Track Listing

1. Kinyan - Erik Friedlander, John Zorn
2. Olamim - Rashanim, John Zorn
3. Vehuel - Dave Douglas, John Zorn
4. Shofetim - Yoshida Tatsuya, John Zorn
5. Partzuf - Naftule's Dream, John Zorn
6. Zarach - Jamie Saft, John Zorn
7. Shagal - Zahava Seewald, John Zorn
8. Herem - Koby Israelite, John Zorn
9. Kadmut - Julian Kytasty, John Zorn
10. Zemaraim - Fantômas, John Zorn
11. Demai - Wadada Leo Smith, John Zorn
12. Belimah - Eyvind Kang, John Zorn

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370414 in Music
• Released on: 2003-07-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

unknown, no longer ...
The third in a series celebrating John Zorn's 10 year anniversary of his Masada ensemble, The Unknown Masada may go the furthest afield yet. Where the previous tribute CD, Voices in the Wilderness, made an attempt to expand the sonic possibilities of previously documented Masada tunes, this album reveals both unrecorded compositions and drastically different ensembles.

Where Voices in the Wilderness utilized a variety of groups to perform Zorn's klezmer tinged jazz pieces, most of those ensembles were either primarily acoustic in nature or more overtly improvisational in their execution. This album, on the other hand, features tunes that have been rarely performed by any of Zorn's various Masada ensembles, if only because most of these pieces are more compositionally intricate.

Dave Douglas' piece is exemplary of the albums best features. Not only does it feature an expanded variation on the classic Masada group (including Zorn himself no less) it has enough tricky time changes and stellar solo spots to make the album worth owning for this cut alone. Interpretations by the likes of Erik Friedlander, Naftule's Dream, and Eyvind Kang mingle with lesser known, but equally talented artists.

The only weak spots lie in the more rock oriented material, which comes of as overly arranged and less freewheeling. Both Fantomas and Yoshida Tatsuya (from the Ruins) contribute tracks that often sound merely like distorted Middle-Eastern chord changes pounding away into oblivion. These however are the exception to a highly varied album whose merits outweigh its flaws.

High-speed electric klezmer
Following two great "new arrangement" Masada albums (Masada Guitars and Voices in the Wilderness), John Zorn brings in another large group of musicians to play their interpretations of the Masada songbook. But this time, they're playing songs no one has heard before. On the other albums, you could compare the new arrangement to the original version on one of the ten studio albums. This time it's all new.

The music is fun, fast, and more rock and roll than previous Masada albums. Heavy bands like Ruins and Fantomas plow through these klezmer tunes at high speeds. If you want to get into Zorn's eclectic klezmer music, this is a good place to start. Longtime fans will love it, too.

Simultaneously solves two difficult problems . . .
Simultaneously solves two difficult problems . . .

. . . That of the limited range of klezmer music, and that of the stylistic incoherence of anthologies. The first by employing the widest possible variety of performers--everything from The Fantomas purveying klezmer thrash to Julian Kytasty playing solo bandura; from the Medieval-sounding "Shagal," performed on oud, fiddle, ceterina d'amore, and accordion with vocals, to "Demai," featuring Wadada Leo Smith and Ikue Mori. The second by performing all John Zorn compositions. Thus, the annoying sameness of much of klezmer is overcome by such a shocking variety of musicians, while the problem of anthological diffuseness is conquered by focusing on the music of a single composer. The results, it must be admitted, are pretty spectacular: a huge range of aural soundscapes, mercurial, constantly shifting sonic palettes, top-notch artists bridging what would seem like impossibly variegated musical styles. The closest comparison I can think of is that wonderful disc Africa Straight Ahead, which does something similar for African acoustic jazz (though the two disc, of course, sound nothing alike).

Let me come clean for a moment. Although I've come to greatly respect and admire John Zorn's Tzadik label, with such fabulous discs as Susie Ibarra's Songbird Suite, Mephista's Entomological Reflections, Jenny Scheinman's Shalagaster, Tim Sparks's At the Rebbe's Table, Cyro Baptista's Vira Loucas, Marc Ribot's Scelsi Morning, R. J. Rodriguez's El Danzon de Moises, I haven't much cared for Zorn's music in the past. My main objection has been that I detect too much of the mannered and ironic about him. For jazz music to succeed, it needs to operate out of genuine appreciation and appropriation, not cool distance. It's ironic that the artists on his label often seem to do a better job of pulling this off than he himself does.

Bottom line: I guess Tzadik's kinda like ECM; it doesn't always work, but when it does, it works wonders. As it does here. Eminently worth picking up.