Saw this great group at the DC Jewish Community Center as the opening night of the Jewish Music Festival. Now, I'm not much of a fan of klezmer, but saying this was a klezmer group is like saying Eddie Van Halen has decent technique.
Zorn has composed some 300 tunes for this ensemble, and they played about 2 dozen of them last night. Actually, all that appeared to be composed was the head. Once the trio played through the head (which did indeed sound like traditional klezmer albeit with an experimental jazz vibe), then Zorn would "conduct" them into improvisations using various hand signals and vocal cues. The artistry of the musicians was unbelievable ... it was fascinating to watch them focus intently on Zorn, but always be aware of their fellow players. If you get a chance to see these guys live, I definitely suggest you go.
After the concert I went over to Melody Records and picked up their CD from the Zorn 50th Birthday celebration, and listened to it twice last night. Highly recommended to anyone who appreciates avant-garde jazz.
John Zorn's Masada String Trio
John Zorn's Masada String Trio
Dan
The language and concepts contained herein are
guaranteed not to cause eternal torment in the
place where the guy with the horns and pointed
stick conducts his business. - FZ
The language and concepts contained herein are
guaranteed not to cause eternal torment in the
place where the guy with the horns and pointed
stick conducts his business. - FZ
Sounds interesting. The first time I heard about John Zorn was through an acquaintance who was involved in a low-budget movie called "Thieves Quartet." She was really excited about John Zorn doing the soundtrack (he did it for free - he only asked that he retain ownership of the music, rights, masters, everything to do with the score). I had no idea who Zorn was but about a year later, I heard SPILLANE, THE BIG GUNDOWN:John Plays The Music Of Ennio Morricone, and I've been slowly branching out to his other stuff.
Don't let 'avante-garde' turn you away, a lot of his music seems very accessible, IMO, especially if you already listen to jazz and classical music.
Don't let 'avante-garde' turn you away, a lot of his music seems very accessible, IMO, especially if you already listen to jazz and classical music.
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Neither slave nor tyrant." - Basque motto
"Neither slave nor tyrant." - Basque motto
Re: John Zorn's Masada String Trio
dcooper wrote:Saw this great group at the DC Jewish Community Center as the opening night of the Jewish Music Festival. Now, I'm not much of a fan of klezmer, but saying this was a klezmer group is like saying Eddie Van Halen has decent technique.
Zorn has composed some 300 tunes for this ensemble, and they played about 2 dozen of them last night. Actually, all that appeared to be composed was the head. Once the trio played through the head (which did indeed sound like traditional klezmer albeit with an experimental jazz vibe), then Zorn would "conduct" them into improvisations using various hand signals and vocal cues. The artistry of the musicians was unbelievable ... it was fascinating to watch them focus intently on Zorn, but always be aware of their fellow players. If you get a chance to see these guys live, I definitely suggest you go.
After the concert I went over to Melody Records and picked up their CD from the Zorn 50th Birthday celebration, and listened to it twice last night. Highly recommended to anyone who appreciates avant-garde jazz.
If you like this, treat yourself to the 2 disk set called "Bar Kohkba." It has Masada piece arranged for an interesting array of ensembles (string trios, quartets of various sorts, some keyboards and horns). It's an amazing set. So are the original series of Masada disks.
L.