John Zorn Music

So I like the Boredoms, and I enjoy some of what Zorn does quite a lot.
I even really enjoy noise (ornette coleman, peter Brotzmann) -- however, I have some reservations about this CD.
I'm not convinced anyone "wrote" anything here. I'll accept that they attempted to direct a moment in noise production - and honestly that's fine.

But, some of the squeals and synth sounds are much like the Theramin noise from the old Forbidden Planet. Again, is that bad? Probably not.

The vocal nonsense/gibberish (Glossolallia?) sounds like it could fill the space of a 'monster' or a muppet having a seizure (see my review of Astrolab)

It's too whiny, it's too thin, there's not enough range to the instrumentation -- but, I could see this working as a kind of hypnotic, ritual soundtrack of weirdness.

though all these CDs are wonderfully produced and packaged I'm not sure the world is really artistically served by all of them.

perhaps after a few more listens I'll feel better.
But, I can put my old gretsch up to my tube amp and produce better noises with my octave clang and wah- than I hear here.

Whereas the studio efforts from John Zorn and Yamataka Eye tend to be rather laid back affairs, teetering on ambient, this record is not. Recorded during the now legendary September 2003 month of Zorn shows at Tonic, Zorn (alto sax) and Eye (vocals, electronics), joined by technician Sawai Taeji (who I'm guessing is responsible for much of the noise synthesis) and on one track, guitarist Fred Frith (who performed earlier that day) produce a record of abstract, noisy improvisation.

Eye is pretty heavily immersed in electronics, at times it sounds like he's running his voice into some kind of synth because the sound has a largely humanistic shape to it, although at times its the sort of standard Eye ranting, bleating, screaming, rambling gig. Zorn is all over, as he often is during the duet sets from the birthday shows, pulling out all sorts of elements from his seemingly endless bag of tricks. Of particular power is the second track ("M.S.T.G.L.") and the piece that adds Frith ("Sun See Soon"), both really reach levels of extraordinary heights.

This is not an album for those not familiar with Zorn's sort of improvisational forms, while more often than not, there is a strong structure here, its not likely to be the sort of thing most people are used to hearing. Still, for those interested in this sort of thing, this is a good record.

I hold to my standard that John Zorn is truly at his best when he collaborates with other artists. My favorite works of his have been with Painkiller, Hemophiliac and during his various duets. And these have been true collaborations, I think, rather than something like what occurs in the game pieces, where it is more of John Zorn in control of improvisation. Zorn's truest collaborations are when his talent mixes and struggles and combines with the creative and improvisational talents of other artists to create something that is not wholly Zorn, but a mixture of Zorn and other things. Painkiller was, of course, a mixture of Zorn jigsaw with low-end ambience and death metal sensibilities (pretty obvious, once you consider the Zorn-Harris-Laswell casting). Hemophiliac had Ikue Mori's electronic dissonance mixing against methodical Zorn noise with the pure insanity of Patton's throat.

And among the canon of Zorn duets, none have ever been as potent as Eye and Zorn--nothing more consistently potent in the entire Zorn canon, if you ask me. From the select offerings on the Naked City soundtrack to _Heretic_, to the live offerings in the Painkiller days, to the NaniNani's and now to this recording from the month-long Zorn 50th birthday celebration, Zorn and Eye are justly described on the obi notes as being mystics, for the dissonant and resonant chaos and insanity both provide to the music process do not chafe against each other, but instead stack atop into a transcendant reality beyond anything man has been able to comprehend. Yamatsuka/Yamantaka/Yamataka Eye has transformed with his band Boredoms from a wild, playful band of quick-stop punk noise to metaphysical, psychedelic perscussion to receive his mystical street cred. John Zorn has played with enough Jewish mysticism to get his wizard stripes, and the effect is noticeable here as much as with any of their releases.

What probably makes Zorn-Eye duets so astounding to me is the most simple spirit of pure play involved. Hakim Bey, in his wonderful essays on art, describe the essence of play as artistic for a most serious purpose. That does not mean, of course, that the play has to be serious in intent, but without play, art has little immediate appeal. Zorn and Eye keep a thorough sense of the true purpose of play in this disc. The first two tracks, especially, are full of the stuff that keep the collaborations of these two legendary. For this performance, Sawai Taeji lends a hand with electronics, and Fred Frith steps in for a track, but the focus is, of course, Zorn and Eye. From Sanders-inspired horn bleats and toots to voice giddiness and electronic play, this disc will maintain the high standard of noise for those afficianados, and if you've never heard these guys at work before, be forewarned that what will follow will not be immediately recognizeable to any sensibility, but learn to trust it, for these two will take you on a journey beyond the realm of any conventional music--just bring your funny bone.

. . . which by no means makes his music conventionally pleasant.

But it does make it eminently worth listening to.

What we've got here is three of the premier free jazzers--Zorn (alto sax), Susie Ibarra (drums, and someone who, if you haven't already, you should absolutely check out), and Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet)--playing freely improvised music. At its woolliest, I might add. So the faint of heart, be forewarned: unless you're into massive sonic assaults, you might want to give this one a pass.

Zorn's got his skitterish, Evan Parker-cum-John Butcher thing going full bore here, which is fine by me, though, admittedly, not everyone's cup of tea. What he does around the six minute mark till the end of "Rising Sign" ought, however, at least be heard by anyone who fancies himself a respectable jazz modernist. Ditto just about the entire seven-plus minute duration of the following number, "By the Mark, Eight."

Smith, although he receives top billing, curiously lays out for nearly half the numbers, finally making his initial appearance about one-and-a-half minutes into the fifth cut with a blattish, breathy entrance of huge gravitas. Not to worry, however. The Zorn/Ibarra duo find themselves in fine fettle, thank you very much. Yet, it's entirely welcome to encounter the Smith-meister and bring him fully into the mesmeric mix. And, it must be said, he pretty much highjacks the performances from here on out, what with his piercing, swaggering presence and spot-on intonation.

Music of enormous substance, and essential listening for those with ears to hear.

If you love John Zorns playing, then you will enjoy this disc however, if you have been exposed to better improvisers then you may be disappointed. I just feel that the musicians here are playing it safe for the mics, and their playing highly caters to John's Sax Effects; lots of Johns presence. Susie is great and so is Wadda Leo Smith, but John is a better composer than player, and this recording proves it.

This is on of the more intriguing sets in the John Zorn birthday series-- Zorn had a pair of duet performances set up, the early set being a duet between himself and drummer Susie Ibarra, the later featuring Zorn and trumpet luminary Wadada Leo Smith. The first five pieces on this disc are duet performances between Zorn and Ibarra, the next four are split between two duo performances from Smith and Zorn and two trio pieces.

The styles are somewhat different between the two sections-- the Ibarra/Zorn duets have an amazing quality to them-- the two have played together frequently over the years, and it clearly shows here as their interactions are nearly psychic. Ibarra has no trouble keeping pace with Zorn as he moves through his seemingly endless technique, in both aggressive tones ("Meridian") and more laid back ("Spirit Writing"). Even on a piece where Zorn seems determined to lose Ibarra, fluttering, playing the horn without the mouthpiece, the mouthpiece without the horn, and displaying uncanny resistence to repetition, Ibarra gently supports with brushes, tinkling cymbals to every screech and bouncing gently on the snare to every flutter ("Visitation").

Wadada Leo Smith, one of the few musicians whose history and breadth of styles is comparable to John Zorn's, finds a way to inspire Zorn while at the same time himself seeking inspiration. Duets on two horns are difficult, but the two of them somehow produce what feels like a third instrument in their intertwining and a fourth in space. Looking no further than the first minute of the extended piece where Smith first joins Zorn ("Ipsissimi") cleary shows all of this-- the two are both inventive, and while Zorn stays more conventional (albiet not much so) than he did with Ibarra, his playing is nothing short of astounding. When supported by Ibarra, the space is filled gently and delicately ("Ghost Writing") or pushes her partners to dizzying atmospheres ("Full Fathom Five").

Like the rest of the CDs in the birthday series, this one really is fantastic. Recommended for fans of any of these three.

Opening with what sounds distinctly like the frantic licks "Heretic 2" from Naked City's "Heretic" album, John Zorn (alto sax) and Fred Frith (guitar), longtime partners, produced a set of extremely dense and merciless improv-- this one is not for the feint of heart-- the music is intense: this is some of the most unique work either of these two have done.

Zorn moves through virtually all his modes, his vocabulary as a saxaphone playing is extensive, he pushes his instrument quite a bit further than any of his contemporaries, and to have such a great support such as Frith who can easily slide between modes, Zorn gets to show all sides, from the most chaotic squeals and bleats and polyphonics that he can summon from his horn to the most delicate and beautiful. Whatever effects Frith is running through, he moves in veins from percussive to chimes to most typical guitar tones, showing a stunning sense of understanding for how his partner wants to move the music.

Having stated that, I will also say this is a really hard listen-- take the second track ("Alecto"), essentially Zorn using his mouthpiece to extremely high diversity while Frith generates an array of squawks and sounds on his guitar and quite frankly, I'm used to this kind of stuff, if you're not, this is probably not a great place to be looking, regardless of your opinions of the two men performing this. Of course, for every moment where there's absolutely no touchstone for me, I get something like "Nine Part Invention" on here, featuring great Zorn soloing over percussive guitar sounds or the unnervingly delicate and beautiful "Four Corners" that absolutely blows me away.

(oh and in case you're wondering, "Cord Trouble and Tuning" is precisely what its name states it is),

Nonetheless, for those inclined for free improv, this is a unique and interesting set, although I much prefer many of the others in the birthday series in this vein, this is one I come back to frequently, and I suspect if I reviewed it in a year, my rating would be higher.

If you like adventurous music then this is an excellent pick, 75 minutes of interesting sound effects and rhythms. But, as is often the case, there are no liner notes which, especially when listening to composers with whom one is unfamiliar, cheapens the offering. Borrow it from a library or buy it second hand. Maybe Kronos will eventually get the message.

but it also impresses me how new music could possibly survive without fabulous recording and explosive effects.

This is one absolutely brilliant collection of compositions, from the beginning to the end of this CD, offering 75 minutes of music. It starts with a vivid and pulsating Digital, continues with Willie Dixon's Spoonful, transformed here into some sort of avant-garde blues (!?) performed with an intensity of Jimi Hendrix. Cat O' Nine Tails, appropriately subtitled as "Tex Avery Directs the Marquis de Sade", is a graphic performance, and with its humor, witty references and brief genre zip-zapping throughout the piece it's characteristic for John Zorn. Steven Mackey plays electric guitar with the Kronos Quartet in his own energetic and exiting piece, Physical Property.

Scott Johnson's 13 minutes long Soliloquy makes me think that I have an advantage in not being a native English speaker because the sense of music of the foreign language always remains (at least to me it does). The inherent music in one's own mother tongue with all its melody, rhythm and texture usually goes unnoticed. By using the short edited parts, or "loops", of I.F. Stone's lecture I feel Kronos does exactly that: brings out the music of the English language and accentuates it with their own instrumental backing. It's a functional and artistically justified method, I feel, justified by the beauty of the composition and the text itself.

One of the highlights of the CD is certainly Sofia Gubaidulina's Quartet No. 2. It brings a sense of eeriness and menace, maintaining the suspense, not unlike some of impressive and disturbing compositions of Krzysztof Penderecki. It would certainly quality as "musica non grata" to the totalitarian Soviet regime of the former USSR, Gubaidulina's country of birth.

John Oswald's Spectre is an experience for itself. It is, simply, one of the most amazing, intense and breathtaking compositions I have ever heard. Like Cat O'Nine Tails, Physical Property and Soliloquy, it was written for Kronos Quartet. It was meticulously recorded in numerous but seamless layers of overdubs and in that sense it was really written for a huge string orchestra of, say, thousand string instruments all of which played by Kronos. It starts with sounds of the quartet's tuning-in out of which one single note is sustained. It sounds fragile and shallow at first but soon after subtly gains strength and depth. As its timbre becomes richer and richer, one gradually becomes aware of numerous other tones that co-exist with the first one, thousands of them, almost the same, but not quite. They start to interact, bumping into each other. And then... the pitch gets slightly higher, the sound constantly gains power in a mighty spiral, a tornado of sound that sucks you in and throws you out. Like a soul leaving the body, as in some Castaneda's novel. This is how I imagine shooting heroine must be like, as sometimes depicted in movies, where a little bit of blood is let into the syringe and then the mixture injected back. Musical Eros & Thanatos... One could say Spectre might be a musical metaphor for life itself, from birth to death with a promise of infinity or immortality.

It's the music like this, fresh and adventurous, that brings all deserved praise to the Kronos Quartet. Short stories? No. More like synopses for epic novels, greater than life.

SHORT STORIES is an outstanding collection of new music. "Digital" by Elliot Sharp is all percussion, presumably produced with violin, viola and cello. "Spoonful," the great Willie Dixon song, is arranged for strings much like "Purple Haze" before it. "Spectre," by John Oswald, probably best known for his electronic manipulations of the Grateful Dead, is a piece that starts out inaudibly, and then all of a sudden gathers into what sounds like a UFO taking off! Cowell's "Quartet Euphometric" is a short, lovely piece, the most conventional on the album.

And that leaves the 5 longer pieces, each one masterful in its own right, and adding to an amazing overall effect: 1) John Zorn's "Cat O' Nine Tails," in which he applies his quick change methodology to the string quartet to hilarious effect, 2) Steven Mackey's "Physical Property" for electric guitar and quartet, with stunning rhythms and textures, 3) Scott Johnson's "Soliloquy" featuring a tape of I.F. Stone, the radical journalist, who questions the persistence of barbarism and tribalism, and asks, "...is it necessary to repeat after 2,000 years all the things you people learned in Sunday school?! How -- how absent-minded -- how forgetful!", 4) Sofia Gubaidulina's "Quartet No. 2", which is sinuous and splendid -- Kronos have done their part to put her before the public -- and 5) Pandit Pran Nath's "Aba Kee Tayk Hamaree," with the voice of the North Indian master, and his disciple Terry Riley on tamboura, a reverent way to close, and the first chance for myself and many others, I'm sure, to hear him.

Of the Kronos releases I've heard, SHORT STORIES is the furthest out, with the least reference to the early 20th century, and the greatest risk-taking vis a vis the classical music establishment. It works! Fantastic!

Like other Kronos releases, the music on one track will be fantastic, and on the next will be awful. I love Elliott Sharp's "Digital" (how he did that with a string quartet is beyond me), Henry Cowell's "Quartet Euphometric" and Stephen Mackey's "Physical Property." The Johnson, though, is tedious, and the Zorn piece is fantastically irritating and goes nowhere, and the Pandit Pran Nath is extremely boring. Oh well. Buy it if you can get it cheap.

...a couple of errors but it's a fine recording...Of course, Issachar is better. To me...three stars and a half.

I've been listening to Zorn's music for a while now, and it took a Live Masada String Trio performance, in person, to finally get me to purchase this. I saw the trio perform a few weeks ago at Zorn's club, The Stone, in lower Manhattan. From the first couple bars of the first song, I was hooked. I would say I listen to this live record more often than any other music I've picked up in a while - which is a pretty big deal considering my vast music collection.

For those unaware, John Zorn has had a group since the mid-90's called Masada which combines Klezmer music with avant-garde 'Ornette Coleman-style' jazz. The group performs out of two books of songs, all of which have been written by Zorn himself. There are literally hundreds of Masada songs out there, and in addition to the regular quartet, there are several other ensembles that also perform Masada songs - the string trio is one of these groups.

The Masada String Trio consists of Mark Feldman (violin), Erik Friedlander (cello), and Greg Cohen (bass). Zorn sits in and conducts them. I've seen it in person as he literally opens up a Masada song book and randomly pulls out pieces. "Number 65," Zorn would say and Mark, Erik, and Greg would pull out that song and play it as if they had performed it thousands of times before. This is not classical music - it has a foundation in jazz, so it's basically jazz being performed on instruments not normally used for that style of music. There is definitely improvising going on, and Zorn picks which musicians improvise and when. His conducting goes far beyound that, though, and he will often cue one or two musicians to play just one note, or a series of individual notes broken down between the three performers. It is easier to pick up on these elements if you have had the privelage of actually seeing it in person. Zorn also does this for his other groups such as Electric Masada, except in that group, he is also a performer!

The sounds emanating from my stereo when I listen to this cd are some of the most beautiful and majestic I have ever heard. I could listen to this for the rest of my life and never get bored with it. If you are somewhat familiar with the Masada catalogue, you may recognize some of these tracks. The most impressive element is the switch between arco and pizzicato on tracks such as 'Abidan,' 'Meholalot,' and 'Khebar' - the last being a real barn-burner! The trio is masterful on more digestable tracks as well like the opening, 'Tahah' or the relaxing 'Sippur'.

I also believe this record is evidence of Zorn's superb song writing abilities. He has written hundreds of Masada pieces but they can be performed for all sorts of different ensambles that span several different styles of music. No matter what the vehicle of delivery is, the performances are always breathtaking. This is a great place to start if you are not familiar with Zorn's music - most indviduals I have played this for loved it immediately. If you are not new to Zorn and don't own this, you are doing yourself a major inconvenience. Pick it up.

This album, the first volume of releases from a series of concerts in September 2003 at Tonic celebrating John Zorn's 50th birthday, brings forward the Masada String Trio-- Mark Feldman (violin), Erik Friedlander (cello), and Greg Cohen (bass), conducted by composer John Zorn. The trio plays pieces out of the Masada songbook, bringing a chamber aesthetic to the music, but maintaining the largely improvised concept behind the music-- in many ways, this highlights the genius of these players, to be so far out of the accepted domain for their instruments and formation-- string trios improvising on jazz?-- and yet still produce something of such magic and beauty, sometimes aggressive, in your face, as much so as Zorn and Dave Douglas wailing on two horns ("Malkut"), sometimes delicate, passive, truly chamber-like ("Abidan").

One thing that should be noted for anyone who hasn't seen this ensemble live, Zorn conducts to a great level, signaling soloists, accompaniments, when the head comes back around, etc. He'll cut off the musicians, start them back up, elicit a single note from them, or keep them on the tracks until the point of derailing, switch them at once from arco to pizzicato and back again, and generally keeps tight control of the proceedings-- to watch the three string players with their focus intently on Zorn and yet playing with such sympathy for each other is really something to behold.

The music itself is impressively performed, most of the songs are drawn from "The Circle Maker", each is given an expert reading, filled with briliant soloing and accompaniment ("Meholalot"), the Masada soloist-counter soloist concept remains firmly in place with the trio. To discuss the pieces individually is almost without point, the Masada songbook has a quality where each piece is really a vehicle and is almost less essential than the power of the performance-- a stunning array of technique is shown here, these three, particularly in my assessment Friedlander, are masters of their instrument and have a real passion for the material, getting deep into it. It also I feel is the best of the Masada chamber pieces, highly recommended.

In September 2003, the club Tonic hosted a month-long tribute to John Zorn's music. Zorn and all of his favorite musicians were involved. This CD is the first in a series documenting that celebration.

At first glance, this is a live version of The Circle Maker --- and that fact alone makes it worth buying. The Masada String Trio (Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, and Greg Cohen) plow through eleven well-known Masada tunes, with Zorn conducting from the sidelines. The performance is fast and creative. You can tell that these musicians love to play these songs.

After I heard it a few times, I noticed something else. This is a great LIVE album. It's right up there with the live albums from famous rock bands. Listen to this on headphones and you'll hear the band playing to the crowd. After each track, you hear the crowd respond, then the band dives into another intense Masada tune. By the final track, you're a little worn out, but in a good way.

The songs of Hugo Wolf (1860 -- 1903)combine great attention to textual detail with closely intertwined writing for the voice and the piano. In this small form, Wolf was a master and took song in a different direction from that of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. He wrote most of his songs in bursts of activity in five large collections, devoted to the poetry of Morike, Eichendorff, Goethe, and to collections of Spanish and Italian texts. He also composed a number of songs in shorter sets.

In the early 1930s, a young Walter Legge began a project of recording Wolf songs on a subscribtion basis to be limited to 500 sets. The recording industry was relatively new, and Wolf, then as now, too little appreciated. The result was an extensive series of recordings of issued between 1931 and 1938 consisting of 145 songs, about one-half Wolf's output, performed by fourteen singers. The Hugo Wolf Society recordings remain a high moment in the recording of song. They were remastered on LPs and, in 1998, in this 5 CD collection which includes previously unreleased selections.

The Wolf Society collection offers an unparalleled opportunity to get to know Wolf's songs performed by artists of the past that might otherwise be unfamiliar to many listeners. The performers include mezzo-soprano Elena Gerhardt, who recorded the initial volume for the society, baritones Herbert Janssen, Gerhard Husch, tenors John McCormack, Karl Erb, and Helge Roswaenge, the basses Alexander Kipnis, Frederich Schorr, and Ludwig Weber, and sopranos Alexandra Trianti, Elizabeth Rethberg, Ria Ginster, Marta Fuchs, and Tiana Lemnitz. The pianists include Conrad Bos, Gerald Moore, Michael Raucheisen, Hans Udo Muller, and Ernest Victor Wolff.

The singers perform in a variety of styles from the highly operatic to the quietly lyrical. There is a Wagnerian performance of Goethe's "Prometheus" by Friedrich Schorr with the London Symphony Orchestra -- the only track using an orchestral accompaniment. The Irish tenor John McCormack shows a more lyrical approach in his renowned performance of Goethe's poem "Ganymed". The sopranos, Alexandra Trianti, Ria Ginster, and Tiana Lemitz have light, clear, bell-like voices. I find the singers on this compilation take a much more individualized, idiosyncratic, and romantic approach to song than do their modern counterparts, who sometimes seem restrained and chaste by comparison.

Each of Wolf's great collections of songs is well-represented. Elena Gerhardt performs songs from each of Wolf's five books, with the exception of the Goethe songs. The young Alexander Kipnis gives a powerful reading of Wolf's three songs from Michaelangelo. The third CD in this collection features many songs from the Italian songbook performed by soprano Ginster, baritone Husch, and bass Kipnis together with recordings from the Spanish songbook by sopranos Rethberg and Ginster and baritone Husch. There are lovely performances by soprano Tiana Lemnitz in the previously uncollected supplementary material, which also includes several Eichendorff songs and a performance of the Goethe-song "Phanomen" by Alexander Kipnis.

There is a great amount of material in this collection, with each of the 5 CDs including in excess of 70 minutes of music. Most of Wolf's songs are highly concentrated and intense. They may prove difficult to the listener coming to them knowing only the lyricism of Schubert. I would not recommend trying to rush through this set at one or two hearings. It is best to take this music in small sections and to listen with text in hand. The compilation includes texts and translations for each of the songs together with good notes about the Wolf Society recording project. There is little discussion about Wolf or about the songs themselves.

This is an essential collection for those who love song, historical recordings, and the music of Hugo Wolf.

Robin Friedman

If these six words give an approximate translation of the song "Auch kleine Dinge", then they might also describe a music lover's reaction as he makes a journey of exploration through the hundreds of little songs composed by Hugo Wolf.

Walter Legge, a very young EMI record producer in the 1930s, first made such a journey possible when he pioneered the Hugo Wolf Society and began releasing the volumes now reissued in this boxed set. Many singers were invited to participate. Legge's choice of singers was sometimes idiosyncratic. You might wonder how an Irish tenor, a Ukrainian bass and a Greek soprano were admitted to the roster. The results, however, especially in the case of the contributions of John McCormack and Alexander Kipnis, prove the sureness of his instincts.

About half Wolf's songs were made available in the original issue, between 1931 and 1938. With this reissue comes unused and hitherto unissued recordings, many by Tiana Lemnitz and Herbert Jannsen. So there is now more to discover and exploration is made easier for us in 2003 than it was in the 1930s. The remastering has improved the sound, Legge's widow Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is able to provide a perceptive introduction in an accompanying booklet, and the texts of the songs are now provided in German and English.

If these six words give an approximate translation of the song titled "Auch kleine Dinge", then they might also describe a music lover's reaction as he makes a journey of exploration through the hundreds of little songs composed by Hugo Wolf.

Walter Legge, a very young EMI record producer in the 1930s, first made such a journey possible when he pioneered the Hugo Wolf Society and began releasing the volumes now reissued in this boxed set. Many singers were invited to participate. Legge's choice of singers was sometimes idiosyncratic. You might wonder how an Irish tenor, a Ukrainian bass and a Greek soprano were admitted to the roster. The results, however, especially in the case of the contributions of John McCormack and Alexander Kipnis, prove the sureness of his instincts.

About half Wolf's songs were made available in the original issue, between 1931 and 1938. With this reissue comes unused and hitherto unissued recordings, many by Tiana Lemnitz and Herbert Jannsen. So there is now more to discover and exploration is made easier for us in 2003 than it was in the 1930s. The remastering has improved the sound, Legge's widow Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is able to provide a perceptive introduction in an accompanying booklet, and the texts of the songs are now provided in German and English.

This is an extraordinary collection of Wolf songs. It is frustrating that the project was not completed, as the quality of what was recorded is so extraordinarily revelatory. My personal favourites are the Michelangelo settings sung by the bass Alexander Kipnis, although he uncharacteristically makes some textual errors. The contributions of Hüsch are numerous and thoughtfully sung, and Karl Erb, Herbert Janssen, Ludwig Weber, Rita Ginster and Marta Fuchs are all caught on extraordinary form, with accompanists of admittedly variable quality, ranging from the sublime Gerald Moore to some very interesting contributions from some accompanists who did not really capture the true essence of Lieder accompanying, which surely cannot permit the piano to be subservient to the voice!

These precious recordings offer us so much. They are a document of a golden age of Lieder singing, and they are superb recitals, sung by a variety of voices, never allowing the listener to tire of listening to a single voice for too long. They are also, of course, examples of some of the most wonderful Lieder writing of any time. These 5 cds are a must for a Lieder specialist, and can open new doors to the novice. Buy them, and never regret having this treasure trove which will give you pleasure all your life.

The Masada songbook seems to be rather ubiquitous these days-- from piano trios to rock bands to this album, arrangements of Masada pieces performed in tribute to author Bruno Schulz and performed by the Cracow Klezmer Band.

The Cracow Klezmer Band, a four-piece consisting of arranger Jaroslaw Bester (bayan-- a kind of accordian), Jaroslaw Tyrala (violin), Oleg Dyyak (bayan, clarinet, percussion) and Wojciech Front (bass), weaves a number of different feels together on this, although to my ears, they excel at moody and melancholy more than anything else-- the swirling, extended arrangement of "Tirzah" (featuring vocalist Grazynah Auguscik in a wordless vocal), the somewhat disjoint "Pagiel" (opening with a lovely unaccompanied violin solo before violin stating the theme over counterpoint accordian) and the moody clarinet feature "Hamadah" are all among the best tracks on the record.

I find that when the band explores different veins though, the pieces are decent enough, but they don't really grab me, and hte soloing sometimes feels a bit out of place ("Galgalim" is probably the best example of it). It's never unlistenable, but it doesn't really grab you as much as you'd like. All in all, it ends up being a decent record, but it doesn't have quite enough excitement to really garner a lot of attention.

"Filmworks VIII" is the soundtrack for two films-- "Port of Last Resort", a documentary about Jews fleeing Nazi Germany for Shanghai and "Latin Boys Go To Hell", which I confess I have no idea what it is.

For "Port of Last Resort", Zorn hit on the brilliant idea of exploring his Masada songbook with the inclusion of the pipa-- a traditional Asian stringed instrument ably performed by Min Xiao-Fen set against the chamber ensemble setting he'd worked with previously-- in opposition to the pipa is the Masada String Trio (Mark Feldman- violin, Erik Friedlander- cello, and Greg Cohen- bass), guitarist Marc Ribot, and pianist Anthony Coleman in various formations. The music itself borders on absolutely breathtaking at times, although I found the pieces performed exclusively by the trio were a bit lacking in something ("Emunim"), the lovely "Shanghai" (with the Masada String Trio offsetting the pipa) and the pained guitar version of "Ruan" (where its really Feldman who shines) are certainly intriguing.

Zorn sounds a bit bitter in his liner notes concerning "Latin Boys Go To Hell"-- evidentally, the music was largely rejected in favor of rock and disco pieces, which prompted Zorn to ask for his name in the credits to be altered. The music itself ranges from delicate vibes ("Locura") to driving kit drum workouts ("Sangre") and tribal beats ("Mentiras"). All in all, its a fairly interesting and engaging listen.

Together, "Filmworks VIII" is a decent piece-- Zorn has much better soundtrack work, but this is a respectable entry into his catalog.

Marc Ribot's playing on this album is some of his best playing layed down on the Compact Disc medium. Highly recommended... The 2nd half of the CD featuring Wollesen is great too! Mostly percussion yet interesting and articulate. This is a great album that gets better with each listen!

THE PORT OF LAST RESORT material on this disc is really quite moving; in addition to players from the Masada String Quartet / Bar Kochba project, a Chinese musician playing the traditional pipa is added. The film, I gather, was about Jewish refugees in Shanghai, and the music blends together Jewish and Asian traditions. It's among the most listenable and beautiful material Zorn has released; while I enjoy his quirky and perverse aspects as much as the next Zorn fan, it's nice to have music by him around that is this mature and reflective. The percussive stuff is less interesting, though there are a couple of nice cuts. One of my favorite filmworks discs (along with 1 and 5). Worthwhile.

THE PORT OF LAST RESORT material on this disc is really quite moving; in addition to players from the Masada String Quartet / Bar Kochba project, a Chinese musician playing the traditional pipa is added. The film, I gather, was about Jewish refugees in Shanghai, and the music blends together Jewish and Asian traditions. It's among the most listenable and beautiful material Zorn has released; while I enjoy his quirky and perverse aspects as much as the next Zorn fan, it's nice to have music by him around that is this mature and reflective. The percussive stuff is less interesting, though there are a couple of nice cuts. One of my favorite filmworks discs (along with 1 and 5). Worthwhile.

On the Filmworks discs, you can never be sure what you'll find: surf guitar, covers of Ennio Morricone, freejazz, waltzes of death, punk rock, pipe organ stuff... This one is no surprise. There are two halves to this cd. The first accompanies a Jewish documentary and is based on the feel of Masada/Bar Kokhba, with such players as Erik Friedlander on cello, Anthony Coleman on piano and Marc Ribot on guitar. The second half is the soundtrack to Latin Boys Go To Hell, about discovering sexuality. It is all percussion, with Kenny Wollesen and Cyro Baptista. This made more sense after seeing the film, and is evidently a great soundtrack. Check it out!

This CD will appeal to you if you are a fan of modern composers who can't seem to distinguish between music and sound. The best tracks are Klucevsek's own compositions, the others are just too noisy for me. Transylvanian Software is a better disk for adventurous but listenable virtuosic accordion playing.