John Zorn - FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack CD

FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack album for sale Recorded during a string of concerts staged to commemorate John Zorn's 50th birthday, ELECTRIC MASADA captures the plugged-in variation of Zorn's acoustic, avant-Klezmer jazz quartet. Regular members Dave Douglas (trumpet) and Greg Cohen (bass) are absent here, with bassist Trevor Dunn admirably filling Cohen's position. Zorn's alternately lyrical and aggressive alto saxophone playing is still front and center, as are Joey Baron's dazzlingly polyrhythmic drum patterns. Rounding out the ensemble are guitarist Marc Ribot, keyboardist Jamie Saft, percussionists Kenny Wollesen and Cyro Baptista, and Ikue Mori on laptop electronics. As one might guess from the personnel and instrumentation, the music here is dense, highly rhythmic, experimental, and often chaotic. The nearly 15-minute "Tekufah" is a cerebral, funky brew that recalls Miles Davis's early-1970s period (circa LIVE EVIL), with Saft's Rhodes creating a busy, cool counterbalance to Ribot's screaming guitar and the webs of thundering drums. "Idalah-Abal" leads off with a punishing death-metal riff that gives way to a rising tide of noise led by Zorn's screeching alto. Elsewhere, the jagged, fragmentary skronk of "Hath-Arob" contrasts with the quietly shimmering dream of "Yatzar," proving Zorn's penchant for endless surprises in the service of his bold, heroic music. Live Recording This is part of Tzadik's Birthday Celebration Series. Electric Masada: Trevor Dunn (bass instrument); Ikue Mori (electronics); Jamie Saft, John Zorn , Marc Ribot, Joey Baron, Cyro Baptista, Kenny Wollesen. Personnel: Marc Ribot (guitar); John Zorn (alto saxophone); Jamie Saft (keyboards); Joey Baron, Kenny Wollesen (drums); Cyro Baptista (percussion); Ikue Mori (computer). Recording information: Tonic, New York, NY (09/27/2003). Unknown Contributor Role: Electric Masada. Electric Masada: Marc Ribot, John Zorn, Trevor Dunn, Kenny Wollesen, Joey Baron, Cyro Baptista, Ikue Mori.

FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack buy CD music It is not overstatement to say that any project associated with John Zorn's Masada ensemble, an acoustic jazz quartet that marries Klezmer themes to free-jazz adventurousness, is worth hearing, and will most likely be excellent. This is certainly the case with this album of solo guitar performances of Zorn's Masada compositions. The pieces showcase the virtuoso skills of three of modern music's most individual six-string talents: Bill Frisell, Tim Sparks, and Marc Ribot, each of whom take turns offering meticulous, passionate readings of Zorn's charts. Interestingly, there are few of the "outside" tendencies that characterize both the Masada quartet and the trademark styles of the guitarists. Ribot's jagged skronk and Frisell's familiar shower of guitar effects, for example, are few and far between (Frisell's fragmented electronics romp on "Katzatz" is an exception). Instead, the presentation is largely acoustic and remarkably straightforward, with each performance approximating the precision and studied grace of a classical recital. Nearly every track is superb, with Sparks's dizzying metrics on "Ravayah" and Frisell's exquisitely delicate "Elilah" among the highlights. Apart from the stunning musicianship, one has to marvel at the force and sophistication of Zorn's writing. This unique and gorgeous music should appeal to a wide range of listeners. Composer: John Zorn . Personnel: Marc Ribot, Tim Sparks, Bill Frisell (guitar). Arrangers: Bill Frisell; Marc Ribot; Tim Sparks.

FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack songs While history will decide the ultimate truth of the matter, John Zorn's soundtrack for Loren Marsh's black comedy, Invitation to a Suicide, is easily the most profound, musically complex, and emotionally compelling of all of Zorn's soundtrack world. Regular Zorn cohorts Marc Ribot, Erik Freidlander, Kenny Wollesen, and Trevor Dunn make up four-fifths of the band, but it is accordionist Rob Burger, from the Tin Hat Trio, who makes the ensemble gel. His technical virtuosity and emotional dexterity add the depth and dimension necessary to turn this piece of music into its own aural chimera. The 18 seamless cues here suggest the makings of a work linked not only by scenic changes, but more complex cinematic elements such as the often difficult-to-place psychological ambiguities that are offered as turning points in a narrative and are signified by an actor's change in facial expression, the placement of an object, or the change in a time of day. Zorn seems particularly keyed in here, watching for that wink, the quick movement of a hand, the slight grimace or smile, or the difference in lighting from one scene to the next to send his musical segments reeling into one another, but as dovetailed hints rather than as jarring juxtapositions. Only once, on "Bugsy's Jazztet," where a certain TV theme is (mis)quoted, do we hear Zorn writing as if he is composing for the Lounge Lizards rather than for this band, and the humor is welcome. In this way, elements of Astor Piazzolla's tangos, Morricone's westerns and gangster films, Rota's intimate celebrations of quirkiness and geography, and a funky swing that blends blues, jazz, rock, and kitsch get woven into a signature that is particularly Zorn's. Film Works, Vol. 13: Invitation to a Suicide is at once Zorn's most mysterious and, paradoxically, most accessible soundtrack. In fact, many who have debated purchasing into the Film Works library but are intimidated as to where to start would do well to make this their first purchase. It stands as one of his masterworks in and out of the series, and will hopefully endure as a shining star in his already vast compositional catalog. ~ Thom Jurek W/Marc Ribot,Rob Burger,Erik Friedlander,Trevor Dunn+ Recorded at Frank Boothe Studios, Brooklyn, New York. Includes liner notes by John Zorn. Personnel: Marc Ribot (guitar); Erik Friedlander (cello); Rob Burger (accordion); Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone, marimba, drums). Audio Mixers: Frank Booth; Jamie Saft. Liner Note Author: John Zorn . Recording information: Frank Booth, Brooklyn, NY (06/2002). Arranger: John Zorn . Additional personnel: Rob Burger (accordion); Erik Friedlander (cello); Kenny Wolleson (vibraphone, marimba, drums); Marc Ribot (guitar); Trevor Dunn (bass).

FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack CD music Track Listing of songs: DISC 1: Intro; Karaim; Ner Tamid; Acharei Mot; Kisofim; Jachin; Malkhut; Nashim; DISC 2: Intro; Lilin; Khebar; Galshan; Malkhut; Shevet; Shamor; Acharei Mot; Kisofim; Shechem;

FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack buy CD music The latest volume in John Zorn's provocative and prolific series of soundtrack collections belongs to one film, the very instructive and moving documentary Hiding and Seeking by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky. The film, a follow-up to the duo's A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, is a post-Holocaust picture that acts as a mirror image to its predecessor. Whereas the former film tried to humanize Hasidic Jews for outsiders, this film seeks to humanize outsiders to the Haredim. Centering on a trip to Poland by the family (Daum, his wife Rivka, and his two sons, who are ultra-orthodox Yeshiva students in Israel) to uncover family history and to seek out a Polish family that sheltered Rivka's father during WWII, the film is a dialogue back and forth about the insularity of the Haradem's world that shuns outsiders, humanism, and the kind of dialogue that can take place when even the notion of community is addressed. Zorn's score is one of his most beautiful and accessible. Written for acoustic guitar (Marc Ribot), vibraphone (Kenny Wollesen), percussion (Cyro Baptista), bass (Trevor Dunn), and voice (Ganda Suthivarakom), the 12 titles are all centered around a kind of Yiddish form of exotica. While traditional folk forms are used freely, the sense of lush and textured dynamics employed by Martin Denny and the jazzed-out worldview of Gabor Szabo are obvious inspirations. But Zorn's use of intricate melodies and his love of the wry, the subtle, and the perverse are also at work here in spades. Fans of his more outside work that challenges notions of Western harmonics and resultant melodic invention will be -- unless they are open-minded about Zorn's obvious love for conventional harmony and chromaticism -- very disappointed. This is an album one has to know absolutely nothing about to be intoxicated by. Its heady mix of silky nylon-string guitar work by Ribot, the sultry ethereal vocals by Ms. Suthivarakom that are strategically and soothingly placed throughout the work, and the completely seductive percussion engagement by Baptista make for a mix as heady as fine wine and as pleasantly overwhelming as fine perfume. This work is beyond folk forms, beyond jazz, and beyond the kitschy sense of humor Zorn often employs (even more so than The Gift), resulting in a work that is profound, moving, and full of sensual delight. ~ Thom Jurek Personnel: Ganda Suthivarakom (vocals); Trevor Dunn (bass instrument); Marc Ribot (guitar); Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone); Cyro Baptista (percussion). Audio Mixer: Jamie Saft. Liner Note Author: John Zorn . Recording information: Frank Booth, Brooklyn, NY (04/2003). Director: Oren Rudavsky. Arranger: John Zorn . Personnel includes: John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Kenny Wollesen, Cyro Baptista, Trevor Dunn, Ganda Suthivarakom. Composer: John Zorn .

FilmWorks XII - 2002, Vol. 2: Three Documentaries Soundtrack songs Simply put, this volume of John Zorn's ongoing series of recordings documenting his soundtrack work is stunning. Lyrical, haunting, and exquisitely composed, this score for Aviva Slesin's documentary Secret Lives: Hidden Children and their Rescuers During WWII is a perfectly designed score, one that can stand on its own as music, but never intrudes upon the film it was written for. To realize this, Zorn went to his most instinctive and steady group of musicians, the Masada String Trio -- Mark Feldman, violin; Erik Freidlander, cello; Greg Cohen, bass. These musicians treat the score -- composed of equal parts folk music, themes from Yiddish rabbinical traditions, and the cross-cultural entwining of Europe's own traditions outside the Jewish world, with subtlety and sensitivity. There is a depth of quietude at work in this score, one that gives the pervasive sense that it does not wish to be discovered in its totality, just as these children and their rescuers did not wish to be discovered, yet always feared they would be. The tension it reflects on the screen is one of multiple dimensions and conflicted feelings. That a score can reflect a film's intentions so directly and remain its own entity is a testament to the strength of its composer, that a score can, outside the context of the film it was composed for, reflect a kind of nearly mythical beauty is an achievement that is virtually indescribable in its triumph. ~Thom Jurek Recorded at Frank Booth Studios, Brokklyn, New York. Includes liner notes by John Zorn. Personnel: Mark Feldman (violin); Erik Friedlander (cello); Jamie Saft (piano). Audio Mixer: Jamie Saft. Liner Note Author: John Zorn . Recording information: Frank Booth, Brooklyn, NY. Arranger: John Zorn . Personnel: John Zorn; Vanessa Saft (vocals); Mark Feldman (violin); Erik Friedlander (cello); Jamie Saft (piano); Greg Cohen (bass).