Search - John Zorn :: Masada 1

A masterpiece.

ptitchitza | Leiden, Netherlands | 11/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I take some silly kind of pride in the fact that, at this time, the only two reviews for this excellent album are written by Croats. This is the first in the series of John Zorn 10 Masada quartet albums (plus one live recording released by Jazz DCOR and few more released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik). The four musicians of Masada quartet (John Zorn - alto sax, Dave Douglas - trumpet, Joey Baron - drums, Greg Cohen - bass) are all masters of their instruments. They have recorded the ten albums in only a few studio sessions, all of which feature very, very passionate and inspired playing. All of the albums are beautifully played, with exquisite sense for measure and taste, the musicians bringing their instruments to the edge of possible (and beyond, as it often seems, it's awesome!) but their virtuosity never being self-serving. Many compositions sound like folk themes, there are a lot of emotions, a lot of melancholy or sense of longing, but also some 'smoking', joyous faster tracks. Ornette Coleman comes to mind in some slipped music references or in the general feeling of some tunes. "Alef", the title of this album, is the first letter of the Hebrew (and ancient Phoenician) language, and it has its numerical value: one. The second and the third album follow this pattern in their names. The entire series is so elaborately produced (with beautiful covers etc.) and just so breath-taking, that in preparation for a 1996 CD presentation at the local radio station (Radio Velika Gorica) I actually went to the Jewish Community Center in Zagreb and asked the Rabbi who was so kind to help me (thank you, Rabbi Moshe) try to decipher the concept behind it. I knew that Masada was a rock fortress on the shore of the Dead Sea, which served as the final outpost for the Jews against the invading Romans in the first century, but what about all these titles? That is not an easy task (not for me), but apparently they are derived from the Talmud and are a cross between Hebrew, Chaldeic and Aramaic words. The fact is that I do not know for sure, but fuelled with music I follow the most attractive of numerous historical references. Okay, "Tzofeh" may be an observer, "Ashnah" may have something to do with "this year", but what about Kanah, for example. It could be a town in Galilee (today: Kefr Kennah), close to the Nazareth, where Jesus made his first miracle turning water into wine, it could be Kànaan, the promised land - today's Israel (it could be both?). The entire series is dedicated to Asher Ginzberg (Ahad Ha'am), founding father of Cultural Zionism, and the beautiful quote from Gershom Scholem printed at the back of CDs makes perfect sense: "There is a life of tradition that does not merely consist of conservative preservation, the constant continuation of the spiritual and cultural possessions of a community. There is such a thing as a treasure hunt within tradition, which creates a living relationship to tradition and to which much of what is best in current Jewish consciousness is indebted, even where it was -- and is - expressed outside the framework of orthodoxy."And if you EVER feel tempted to think that the compositions on 10 Masada albums get a bit repetitive, then try Zorn's Masada Chamber Ensembles and you will hear these beautiful songs rearranged and reinvented in the most impressive way (check out the Bar Kokhba, Zevulun and Issachar CDs)."Alef" is a masterpiece."

Masada steps out

ptitchitza | 11/10/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Masada's debut is pretty heady. A lot of free jazz stylings, more, perhaps, than any other Masada release. This album is technically amazing of course and very groundbreaking in its time, but it lacks some of the soul and heart of subsequent releases (particularly Vol. 2 and Vol. 4). Since all of the aforementioned albums were recorded on the same day(!), it boggles my mind why Zorn would release this particular collection first. I'm sure there's some rhyme or reason to it; I just can't find any. If it hadn't been fort the next three albums, I would like this one a lot more and that would be reflected in its rating. A good album."

Masada's best

Eric D. Musall | Indianapolis, IN USA | 09/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This remains my favorite of the Masada albums, although I love them all to varying degrees (and I have a real fondness for four and six). The tunes here are beautiful and the playing is probably the group's most inspired."