Masada First Live 1993 [Live]

Masada First Live 1993 [Live]

ASIN: B000063BUV

Track Listings

1. Piram

2. Sansanah

3. Ziphim

4. Zebdi

5. Hadasha

6. Rachab/Lebaoth

7. Hazor

Tracks:

Piram
Sansanah
Ziphim
Zebdi
Hadasha
Rachab/Lebaoth
Hazor

Customer Reviews:

A diamond that just needs a bit of polishing........2005-06-25

In 1993, John Zorn celebrated his fortieth birthday with a month long series of performances at the Knitting Factory. During these shows, he debuted a new project featuring a group he used to record a soundtrack for a movie called "Thieves Quartet"-- that music was in the style of Miles Davis' "Escalator to the Scaffold" soundtrack, sort of smokey jazz (and released by Zorn on "Filmworks III"). But he had bigger plans for the group, himself on alto, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums, and he debuted those plans at this celebration at the Knit under the title of Masada-- a band in the form of Ornette Coleman's classic quartet improvising on themes written in the "Jewish scales", that sort of eastern European meets Middle Eastern sound. What's funny is that while Zorn talks about this being very embryonic and rough, its really quite an accomplished record-- already, the legendary near-psychic playing is starting to take shape. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the superb "Zipham" (later recorded on Masada 3-- in fact, all the tunes played on this were recorded during the session that would result in the first three albums), where the band slinks into their groove and really figures it out (and check Douglas' propulsive quote on "Dancing in Your Head").

Admittedly, there's a few goofy moments, "Zebdi" falls apart a bit in its syncopation, and the band sounds somewhat clueless on "Piram", but the slower and groove-oriented pieces ("Hadasha" for example) seem to universally work fantastically. Its a lot looser, a lot less refined, and as good as they play together, they'd do a lot better even nine months later when they went into the studio. I rate this relative to the band's other material, if you're a fan, you're not likely to be disappointed, but its not a great starting place to begin exploring the band's catalog-- for that I'd go with "50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7", recorded during Zorn's month long celebration of his fiftieth birthday (notice a trend here?) at Tonic. And certainly, the two make nice companions for each other. But if you're a fan, you'll want this, its essential.

The One that started it all..........2002-10-30

Holy ...! What a spectacular recording of Masada at the Knitting Factory in New York City, from 1993. This band had never performed these tunes before in front of a live audience. As you will hear on the CD, the crowd is completely blown away, and continues to ask for more. John Zorn and company continue to deliver throughout the entire CD. What's more, the incomparable drums of Joey Baron, do more than keep the rhythm of this dynamic quartet together, his playing is flawless and deliciously overwhelming at times. This is some of the best LIVE Masada stuff I have ever come across, and the quality in the production of CD will have you forget they were recording this live. It won't be until the end of a track, when you hear the crowd breakout into applause, that you are reminded the crowd witnessed something very special on that evening in 1993, in New York City. Whether you're a Zorn or Masada fan, this is a MUST have for your collection. This quartet goes unmatched, and will continue to astound you each time you listen to this tasty little gem.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music