Search - Masada :: Sanhedrin

A nice companion to the Masada studio albums.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 06/28/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"John Zorn's Masada was a songbook and a band. The songbook (of which a second volume has been written more recently) was an exercise in melody, an attempt at having a book like "Burt Bacharach, Thelonious Monk, Kurt Weill and Ornette Coleman", and also an exploration of his Jewish heritage-- the pieces were written using the "Jewish scales", that sort of Middle Eastern-meets-Eastern European sound that is so prevelent is klezmer music. The band was a bit different, originally convened for the soundtrack to "Thieves Quartet" (available on Zorn's "Filmworks III"), a soundtrack conceived in the vein of Miles Davis' "Escalator to the Scaffolds" score, the band was in the form of Ornette Coleman's Classic Quartet: Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums. Together, they became the Masada band, and they became so much more than what they sounded like-- having developed a nearly psychic interaction skill and a vocabulary based around collective improvisation and simultaneous soloing, they became something unique and powerful. During the course of less than four years (1994-1997), they visited the studio on seven occasions, producing no less than ten albums. As amazing as it seems, given the amount of material that was released, there was quite a bit left on the cutting room floor-- "Sanhedrin" collects 29 of those pieces.



All of this material has seen release in some form or another prior to this-- the lion's share (28 of the 29 tracks) having been released on one of the ten studio albums (for anyone interested, 6 tracks from volume 9, 5 each from volumes 3 and 7, 4 from volume 10, 2 each from volumes 1 and 5, and 1 each from volumes 2, 4, 6 and 8) with one was released only on "Bar Kokhba" ("Nefesh"). The recordings are broken up by session. One curiosity is that two tracks in the last session ("Otiot" and "Karet") had already been recorded for previous albums (volumes 7 and 9 respectively). This is a bit curious given that volume 7 had already been released by the time this recording session occured, leaving one to wonder why "Otiot" (and for that matter "Karet") were rerecorded.



The material itself-- this was all leftovers from the original sessions, so there's question of value. In most cases, its clear why these were left off-- I generally find the issued takes to be superior. "Lebaoth", as an example, is a bit of a disappointment-- it feels abandoned and unrefined (although it does have a nice bass solo), and really this is what's wrong with most of the pieces-- a somewhat lower level of tightness ("Katzatz", "Hath-Arob") or less inspired playing ("Tannaim", the somewhat limp "Acharei Mot"). Its not that they're bad-- on the contrary, they would have sat fine on the album, its just that the album take is typically superior.



Now mind you, there are occasions when this surprasses the original issues, either as a whole or in some aspect. Check the brilliant bass soloing from Cohen on "Idalah-Abal" (featuring even better accompaniment from Baron) and "Nefesh" (with a great swing and a unique theme statement). Douglas has rarely sounded better than he does on this take of "Evel", where he really digs in and cuts loose. And some of the material does match or exceed the issued takes, including the darkly meditative (and superior to the original in exposition of mood) "Moshav" and the pure power of the brief and mantra-like "Zemer"-- a chance for Baron to cut loose below repeated theme statements.



Any concerns about sound quality of the set should be immediately dismissed-- these recordings don't sound like demos, the sound is as crisp as the original studio recordings. And all of it comes wrapped in a beautiful miniature book/digipack including (if I counted correctly-- they're not numbered) 52 pages of pictures of the band and the historical Masada site interspersed between snippets of sheet music from the Masada book and five essays-- one from each of the four band members about their experience in the project and a second one from Zorn concerning the intent behind and his view of the songbook. The essays are enlightening and entertaining, a cross between informative and anecdotal, and certainly well worth the read (and if you bought the Naked City set-- they're printed in a more readable manner and are quite a bit longer than the pieces in there).



All in all, at over 150 minutes over two discs, its a worthwhile addition, but if you're new to the project, start with one of the studio albums (volume 2 and 9 are both quite good) or for a better introduction, the live recording from 2003, "50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7" (Masada I feel always cooked better live). For those of us already initiated though, this is a worthwhile addition. Recommended."

Bound to delight newcomers and collectors alike

Troy Collins | Lancaster, PA United States | 05/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A double disc set of rare alternate tracks from John Zorn's most lauded ensemble, "Sanhedrin" will be a welcome addition to any Zorn completist's collection and a must have purchase for the Masada novice. For those who have followed Zorn's work for the past decade this set may initially seem somewhat irrelevant. If one owns all ten of the original Japanese import Masada studio albums and is quite content with them, then not much new ground will be uncovered here. All but one of the 29 tracks found on this set are alternate takes of tunes already found on those previous ten studio albums. But for those who lack a complete collection of the studio albums, this double disc set that spans four years worth of studio recordings will be a godsend.



Little introduction is needed for Zorn's Masada project, although for the newbie, perhaps a re-capping is in order. A genuinely gorgeous combination of post-Ornette Coleman quartet dynamics with traditional Hassidic melodies, Masada was Zorn's first real bid at writing a book of "tunes." Realizing he lacked a songbook of traditionally melodic material in lieu of his ever growing catalog of tricky improvised game pieces and cut and paste compositions, Zorn decided to write an entire book of songs. After the first 200 tunes, Zorn was on a roll and the song books grew. Chamber ensembles were initiated, cover and tribute albums organized and so on, but always at the core was the original Masada quartet.



As it stands, the diversity of the included material on this set is a virtual best of from the band's early years. Those who feel intimidated by the vastness of the Masada catalog, from the ten studio albums to the endless live Tzadik releases, "Sanhedrin" comes as a welcome relief and must have purchase. Even the casual Masada fan will find versions of tunes they haven't yet heard."