I dug Eyal’s first album, Edom. It appears he’s made an official band out of it… yay. I don’t have much else to add; so I’ll leave it with Tzadik’s P.R. niblit… “Hope and Destruction presents powerful Jewish rock instrumentals from a cutting edge guitarist who combines the harmonic lyricism of Bill Frisell with the angst and skronk of Marc Ribot.” Ribot and Frisell influences… me likey. |
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 Jon Madof’s Rashanim – The Gathering (Tzadik) :: Similar but a bit rockier compared to Eyal Maoz’s Edom, Jon Madof has been on my radar since his first instrumental Jewish rock album, Rashanim (which subsequently turned into the band name similar to Edom’s recent evolution). Anyway, this is Madof’s third album under this band moniker. Guitars, bass, drums… banjo… banjo bass… jaw harp… glockenspiel… melodica… tiple… chonguri… it all sounds great!! Jon also has another band called CircuitBreaker that I’m waiting on with baited breath. |
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 Stabat Akish – Stabat Akish (Tzadik) :: From Toulouse, France, this is one of those rare Tzadik releases that fits into the “Composer Series” that doesn’t bore me to tears. Don’t get me wrong, there are some gems in the CS catalogue, but most of them are violin noodlers. This is more of the rock band variety of composers. It has elements of French street music (which I witnessed first hand in Toulouse, coincidentally), elements of Zorn’s schizophrenia, and elements of the ever excellent Frank Zappa… thanks to the vibraphone and bass marimba acrobatics. |
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 Zu – Carboniferous (Ipecac) :: I got this due to Mike Patton’s involvement… he actually sings on one track (and vocal instrumentation on another). Despite that Patton vocal song, this is definitely an instrumental band and a chiefly instrumental album. Zu is powerful rock from Rome, sometimes lumped in with the math rock scene, sometimes with metal. They have had their hand in the jazz scene in the past, too (their album placed in The Village Voice‘s 2004 jazz poll). This album is my only experience with them, but I hope to get into their diverse and vast back catalogue soon. |
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 SF Jazz Collective – Live 2009 (SF Jazz) :: SFJC 2010 will not quite be the same… they lost Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, and Miguel Zenon – all key players in the 2007 through 2009 seasons. This 2009 season was dedicated to the music of McCoy Tyner and also features great compositions by the eight members of the band. It is truly a collective of many great musicians, not just a band fronted by a few.  |
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 Tim Sparks – Little Princess: Tim Sparks plays Naftule Brandwein (Tzadik) :: A fingerstyle guitar virtuoso, I’d heard Tim on some other Tzadik releases, but I think this one is my favorite of his. This album is a trio of Tim, Cyro Baptista on percussion, and Greg Cohen on bass. I think the added players helped fill out Tim’s sound – which was awesomely virtuosic, but a touch too sparse on prior releases. |
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 Dave Douglas – A Single Sky (Greenleaf) :: This was the third of three Dave Douglas releases this year. It features three new Dave Douglas tunes and four rearranged Douglas tunes by Jim McNeely and his Frankfurt Radio Bigband. The entire album has a great big band feel, something I’m a sucker for – obviously. I love Dave Douglas’s prolific nature – 2009 was good to his fans. |
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 John Zorn – Alhambra Love Songs (Tzadik) :: One of the more accessible albums in Zorn’s catalogue, this is his ode to his favorite San Francisco Bay Area artists and musicians: Vince Guaraldi, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Mike Patton, Harry Smith, and more. The music is played by the Rob Burger Trio (Rob + Greg Cohen & Ben Perowsky). The albums leads off with the very Guaraldian tribute to Vince himself – “Mountain View.” |
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 Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy – Spirit Moves (Greenleaf) :: Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy is coming to Portland / PDX Jazz Fest this coming February! I’m so stoked. This band features Dave on trumpet, Vincent Chancey (French horn), Luis Bonilla (trombone), Marcus Rojas (tuba) and Nasheet Waits (drums). The tuba really adds that bouncy backbone that I love (I’m also a fan of the rockier band Drums & Tuba). Check out DD&BE’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert (video). |
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 Sufjan Stevens – The BQE (Asthmatic Kitty) :: It is atrociously difficult to read the lettering on the front cover… maybe as easy as navigating the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in rush hour. This was Sufjan’s first foray into studio album land since the Avalanche (but that was more of a b-side collection of 2005’s Illinoise). Anyway… it’s a moving, 40 minute piece dedicated to NYC’s traffic clusterbomb. It comes with a film to accompany it, and if you get the double-gatefold vinyl, you get a spiffy comic book written by Sufjan and a fantastic full-color booklet. I like it how Sufjan “keeps it weird” when he’s “keeping it real.” |
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 John Zorn – O’o (Tzadik) :: While the music is stunning, I think longtime Tzadik artwork designer Chippy deserves a ton of credit as well. This album is the band from The Dreamers: Baptista, Baron, Dunn, Ribot, Saft, and Wollesen. It carries on that world music / surf / exotica sound, but adds the element of nature: being a tribute to rare birds (the album is named after an extinct Hawaiian bird). |
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 Tides from Nebula – Aura (indie from Poland) :: Tides of Nebula is powerful, evocative progressive post-rock goodness from Poland. They have links on their MySpace page on how to get their CD. It’s really, really, really, good. It combines the huge sound from post-rock giants like Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai, but adds a tight edge as well – similar to if Brit progressive rockers Porcupine Tree tweaked some Explosions or Mogwai songs. This is one of those bands and albums that I had no idea about even this summer, and then out of nowhere – BAM! Way up to the top of the pile. I’m looking forward to more from this great group.  |
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Masada Quintet & Joe Lovano play Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 12: Stolas (Tzadik) :: The original Masada quartet’s last studio album was in 1999. They continued as a quartet (John Zorn / Dave Douglas / Joey Baron / Greg Cohen) throughout most of the 2000s (I got to see one of their last shows in March 2007). Zorn moved on in the 2000s with writing a 2nd book of Masada tunes, not to be played by Masada, but rather interpreted by other bands. The past 11 albums in this series have been fantastic (Secret Chiefs 3, Medeski Martin & Wood, and the Bar Kokhba Sextet (related-to-but-not-Masada) albums have been my faves). I would never have imagined that Zorn would “allow” Masada to record an album for this Masada Book Two series. Well, he didn’t (sort of). He added pianist Uri Caine and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano to the mix. A great “supergroup” album!! |
Where do I get most of these jazz and other instrumental releases? My #1 favorite source for jazz is Downtown Music Gallery in New York. Manny and Bruce and their great staff are superb… and being the official distributor for John Zorn’s Tzadik doesn’t hurt my affection for them. I usually do a monthly Tzadik order (if the releases strike my fancy), and they have a ton of other non-Tzadik jazz and avant-garde releases as well.
And, no, I’m not affiliated, I don’t get a commission, and beyond my initial “big tax refund / gotta get caught up on Zorn order of 2005,” I haven’t gotten a discount with DMG. I just love and support what they do.
My Other Favorites of 2009 Recaps:
- Fave Concerts of ‘09 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave EPs/Vinyl/Live/more of ‘09 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave Vocal Albums ‘09 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave Artists of the Decade are coming soon
- Old Years: 2008I, 2008V, 2008ep, 2008C, 2007V, 2007I, 2007C, 2006, 2005
~Dan – np: Brian Borcherdt – Torches
Medeski Martin Wood & Zorn
OYG!
According to Downtown Music Gallery‘s catalog search and this MTV entry, the next treatment for John Zorn‘s Masada Book Two: Book of Angels series is… MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD. Wow.
It’ll be #11 in the series on Tzadik Records, and it’s named after the angel/demon Zaebos.
My recent review of #10 in the series (Secret Chiefs 3’s Xaphan) is HERE. I’m equally stoked about this forthcoming MMW treatment… and quite frankly it totally caught me completely off guard (I think I knew about the SC3 one, like, 18 months ahead of time).
ALBUM REVIEW: Xaphan, Book of Angels Vol. 9 ~ The Secret Chiefs 3 play Masada Book Two
Got this album in the mail the other day… I’ve four times through it, and since I imagine it will hold up fairly well as far as albums go this year, it deserves the ol’ track-by-track analysis…
Xaphan, Book of Angels Volume 9
The Secret Chiefs 3 play Masada Book Two
Masada Book Two – Background: John Zorn had a fantastic jazz-klez quartet called Masada. It was John Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums (sometimes Kenny Wollesen of the Sex Mob filled in on drums). They recorded 10+ studio albums in the mid-1990s, and they played live consistently up until March 2007. They may play a one-off in the future, but their Lincoln Center shows last spring were their final bow, as it were. I saw it, yay! The initial 10 studio albums by Masada are hardish to find (Japanese import label DIW), but they have many live and previously unreleased stuff on John’s own Tzadik Records, like Sanhedrin (below):
Anyway, sometime in the early 2000s, John Zorn started several splinter Masada or Masada-esque groups (Electric Masada, Masada String Trio, Bar Kokhba Sextet). He also wrote upwards of 300 additional Masada tunes that were not to go into acoustic Masada repertoire, but rather go into the “Masada Book Two. ” Different artists get these tunes (in the form of melody sheets of about 16 bars of music), and they arrange and record their version of John Zorn’s Masada Book Two tunes. Favorites in the past have been Marc Ribot, Koby Israelite, Cracow Klezmer Band, Bar Kokhba Sextet, et cetera…
Xaphan Personnel: Trey Spruance: guitars, organs, percussion, synths, autoharp, piano, bass; Timb Harris: violin, trumpet; Jason Schimmel: guitar; Anonymous 13: voice, viola; Rich Doucette: sarangi; Jai Young Kim: B3 organ; Shahzad Ismaily: bass; Ches Smith: drums, congas; with special guests Adam Stacey: clavinet; Monica Schley: harp; and Tim Smolens: cello, upright bass. ie- people from the latest incarnations of Secret Chiefs 3, Estradasphere, Mr. Bungle, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Carla Kihlstedt’s 2 Foot Yard, yadda yadda…
photo credits: Peter Gannushkin / Theremin Noise Club / Jae
The Xaphan Songs: (all written by John Zorn & arranged by Trey Spruance)
- Sheburiel ~ Nice surf/exotica about 30 seconds in, which transitions into a delightful string melody with surf guitar reminiscent of something from the Electric Masada catalog. Overall, this is quite a schizophrenic song, but nice textures… it’s a prelude for what’s to come in the rest of the record.
- Akramachamarei ~ Very much a spaghetti-western-meets-middle-east vibe on this track. I dig it. The title sounds like an interesting mixed drink (something along the lines of okra-infused vodka bloody mary with a sprig of mâche instead of celery). Oh, and if you don’t know what mâche is, well, it’s a delightfully nutty leaf in the lettuce family. So, yeah, spaghetti-western-meets-middle-eastern bloody mary concoctions all around!! And any band naming themselves Okra-infused Vodka, you owe me royalties. OK, back to the music…
- Shoel ~ Conga intro… keys, dub beats, and fuzz-guitar. Nice. Like at least 2-days of stubble on the guitars. Back into clean spag-west guitar… yeah, know, pretty soon, I’m running out of descriptions and adjectives beyond “cool,” “neato,” and “nice tom work, Ches.” I’m not a musician; so that’s the best you get, fools. This is one of my favorite tracks so far.
- Barakiel ~ Slowish, clean guitar entry with some slide, harp, and genteel vocals… moving into a bouncier spag-west guitar, but still with ethereal strings and piano.
- Bezriel ~ Oooo… Trey’s bringing the rock into it. Good interplay between the calm-before-the-storm viola and/or violin with the guitar chunk and vocal haunts. The last half of the track features some more strings and less of the chunk (oh, wait, I lied… it ends with the chunk). :) Another one of my favorite tracks.
- Kemuel ~ Bungle-y circus organ into swirling drum-guitar-vocal passage into a dirty string solo.
- Labbiel ~ Interesting time signature interplay between the guitars and drums.
- Asron ~ Aw geez, I just lost the game. I zoned out to the great music and forgot to write about it. Bad reviewer, bad reviewer. Anyway, back to the music. Nice violin and guitars to end it.
- Balberith ~ Starts with a great melodic bass line with some fuzz/scratch guitar. Ah, the trumpet finally kicks in. Nice stuff, Timb. This could fit on Zorn’s The Dreamers or Electric Masada nicely. That’s a compliment. :) Another one of my favs on this record.
- Omael ~ Add some xylophone, and I’d say the intro to this fits into a Zappa catalog. :) This is a faster-paced song… for the SC3 bellydancer contingent, don’t pick this. Your legs might fall off. This one has some great percussion and more trumpet. I’m getting lost in the sounds, but I’m digging it.
- Hamaya ~ Clean exotica guitar intro, organ, vocal chants (something about tostadas?). Oh, a seemingly (to me) “The Exile” or “Book T: Exodus” strings-n-guitars moment about 1 minute in… nice. Nice melty fade that sucks me back into… g-to-the-d, why is it 84 degrees in my house!? Sometimes I hate renting a house in Oregon that does have A/C. Anyway, a great end to a great album.
I recommend you take some listens on MySpace, Amazon, and iTunes (when they get it)… and support good music if you like what you hear. It’s currently available at Web of Mimicry, Downtown Music Gallery, and Amazon (to name a few). I don’t do the track-by-track treatment on just any record… this is a special record.
Any musical review faux pas above? Eh, I’m not a musician. My ears my have defied me brain, matey. For Secret Chiefs 3 fans, I suppose this more relates to a Ur / Ishraqiyun / Forms / Traditionalists musical offering? I dunno which one moreso than the others. Any thoughts from you WoM boardies?
Fav tracks: Shoel (#3), Bezriel (#5), Balberith (#9), and Hamaya (#11).
Recommended if you like: world music, middle eastern music, progressive music with a bellydance beat, ADHD prescriptions, Secret Chiefs 3, Estradasphere, Mr. Bungle, John Zorn, et al… it’s very much a Secret Chiefs 3 record, but probably one of their more “accessible” ones (as well as being an accessible John Zorn-penned album). User friendly, middle-eastern rock-romp through a mad alchemist’s mind (Trey is a brilliant musician, IMO). This is my favorite in John Zorn’s Masada Book Two series, and that’s saying a lot (I love all 10 of the series thus far).
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Secret Chiefs 3’s Website (pleasing design, not realistic from a PR side of things)
- Secret Chiefs 3 on MySpace
- Web of Mimicry (Trey’s label)
- Tzadik Records (John Zorn’s label, released Xaphan)
- Tzadik on MySpace (unofficial but approved)
- John Zorn on MySpace (unofficial but approved)
- Other key Xaphan players on MySpace… Estradasphere, Ches Smith…
~Dan – np: Susie Ibarra – Drum Sketches
The Masada Book Two Series (to date):
new Secret Chiefs 3 tour dates
I imagine these tour dates, as they trickle in, are all about “making their way back home after a festival.” Alas, the fact that they’re swinging by my way is FANTASTIC…
Secret Chiefs 3
Fri, 7/25/08 – Detroit Lakes, MN -Soo Pass Ranch “10,000 Lakes Festival”
Sat, 7/26/08 – Milwaukee, WI -Turner’s Ballroom
Sun, 7/27/08 – Chicago, IL – Double Door
Thu, 7/31/08 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater new date
Fri, 8/01/08 – Salt Lake City, UT – Club Paladium new date
Sun, 8/03/08 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge new date yay!
http://www.webofmimicry.com/
http://www.myspace.com/secretchiefs3
Their latest record, Xaphan: Masada Book Two Vol 9, is FANTASTIC…
~Dan
Mark my words… best CD of 2008…
I’m not a bettin’ man, but I’ll bet you a hundred ducks that Secret Chiefs 3‘s Masada Book Two, Volume 9: Xaphan will be one of my favorite CDs of 2008 (likely Top 3 to be safe)… and it’s not even out yet.
Per a recent SC3 blog, it hits April 11th (from Tzadik-direct Downtown Music Gallery) or later in the month at other outlets (April 22nd or so from Amazon, etc), and a “Masada preview” is now posted on their MySpace page.
The Masada Book Two series is comprised of 300 or so songs that John Zorn wrote in the Masada vein, but not for the Masada quartet to play. A different artist arranges and records a handful of these tunes to make them theirs… so far, the results have been great (Marc Ribot, Cracow Klezmer, Koby Israelite to name a few). Xaphan (aka Volume 9 from Secret Chiefs 3) features arranger Trey Spruance, plus musicians from his latest SC3 tour, members from Estradasphere, and more…
http://www.myspace.com/secretchiefs3
Up next in the Masada Book Two series is Volume 10: Lucifer from Bar Kokhba which will likely also hit a top spot on my CDs for 2008. It’s Bar Kokhba’s first studio release since The Circle Maker in 1998.
~Dan – np: Bill Moyer’s Journal podcast interview with Susan Jacoby
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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