Free Jazz Music

"The Avant-Garde" was recorded in 1960, but it shockingly, wasn't in the record stores until six years later -- after the assassination of JFK and the British Rock Invasion. Maybe this is why "The Avant-Garde" never quite hit its stride, even though it was -- and still is -- way ahead of its time. The avant garde movement in jazz is arguably the pinnacle of the art form, and this record belongs at or near the summit. It features several of Ornette Coleman's sidemen: trumpeter Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell on the skins, and bass players Charlie Haden and Percy Heath. So, although OC doesn't perform, he casts a long shadow over it. Having said that, "The Avant-Garde" isn't for everyone. Even lovers of Giant Steps and "My Favorite Things" might find this material too advanced and "out there" for their ears.

Trane and cherry are the perfect foil for each other. As far as this type of music goes, this is one of the best albums. This is much like a Coleman album with Coltrane sitting in. The musical interplay on "The Blessing" is outstanding. It's interesting to hear Coltranes soprano sax here, the first time he played it on an album I believe.
This is a very important album in the history of Jazz, it is wort getting for that fact alone. Some of my friends who do not like Jazz, especially this type, actually like this album. If you want to explore the music of John Coltrane and Don Cherry as individual artists there are some better choices though. Like most of the music Coltrane was involved with he makes a very bold musical statement. Also a nice version of "Bemsha Swing".

There are much better Coltrane albums. It is not his parquet. More of this songs is written by Ornette Coleman. Coleman is the best in his own music. Buy Coleman's albums like Change of the century rather when you want listen similar music.

i have a love/hate relationship with the whole genre of avant-garde jazz. if you happen to dislike the genre yourself, don't be put off by the title of this album. this is from 1960, before things became too heavily tilted towards dissonance, too offensive to the ears. all of the music on this album is quite accessible to the average jazz fan, and it's all excellent. don cherry sounds almost conventional here (unlike on the other recordings that i have heard him play on), and coltrane's playing is inventive and gorgeous, as usual. this was a hole in my coltrane collection that i just filled. and i am very glad that i did. wonderful jazz.

Here we have perhaps the most respected saxophonist ever [there even exists a Church of Saint John Coltrane for his deeply spiritual liner notes to A Love Supreme] w/ all the other members of the most controversial & therefore underrated Ornette Coleman Quartet, Ed Blackwell on drums, Charlie Haden on bass [replaced by the slightly more starightforward Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet on tracks 2, 4 & 5], & trumpeter Don Cherry as co-leader. This is brilliant music that for some unexplained reason didn't get released in 1960 when it was recorded but lay in the vaults until 1966, just in time that Coltrane could see it out when he was alive. It opens w/ Don Cherry's compositon Cherryco, the main theme of which very much resembles a tune the OCQ were doing @ the time called Revolving Doors which I'm very fond of, & here it is a fair bit less frantic but certainly excellent still, obvious taken off in different directions [it's a good couple of minutes longer too], in the original liner notes it explains "Cherryco is one of Don's favourite tunes - he played it all through his recent sabbatical of Europe & North Africa, & had considerable success w/ it." The bulk of the album is taken up w/ 3 Ornette tunes, he himself not being present perhaps to give more space to John to do his thing. The 1st of these is Focus On Sanity [from the Shape of Jazz to Come] & it's a 12 minute version, taken further & given as much space as it needs, it fades out as if it could have gone on a lot longer. The Blessing is a charming tune, coming from Something Else!!!, Ornette's debut album from 1958, as does The Invisible which follows it, & the Blessing is apparently the 1st recording of JC on soprano sax, normally he was on tenor. The newer liner notes have this to say: "it offers a strong contrast between Cherry's solo, with its relaxed freedom from the song's chords, & Coltrane's anxious flights on soprano", there's also a noteworthy drum solo in there too. The Invisible is a fast, stomping, squawking kind of a tune, a lot of excitement there. Thelonious Monk's classic Bemsha Swing is the last song & it of course swings long graciously, as any good version of it would, of course Coltrane played in his group in 1957 so he should know it better than anyone. But the ending of it is rather subdued, basically saying this is a very good record but not as revolutionary as the title The Avant-Garde might suggest [although several of the Ornette album titles were bold statements that often held true], it is something that anyone w/ an ear for creative music should enjoy & generally it's not too brash or abrasive to prove a challenge, rather a pleasing listen. Unfortunately there was never again any recordings/performances of this supergroup.

A distinct improvement over the previous Masada album (although this is pretty odd since both of them came from the same recording sessions in July of 1995), "vav" is a fine effort by Masada (John Zorn- alto sax, composer, Dave Douglas- trumpet, Greg Cohen- bass, Joey Baron- drums). The four piece improvises over pieces written using the "Jewish scales" with a jazz head structure to the pieces (i.e. intro-head-improv-head) and a unity in performance that is absolutely stunning. The strength of this band, moreso even than the superb material, is their near psychic interaction, and often times, it isn't the soloist who is the highlight during a solo, but rather the supporting voices. The band is also famous for point-counterpoint sort of improvisation with Zorn and Douglas improvising together.

Admittedly, the album starts off much like the other record from this session-- the first couple pieces are decent enough (opener "Debir" features some ferocious improvising from Zorn), but they aren't particularly memorable pieces. It isn't until the nearly soporific "Tiferet" that we get something really interesting-- a mellow piece with Douglas playing muted, it really grabs your attention for something that is so decidingly laid back in form. Similar in mood is the brilliant "Miktav"-- Zorn opens the piece with a keening line, and a sense of haunting and foreboding infuses the playing of all four musicians, particularly Douglas, who is just brilliant in his solo, showing an amazing sense of taste and technique.

But what this album has that the previous record was missing is a couple really great themes that clearly inspire the band-- drum feature "Nevalah" has a great skipping sound and a superb solo from Baron, but the spotlight is really stolen by Cohen, who manages clever interplay while maintaining a nearly hypnotic groove. Also of note is the album standout, "Nashon"-- featuring a fantastic circular theme and superb performances from all four band members (particularly Cohen), this is one of the real greats of the Masada catalog. Cohen continues his amazing playing on the cooled out "Avelut"-- a laid back piece where the bassist just never ceases his inventiveness (Zorn gets in quite a solo too).

There are better Masada pieces, but this is really a quite enjoyable effort. Recommended.

Even if I haven't heard all Masada's records, I can say Vol.6 is a great Jazz album. J. zorn (as), D. Douglas (t), G. Cohen (b), J. Baron (dr) fly from free or blues to klezmer, from Ornette Coleman's influences, to latin innuendos, with an amazing easyness. Zorn and Douglas build from paralel lines to to rich dialogs; Cohen's bass reminds me somme of the C. Haden's richest works for the Ornette's quartet; Baron's drums sound like Baron is dancing in joy. I really enjoy listening to this record first thing in the morning, not because it's easy listening, no, but because it's happy music in all its rich complexity. J.L.

this cd profiles art webbs skills as a mastert flutist he is a capable latin jazz flustist that you no longer hear pick up this cd ir will not disapoint

Instantly turned my Honda into a Bentley. John Zorn and the musicians he employs are freaks of nature.

When it comes to John Zorn's music, those interested in dipping their toes in often find themselves sitting there longer than originally intended, staring into an ever expanding, seemingly endless abyss. Many times, new musical ventures are easier to embrace when the discography is modest. With Zorn and his projects, I believe all of us could benefit from a comprehensive discography index book with full explanations and samples. Until then, we're forced to poke around and tilt each album back- seeing if we find something interesting underneath; unless however, you have unlimited funds.
Let me save you some time here. I'm not going to do a frame by frame analysis- I'm sure you'll find plenty of sources turning the review into an overly cerebral appraisal.
You've made it this far, and you deserve to be rewarded for it. Expect a brilliant album. As the name of the band implies, they are a string trio, under the direction of John Zorn and his Masada project. No drums, only a violin, cello, and bass. The terms "alchemy" and "seamless integration of talent" are thrown around a lot. These guys are right on that. Although this is a studio album, you feel the intense mood, joy, and excitement of a live improv performance. The musicianship here is simply stellar. I've rewound parts of this album more times than Slash's solo for Sweet Child o' Mine when I was a kid. Exhilarating. If this is your first Masada experience, I envy you. Enjoy.


Azazel: Book of Angels, Vol. 2
by Masada String Trio

Mark Feldman: violin
Erik Friedlander: cello
Greg Cohen: bass
John Zorn: composer; conductor

Any old genius can write music that startles, challenges the mind or moves the heart. Perhaps only a genius like John Zorn can write something that sounds like middle eastern restaurant muzak and still have his fans barking like trained seals at his cleverness. This is unremarkable world music hash warmed over.

You hear people sometimes say that JZ has stopped to surprise us with his various Masada recordings and that there are "too many" Masada records ...
I could'n disagree more. JZ wrote a new batch of around 300 Masada tunes in a few months time : "The Book of Angels". These tunes will not be played by the acoustic Jazz Quartet "Masada", but by various groups. This CD, the second volume, has the Masada String Trio playing 13 new Masada tunes. They do not cease to amaze me in their quality of composition, arrangements, playing, improvising...
The character of the Masada tunes of Book II is a bit different from the first book : they are as versatile and brilliant as those of book one, but also very refined and sometimes a bit less agressive. (more mature ?)
Some pieces have the theme in pizzicato, like "Uriel" and "Tabaet", which reminds us a bit of the famous "Abidan"-theme, but very pleasing indeed. And then there are the lyrical ones, like "Mastema" and "Garzanal", which has some Klezmer violin-playing influence.
On the CD are some jump/cut cartoon-like pieces that are played brillantly. The improvisation is brilliant and very convincing. You feel and hear that these guys have worked a lot together and are at the top of their playing.

If you have not yet tasted the Masada String Trio, this is a must-have. If you know the MST, buy it and you'll be fascinated by the new roads they take with the Book of Angels.

"Azazel" is the second in the series of releases for John Zorn's Masada Book Two. In the early '90s, Zorn wrote about two hundred pieces for his Masada project-- a songbook of melodies that could serve as springboards for improvisation all written using the "Jewish scales"-- this lent a slight klezmer bent to the music. In the second half of 2004, Zorn took it upon himself to compose a new book of Masada pieces-- all told he composed some three hundred melodies, naming each after an angel and titling the songbook "The Book of Angels". "Azazel" is performed by the Masada String Trio-- violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Eric Friedlander and bassist Greg Cohen.

One thing immediately notable about the pieces is the diversity of moods on them-- it seems as a composer Zorn seemed to also challenge himself to repeat little ground and avoid sounding, for lack of better term, Jewish. The pieces cover such diverse styles as frantic cartoon music ("Mibi", "Gurid"), lush and romantic ("Mastema", "Garzanal"), patient yet foreceful ("Tabaet"), moody ("Symnay"), dramatic ("Bethor") and just plain exciting and fantastic ("Uriel", "Aheil"). Of course, this is all helped by having just purely virtuoso performances-- these guys have been playing together (and playing Zorn's compositions) for nearly a decade and it shows-- they approach the material with an unusual sensitivity and vigor-- really digging deep inside the pieces. At times, each receives a spotlight and performs admirably, but its really the collective play that pans out, whether it be cartoon explosions and frantic improvs ("Mibi") or one outdoing the other as they trade solos ("Symnay", "Azazel", "Garzanal"), it seems that every time you think they've reached a peak, someone brings it just a bit higher.

When I first listened to this, I thought to myself that it really isn't quite as good as the live performances,b ut as I listen to this more critically for this review, truthfully I can't find anything bad to say about it-- this album is just utterly fantastic-- its not so simple as to say it's "chamber music" or "jazz on strings" or any other label, its just fantastic music performed admirably. Highly recommended.