John Zorn Music

Another John Zorn album and, well... it's excellent. As usual, Zorn's collaborators are superlative: Cyro Baptista, Greg Cohen, Bill Laswell, Mike Patton, Jamie Saft, Jim Pugliese, Jennifer Charles, Rebecca Moore, and Beth Hatton. This time the theme is "Alchemy, Mysticism, Metaphysics and Magic both black and white." Like the Music Romance series (_Music for Children_ and _Taboo & Exile_) the music is astoundingly diverse yet presents a unified mood and character, and like the kind-of-but-not-really-Music-Romance disc _The Gift_, it is highly pleasing to listen to -- in a dark, disturbing kind of way.

The pieces are strange because they don't really seem to go anywhere. There are no discernible beginnings or endings to these pieces, they are just...there. That is not to say they are repetitive -- they aren't. This is music that doesn't really flow, it just exists and captures the mood flawlessly. There is lots of development and tense dynamics, but their primary characteristic is their self-contained ritualistic element that pulls you in, hypnotizes you, and leaves you feeling strangely changed afterward. Dark spiritual relevation is possible with this cd.

The songs themselves? "Invocation" has murmuring organ with modulating pitch, watery percussion, electronically manipulated voices, and ominous noisy squalls of feedback. "Sex Magick" is a thirteen-minute percussion ritual with Cyro Baptista and Jim Pugliese, with jagged beats. It paradoxically seems to be both tribal & primitive and advanced and transcendent, with geometrically influenced rhythmic patterns. "Sacred Rites of the Left Hand Path" is an eerie, dissonant, frightening piece with a minimalist slant. Saft's atonal acoustic piano playing is darkly enchanting and the arrhythmic electric piano with the quiet percussion as a backdrop is pretty scary. "The Clavicle of Soloman" is absolutely incredible. It's hard to describe, but it's AMAZING. It's really just slow ebbs of high-pitched static, with the occasional melody carefully hidden, and I have no idea why it is so good. It reminds of Ligeti's Atmosphères in a way, a piece where it seems that nothing happens while at the same time so much happens. It is a great feat in electronic timbre and unfolding tone clusters. "Lucifer Rising" is an a capella piece for female chorus with a soloist moaning and whispering, breathily pleading for dark rites. It'd probably be sexy if it weren't so disconcerting. "Leviathan" is a thick, complex hulk of death metal noise with Mike Patton's screaming sounding like an evil spirit being exorcised. "Mysteries" is an abstract piece that reminds me of Naked City's _Absinthe_.

This is another truly masterful work by Zorn, and an essential item for anyone interested in him at all.

John Zorn is a musician of startling diversity and perhaps an even more startling batting average when it comes to the quality of his music. When one of his real masterpieces comes around though, one is always amazed to find just how good music can be. "I.A.O.: Music in Sacred Light" is one of those pieces.

Drawing inspiration from the writings of turn-of-the-twentieth-century occultist Aleister Crowley and the films of Kenneth Anger (probably best known for "Lucifer Rising"), the album is touted on the Tzadik website as a "hypnotic seven-movement suite of Alchemy, Mysticism, Metaphysics and Magic both black and white". While the descriptions on the Tzadik website are noted for their hyperbole, in this case, this may be entirely accurate.

The music on "I.A.O." is mysterious, enchanting, swirling, and intriguing. The musicians involved (vocalists Mike Patton, Jennifer Charles, Beth Anne Hatton and Rebecca Moore, bassists Greg Cohen and Bill Laswell, pianist/organist Jamie Saft, and percussionists Jim Pugliese and Cyro Baptista) appear in small ensemebles throughout, performing music that is minimalist and yet delicately beautiful-- I'm reminded of Messiaen, Kagel, and Naked City's "Absinthe" at times and Verdi, Morricone and "Torture Garden" at others.

"I.A.O." moves through seven movements during its composition. Opening movement "Invocation" is a wall of metallic percussion with a high organ or synth part and Patton whispering in the background. This moves into the percussion-oriented "Sex Magick"-- drawing its sound largely from Central and South American sources before the piece changes directions in the third movement, "Sacred Rites of the Left Hand Path", featuring a loping yet aggressive organ line, pounding pianos, and more whispering from Patton. There's a sense of unity to these three movements, a building, haunting, delicate sound that permeates all three. The fourth movement ("The Clavicle of Solomon") should be a drastic shift but isn't-- moving the sound into electronic noise, scrapes, and high pitched tones that should be grating but somehow are not. And even though the sound has quieted, it somehow continues that feeling of building intensity that was prevelent in the first three movements.

The next portion of the suite ("Lucifer Rising") is focused largely on vocals, with a female choir (and what sounds like a flute accompaniment) gently pushing forward while Charles whispers darkly, evoking a thick slab of tension that will be released on "Leviathan"-- a slab of death metal featuring throbbing bass from Laswell and positively inspired vocals from Patton. Patton's final scream ends unaccompanied and the closing movement, "Mysteries", is quite the opposite of "Leviathan"-- electric piano gently playing dark lines over delicate percussion.

Nearly as interesting as the music contained within the CD is the artwork-- though contained in a standard jewel case, the liner notes consist of four cards, each detailing some element of the performance. The entire jewel case slides into a white slipcase with raised symbols printed on either side.

All in all, this is quite a package, the music has that odd quality of being familiar even while being totally alien. One of the essential Zorn recordings. Probably not a good place to start for Zorn (that's still "Naked City"), but maybe a good second. Highly recommended.

I've got about 30 Zorn albums--this one is of the 'not too melodic' varieties, but definitely not listen-proof. I like this album a lot--it's very meditative and strange, but beautiful and wonderfully recorded.

Thematically it's like many of Zorn's pieces, as described in other reviews here. Sonically it's different--very different soundscapes.

I wouldn't put this at the top of my must-have Zorn list, but it's definitely ON the list. I listen to this one regularly, and it's great on headphones.

Full Title: "IAO: Music in sacred light (which explains the title)
Honestly, listening to this album made me feel like i was sort of breaking into someone's house. I mean I've never really been into ambient music, except for maybe the first fantomas album, and the new suspended animation one. And what little reviews for this album said it was neither one of Zorn's essential recordings, nor was it one of his more hard-core works, nor was it a great album to start with, which it was for me. But all that side, the reviews were positive, and the theme and concepts of the tracks and the album as a whole, and being one who is intent on spread my listening ear, I decided to take a chance and get it.
Fortunatly for me, after paying some close listening to this album I was pleasently suprised at what I had just got. This Cd is one of those cds, like pink floyd's "dark side of the moon," Led zeppelin's "houses of the holy," because although it is far less acessable than those albums, it fits almost any occasion, and any emotion. Upon first listen, it was the creepiest sounding music I had ever heard and upon second listening, it was strangely soothing. It's a great album to just but on and drift away too, and although the music is on the subtle side, it doesnt take a huge amount of close listening to be coherent.
Last note: From the perspective of your average 14 year old lets-see-how-long -we-can- pound-on-these- things-before -the-cops-show-up-drummer- living-a-life-of- food-music- school-girls- and being an idiot on purpose, who listens to metallica, fishbone, the offspring, and mr. bungle, I say that this is one hell of a sonic roller caoster good for anyone with an open mind and a willing ear. I'll definately be checking out this guy's other albums. Peace Out

John Zorn is one of contemporary music's most enigmatic and talented figures. The range of musical output by his Tzadik label is mind boggling. In my mind, Tzadik is the quintessential label for avant-garde and experimental music. Tzadik was founded in 1995 by Zorn and is responsible for releasing some of the most unique and uncompromising music ever recorded on this planet. Zorn himself is a masterful musician and composer. Since the 70's, John has explored Jewish music, soundtracks, grindcore, free jazz, chamber music, rock, mysticism, world music, and everything in between. He has worked with Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Keiji Haino, Bill Laswell, Mike Patton, John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Yamatsuka Eye, and numerous others.
`I.A.O.' is inspired by Magick. Specifically, by the writings of Aliester Crowley and the films of Kenneth Anger- 2 of the 20th century's most notable students of the Occult. This is music with a purpose. It is intended to be used in invocations of the Beast. In fact, the name IAO is Kabbalistically identical to Satan. Just look at the song titles: `Invocation', `Sacred Rites Of The Left Hand Path', `Lucifer Rising', and `Sex Magick'. A dark ambience pervades this music. Much of it is hypnotic and trance inducing; some of it is downright creepy. `I.A.O.' is a very atmospheric work.
The first track, `Invocation' is a 7-plus minute drone-piece, making use of minor key organ, unclassifiable eerie sounds, human voice, and sinister synth tones to create tension and prepare the listener for what awaits. It is the perfect introduction for this album. `Invocation' is followed by `Sex Magick'. Clocking in at over 13 minutes, it's obvious what the intended function of this track is, as it utilizes hypnotic percussion to lure the listener in deeper.
Next up is one of my favorite pieces on the album, `Sacred Rites Of The Left Hand Path'. This track makes great use of a repeated evil sounding organ vamp. Devilish piano and equally unsettling synth combine with other ungodly sounds to produce something that would not be out of place in a truly scary horror film. After another highly effective 9-plus minute drone piece comes `Lucifer Rising', a truly haunting and lovely track. Jennifer Charles beckons, moans, and whispers over a seriously creepy female chorus, inviting us to the dark side. There is something very erotic about this piece. But then again, there has always been something appealing and sexy about `the dark side'.
`I.A.O.' ends with the death metal amalgamation of `Leviathan', featuring the vocals of none other than Mike Patton. Followed by the closer, `Mysteries', a perfect and dark end to a perfectly dark work. `I.A.O.' is one of my favorite of Zorn's releases. According to Tzadik, it is "hypnotic seven-movement suite of Alchemy, Mysticism, Metaphysics and Magic both black and white". I can't argue. This is one of the more interesting albums I have come across in a VERY long time. It is put together perfectly. If you are planning on any rituals, freaking out friends, or engaging in `magickal pursuits'; this album is a must-have. `I.A.O.' comes especially highly recommended if you are a student of the Occult.

For a pairing that gets talked about frequently to this day (and who put on one of the finest improvised performances I've ever seen a couple years back), Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn in a duo setting are stunningly undocumented. In fact, I believe that this now quite out of print recording, "In Memory of Nikki Arane", is it for extended performances.

What this record presents is about an hour of duet performances, recorded live in 1980 according to the liner notes (though if there's a crowd they're quite unnoticed). Having been 2 at the time of the recording, I'd never experienced these performances live, and I'll temper my review by pointing out two things. First, I have the benefit of viewing these with hindsight, of knowing what both Zorn and Chadbourne would do in the 27 years since this recording. More to the point, having seen them duet in 2006, my experience will invariably draw comparisons to that performance, where the two had completely developed their own languages on their instruments. Second, it's been my experience that very few improvised performances that make serious use of space tend to flourish on record, this recording included.

With that stated, I'll talk a bit about the performance-- Zorn (on clarinet, soprano sax and alto sax) and Chadbourne (on electric guitar) put together a series of performances that range from delicate to fierce, that show hints at both the vocabulary and the music they'd develop over the next three decades, and that are staggering in their ability to sustain your interest. There seems to be an intentional avoidance of melody and any real extended statement-- instead, moving in small passages of skronk with small passages of amelodic scratchings and whisperings interluding. When an idea does develop, it tends to be one driving the other amelodically. This is fairly unusual, even for free improv, where it seems snatches of at least implied melody tend to work their way in. Without this touchstone, the music tends to be fairly difficult to latch onto. The one exception to this is the very beginning of the third track, where Chadbourne makes a brief stab at a rock riff before giving it up.

This isn't saying it's not full of interesting ideas, mind you, but it's a whole lot closer to The Classic Guide To Strategy than to anything else, very associative in it structure and at times quite dense. Nonetheless, as a document of an underdocumented collaboration, it is well worth investigation.

Recorded during twelve separate performances of John Zorn's "Cobra" during 1992, "John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory" presents an extraordinary mix of performances, with different stagings by different groups and an absolutely stunning array of performers and environments.

Like most Game Piece performances in large ensembles, this one seems to lose quite a bit in the translation-- the Game Pieces are a live form more than anything else and here we get almost a greatest hits of the year, which lends a bit more coherency to what we're hearing, but still leaves one feeling that you're sitting on the outside. The piece is notable for having anyone even remotely associated with Zorn on it-- many of the standard downtown guys show up here in some capacity or another, Zorn himself, Anthony Coleman, Marc Ribot and so on, but also looser associations and other downtown guys-- Steven Bernstein, Makigami Koichi, David Krakauer, Paul Shapiro, David Tronzo, Jeff Buckley, Doug Wieselman, Louie Belogenis, Myra Melford, David Shea... seemingly everyone who was passing through New York and playing interesting music shows up. None of the performances really leap out at you, but they're all at least fairly engaging.

Having said that, it's probably not the best Cobra performance out there (I'd reserve that for John Zorn's Cobra: Tokyo Operations '94) and being rather hard to find these days, this one's probably best left for the collectors.

In his liner notes to this recording, Cobra composer John Zorn states "[t]here has never been a Cobra like this one", a wholly accurate assessment. Performed by a group of Japanese improvisers prompted (more on that in a minute) by Makigami Koichi on a mix of traditional Japanese and western instruments, this performance is something that is, as Zorn alluded to, wholly different.

For those who aren't familiar with Zorn's Game Pieces, I'll provide a brief explanation, although you can see a clip of a performance in A Bookshelf On Top Of The Sky, and I'd highly recommend finding a way to see this live rather than just hearing it on record, even if it is just the clip on the documentary, it'll make a lot more sense. Anyway, the deal is that a Game Piece sets up a set of rules for improvisation-- the prompter serves as communication broker for the musicians, changing the gears of the interaction based on feedback from the musicians.

So the question is, what makes this special or different? It's tough to say, but for whatever reason, the vocabulary brought in by the Japanese performers as opposed to those rooted in Western music creates an otherwise uncommon sense of cohesion to the project. One of my consistent complaints with the Game Pieces on record, particularly those like Cobra that are performed by large groups, is that the pieces don't sound like coherent statements because by and large the rules of the Game Piece change the improvisation in a way that, lacking the visual cues of the prompting, seems wholly random, even with musicians who are highly experienced in this sort of stuff. But for whatever reason, maybe it's the relative foreignness of the Japanese classical music experience to me that lowers my expectations of the interactions or the blend between East and West in the music, or maybe it's the experience of the musicians-- their culture, their training, or their work together, but for some reason, this record SOUNDS like a record. It makes the experience of listening to it gel a whole lot better.

Bottom line, "Cobra: Tokyo Operations" is a great performance, a powerful improvisation, and well worth the relative difficulty to dig it up. Recommended.

November 9, 1938. A lot of crystal was crushed to powder during that night in the Third Reich and Poland. Jews upon Jews were killed and piled up in the streets waiting for the trucks that were to take the bodies to the disposal dump, just like so much trash every morning or so. That's the dedication. What about the music? We enter in a world of sounds first. The sounds of the ghetto, the sounds of the night. Natural sounds like some music from Jewish festivities or nostalgia. Like the Germans and their language ever present in the Ghetto to keep these Jews in line. And these voices start becoming repetitive because out of habit in the ghetto you don't listen to the words, only to the intonation since the words were always the same provided they were in a dominant language, German for example? But it could have been interesting to give some other languages because there were, King Rumkovski for example in Lodz. Then of course a lot of crystal or glass is broken over and over again and again again without stopping for minutes and minutes and a fiddle from high on top of some roof starts lamenting its notes on a background of some repetitive litany from some Jews. It is interesting to listen to tracks like "Never again". Everyone hopes so, but it has happened quite a few times since then, even if the Jews were not the victims, even if the victims were not a racial or ethnic group (though this also happened) but political minorities that had to be eliminated by decision of the political authorities of a country, like Cambodia, or Russia and its gulag, or China and its Cultural Revolution. We should of course also think of us, ourselves and our own actions. Even if the projects and the methods were not the same, what the French did in Indochina or Algeria, what the British did in Kenya or even India, what the Americans did in Vietnam and now in Iraq, not to speak of Korea or Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all these do not have to be ashamed as for the results, the violence and the brutality. The tiger cages of the French colonial army in Indochina, the use of electricity, the recourse to drowning or other water tortures of most invading and colonial armies have little to envy from the Germans. No the shoah is not unique, neither in results nor in objective. Even as for the ethnic or racial approach, the extermination of gypsies was not very different. But the music is a lot more interesting than the titles that are supposed to enlighten us as for the meaning, or rather the general orientation of the interpretation that is mostly added to the music. The Jewish music that intervenes here and there as small tidbits is always submerged by the noise of breaking glass, or rough voices, or lamentations, or percussions that are dull and deep like fate, like the fate of a people that self-declared itself a long long time ago the chosen ones. So chosen that they were thus and therefore designated as the necessary and natural volunteer victims of all persecutions you can imagine, of being the easiest scapegoat to consider in any situation. But is it that simple? If we follow Saul Bellow, certainly not. There is in the Jewish people, and creed, according to Saul Bellow, some morbidity that makes them consider death as a real and necessary companion in life, which makes them easily unaware of hostility when it appears. And the music expresses that very well. These musical sentences that never end or are cut short by some noise or some fiddler on a roof, or some voices, contain their own death in their notes, contain the death of the individuals they come from and are supposed to represent. This morbid dimension is fascinating because death is really the natural companion of life, as Saul Bellow would say, this earth we live on is the big universal mother and the common grave for everyone at the very same time. That reduces the triple goddess to two, and life itself is absent per se, only birth and death, no growing and decaying, but this reduction of the ternarity of God is present from the very first verse of Genesis. And even Solomon imposed a binary structure onto the ternary divinity of the world by doubling it into six, the two cups of man and God. And this music is very close to that binary reduction, black versus white, Jewish versus aggression, menaced life versus triumphant death. The rest is nothing but a vast lamentation. Thus the music is great, strong, powerful, fascinating, inspiring and mesmerizing (if that is not a David's star, what is?). Let yourself dive and even drown into this music and just pray for humanity to be one day able to really stop war, any organized violence and even gratuitous violence. Will the deep death instinct of man accept to lay down its weapons and to start loving others? Asking the question is to divide humanity into two camps those who think so and those who don't, and in between a mass of unconcerned and indifferent egotists.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

I've got about 30 Zorn albums, and this is one of the greats. Not one of the more listenable albums, though there are some great Klezmer-inspired pieces here. The second track is like being inside the breaking glass of Kristallnacht, and it's not a listening experience that I can recommend more than once or twice--in fact, it's the only piece on the album that didn't make it to my iPod.

But the rest of the album is chilling, effective, and terrific.

Sometimes we enjoy a musical experience not because it is nice and fun, like a pop song, but because the experience is challenging and incites an uncomfortable emotional reaction that is very powerful. _Kristallnacht_ from 1992 is John Zorn's earliest Jewish themed album, centered on Jewish existence in the twentieth century, and it is hopeful and tragic. I have listened to the album quite infrequently compared to most of the other Zorn discs I have, because it is actually rather upsetting. And this is not just because of the brutal second track, "Never Again", a punishing onslaught of high-frequency noise and breaking glass. The whole album hits like a metaphysical sledgehammer. And as always, Zorn's collaborators are some of the best musicians in the world (Marc Ribot, Mark Feldman, Anthony Coleman, Mark Dresser, William Winant, Favid Krakauer, Frank London).

"Shtetl" is an atmospheric klezmer piece for violin, trumpet, and clarinet, where trumpet solos grow more intense as German announcements appear and add fear to the foreboding but otherwise peaceful evocation of ghetto life. Then "Never Again", Zorn's representation of the "night of broken glass"...it is hard to explain its power. i think the warnings about nausea and dizziness from listening to this are somewhat dubious, but listening on headphones except at very low volumes is definitely a bad idea. Some speakers put the high-frequencies out harshly, some do not. The piece is about 13 minutes and consists largely of high-pitched electronics and manifold layers of shattering glass. A few other sounds and samples are interspersed, like footsteps, pizzicatos, voices, and a bell. It is not easy or pleasant to listen to, but it is a very well done composition and I would like to think that most mature listeners could "handle" this it. What follows is "Gahelet", which is far less abrasive but unsettling in its own way. The piece takes form out of near-silence -- gossamer wisps of electric guitar, violin legatos, and distant sounds of voices on the radio.

"Tikkun" is a short cut-and-paste style piece, for acoustic guitar, violin, and percussion. It swings randomly between different moods and tempos. Similar is the file-card composition "Tfizia", which starts with a dissonant splatter of petulant noise. It then proceeds through nearly twenty stylistic changes in its eight minutes, including cartoony klezmer, gnashing metal, avant-garde rackets, rumbling low piano keys accompanied by metallic screeching, voices & static, and beautiful trumpet solos evoking Middle Eastern lands. Even though this piece changes very often, it feels very coherent on some level (not just cuz lots of the parts are "jewish" sounding, ok).

"Barzel (Iron Fist)" is the militaristic assault, its heavy, distorted guitars and odd-meter percussion sounding like brutal metal in slow motion, with creepy sounding sirens and weird electronic noise slashing through the sludge. Suddenly everything drops out to just very distorted guitar shredding and some kind of static-y sample of unintelligible jewish singing. Then everything kicks back in before it ends. At loud volumes this is almost as brutal as "Never Again", but it lasts only two minutes. The album fades on a nice note, "Gariin". It starts very minimal, with just drumming, then grows into a very peculiar piece with jazzy drums and bass and amazing guitar jamming from the god Ribot, which gets progressively dissonant before climaxing with a startling crescendo. Very busy and noisy, it sounds like a highly musical construction yard. It fades out with just percussion.

An excellent album, worth engaging with deep attention and an open mind. One of Zorn's best in terms of overall experience.

In 1992, John Zorn, then best known for his Game Pieces, tribute albums and the more recent genre-defying triumph of Naked City, entered the studio to record his first real exploration of his Jewish Heritage-- a musical tapestry to represent "Kristallnacht", or the Night of Broken Glass. For those unaware of the incident-- Nazi Germany planned a coordinated attack on the evening of November 9, 1938 on Jewish businesses and synagogues-- destroying everything they could-- 7500 business were destroyed, over 250 synagogues were burned, and nearly a hundred Jews murdered. This is the subject for which "Kristaalnacht" was written.

In the studio, Zorn assembled a small ensemble-- Mark Feldman (violin), Marc Ribot (guitar), Anthony Coleman (keyboards), Mark Dresser (bass) and William Winant (percussion), along with David Krakauer (clarinet and bass clarinet) and Frank London (trumpet) on a pair of tracks-- to record the seven movement piece. It is, in all senses, a modern masterpiece, one of the most beautiful and horrible statements of music ever made, and it may well be the most powerful recording in the catalog of John Zorn.

"Kristaalnacht" contains a bit of everything-- opening with a loping klezmer piece ("Shtetl"), ominous and dark, with the brief, melancholy lines over accordian interspersed with recordings of Adolf Hitler. This gives way into the justifiably noteworth "Never Again"-- twelve minutes of the sound of glass breaking punctuated by the sound of running and brief musical interludes-- Zorn warns against repeated listens, but after the moody openers, it's a thing of tortorous emotion. Most importantly, it accomplishes what it sets out to do.

When it does finally end, the piece moves in dozens of different directions-- "Tikkun" feels like after the storm, where the air is still electric but somehow stil, "Tzfia" finds Zorn's cartoon influence and the Naked City soiund coming forth, brief interludes and seemingly random swaps of sounds and instrumentation dominate the piece, no one sound stays present for more than 20 or 30 seconds. When the piece does settle (in the track "Barzel"), it is frantic, angry and uncomfortable, and certainly hard to process and understand. The album closes on a frantic note-- the genre defying, guitar driven "Gariin" is something totally unique, over frantic percussion and a walking bass line, Ribot manages some of the most astonishing guitar playing you've ever heard.

When it's over, it's an experience. While I think Zorn has done better work than "Kristaalnacht", I don't think anything in his catalog quite matches its power. Highly recommended.

Great concept musically, but Zorn loses respect for ripping off the brainchild from Gary Lucas, who conceived the idea two years earlier with his original song, "Verklarte Kristallnacht " performed in Berlin to an enthusiastic crowd and rave reviews. Zorn should at least have the integrity to credit Lucas.

this is a companion piece to zorn's duras:duchamp recording, this is music in the french tradition of scriabin and ligeti, music inspired by surrealists, writers and artists of the avant garde. for zorn the label `avant garde' is frozen and no longer leads the way, but looks back decades ago to when french culture influenced artists in the united states.

le momo, for piano and violin, is inspired by the poem of the same name by artaud, a poem overtly concerned with artaud's confusion of the orifices of evacuation. le momo is probably to what zorn wants the word madness in his title to refer, although there are incantatory sections of artaud's poem, parts that inspired zorn to `some of the most rigorously organized [music] i've ever written.'

the second piece, for cello, is a tribute to the artist, joseph cornell, `a strange hermetic man' who lived near the zorn home in the queens, a man from whom zorn learned `his hermetic intuition.' the tribute to cornell is aptly entitled untitled, since joseph cornell entitled many of his works untitled -- a surrealistic touch by zorn. cornell assembled objects and pictures in glass fronted boxes similar to dioramas. cornell's assemblages had a strong influence on zorn's growing body of musical assemblages. listening to erik friedlander on cello you can imagine the selecting and assembling process, just as you can imagine duchamp at work on his etant donnes as caught by zorn in his piece of the same name on the duras: duchamp recording.

the third piece is for piano, violin and cello, entitled amour fou, translated mad love, the influence cited by zorn for this composition is scriabin.

were the zorn ship ever to hit an iceberg i'd grab this cd and the duras:duchamp cd and head for the lifeboats, leaving the loud guitar rock cds to sink with the ship, such is my allegiance. however, i'm pretty sure someone would save the rock. and that's the attraction of john zorn, he probably has something for everybody on board.

I assume that if you're reading this, you're already familiar with Zorn's stuff. PLEASE, don't be put off by the fact that this CD is "chamber music" or "classical" stuff. This is an absolutely amazing recording. Stuff like this builds upon the work of geniuses such as Bartok, Ligeti, Boulez, Stockhausen, mixes it with influences from cartoon, rock, jazz etc. You get the picture. Classic Zorn ! But in my opinion, much more ambitious than other projects. This should not deter you : it ain't math or boring "scholarly" music. Much the contrary. The virtuosity and the sheer complexity of the pieces are there only to create musical bliss.

The first piece (Le Mômo) is an extremely virtuosic piece for piano and violin, a "un-natural" combination which has nevertheless allowed other geniuses to create gems of aural magnificence (check out Schoenberg's "Fantasy for piano and violin" or Bartok's two Violin Sonatas). The Zorn piece doses not fade in comparison with his illustrious predecessors. Much the opposite. The second track, dedicated to Joseph Cornell, the subtle and brilliant creator of those delightful boxes, is an astonishing piece for solo cello, an instrument I personnally adore. This is way more extreme and adventurous than anything I've heard until now (plus the performance is top-notch). Track three reunites all three instruments in a wonderful trio, which will leave you gasping for more.

This music is demanding, but if you're willing to put in the effort, the rewards are great. I suggest that you listen to it as if you were in a concert hall, attending a live performance. This CD is definitely not a mere aural tapistry meant to "decorate" the void while you're doing some other stuff. These are sonic masterpieces which are meant to induce esthetic bliss. But you got to listen and open your mind to it. Believe me, it's worth it. If you like Zorn, you've got an open mind anyway.

Again, to those who might fear "classical" stuff, fear no more and try this one. It's mind-boggling. Zorn has definitely got a point when he stresses that "avant-garde" is a genre in itself. This CD is clearly avant-garde, not "classical", nor "experimental" nor "popular" music.

John Zorn, through his various projects, and his Tzadik label, has built solid foundations which now allow him to put out such extreme masterpieces as this one. Whereas most composers have to struggle in order to get their pieces played, John Zorn has earned himself an absolute freedom to create what he wants (Zappa did the same, fueling his "serious" projects through his Rock bands, Mike Patton used FNM to bring to life outlandish projects such as Mr Bungle or Fantomas...). So this is THE REAL STUFF, composed by one of the REAL GUYS. Uncompromised artistic vision (no "style" or "genre" to stick to, no prerequisite format to respect in order to get the stuff to appeal to the "masses"). It could nevertheless be argued that this might be labeled as well, and marketed in a appropriate "niche" (which it is in a sense). Whatever. THIS IS RARE. This is the result of hard work and strong artistic integrity. Hats off, gentlemen.

You might associate John Zorn with the evil-hyper genre-hopping of Naked City, the free-jazz/grindcore of PainKiller, the controlled anarchy of his Game Pieces, soundtracks for Japanese S&M movies, charming cartoon music, unclassifiable treasures from the Music Romance series, or the prolific jazz quartet Masada. A lot of people aren't really aware that he has delved into classical music, resulting in some of his most best work.

_Madness, Love and Mysticism_ is three chamber pieces that will challenge listeners and musicians of all sorts. While others may disagree, I find this to be one of the best discs in my growing Zorn collection (around 20 albums now, I guess). Let me first say that this is *extremely* challenging music. It's not difficult in the way "Cycles du Nord" (his composition for wind machines and acoustic feedback systems) is difficult -- it is difficult a la "Momento Mori" (one of his string quartets) because it is hard to find the right perspective with which to listen to it, and thus hard to get "caught up" in the music. It can be frustrating at first since its depth may appear to be illusory. "What is this, wahhhh!!!" Out of the last 1000 albums I listened to, this is one of the most demanding of the listener. Honestly I'm not always in the proper state of mental preparedness to listen to it without getting lost. It's music you must focus intensely on, but this is difficult because it is so complex and baffling.

The first piece is "Le Mômo", for violin (Jennifer Choi) and piano (Stephen Drury). Zorn says this is some of the "most rigorously organized" he's ever written. It is also some of the most challenging. At first it mostly comes across as an atonal splatter of ideas. The most you listen to it, however, the more you discern repeated tonal themes, although appearing in myriad different ways. It is an extreme test of virtuosity -- the musicians here will have you possessed. This is one of Zorn's most aggressive and difficult works, yet it is proportionally rewarding. The ending will leave you breathless. Right now I think it's my favorite one. "Untitled" is a highly virtuoso piece for solo cello, played by Eric Friedlander. This is a phenomenal composition and performance, and one of my favorite Zorn pieces. He explores the tonal extremes of the instrument with dark beauty and atonal delirium, summoning up an obsessive loneliness cast in stone. "Amour Fou" brings all three performers together for a piece about "obsessive love, mad love, doomed love." If you listen to it with that frame of mind, it's quite fascinating. The violin and cello engage in torrid dialogue and additional emotional subtexts are created by Drury's piano. It is usually chromatic and dissonant and can instill a frightening claustrophobia, but there is some beautiful moments of traditional tonality. There is one part that reminds me of Chopin and a few parts with really celestial-sounding chords based on an interval of a fourth. And, as is usually the case with Zorn, he always seems able to inject some degree of rousing sensuality into his music, no matter WHAT it is (well, not ALL the time... for example, "Rend Fou" by Naked City isn't very sensual -- there's something very frightening about that song).

I'm still trying to piece it all together, but I haven't had it for very long. Having extensive knowledge of music theory would aid in one's enjoyment of this music. However, it is not necessary, since the power of the music can sweep you up by itself if you lose yourself in it. I recommend it, but be aware that it's very formidable.

Conceivably the best of the John Zorn chamber pieces I have, "Love, Madness and Mysticism" is three compositions featuring Stephen Drury (piano), Jennifer Choi (violin) and Erik Friedlander (cello).

The first, "Le Momo", for piano and violin, is a stunning, aggressive piece. Largely driven by the piano, it has a sort of minimalist Cecil Taylor feel to it-- splattered piano lines, largely single note runs, rush throughout, building in tempo before holding back again. Over this, Choi plays aggressive, largely arco lines providing a countervoice to the piano, seemingly pushing from the lead. The piece is foreboding, and has a feeling of haunting further augmented by just amazing playing.

"Untitled", for solo cello, is an opportunity to show of the virtuoso skills of Erik Friedlander. Zorn states that he composes for his musicians, and there may be very little else to say about this one-- Friedlander possesses a deft cunning on his instrument, which Zorn takes full advantage of-- subtlety intermixes with just stunning displays of skill throughout, cementing my belief that Erik Friedlander is perhaps the most talented cellist alive today.

The set closer, "Amor Fou", brings together all three musicians. A piece about obsessive love, it builds in some blocks, cascading then falling again, maintaining a pretty much endless mood of haunting. Whenever it threatens to become tedious, the composition deftly changes direction, be it a simple pizzicato swipe across the violin strings echoed by piano or a total feel change, to maintain interest.

This is a superb collection of pieces, recommended for fans of challenging music of all genres.

When John Zorn made the decision to release "Live in Taipei", it's likely he realized the quality of the recording was suspect. And certainly it's the first noticable feature of this recording-- sonically it's quite flawed, the mix is a bit uneven with the bass being hard to hear, the whole thing has a bit of an uneven natural reverb on it, and the recorder appears to have been closer to Zorn then trumpeter Dave Douglas as Zorn is a bit more up-front. But the music contained on the recording is something altogether spectacular, regardless of the sound.

Masada is John Zorn's exploration of his Jewish heritage-- a songbook of melodies written using the "Jewish scales" to lend a klezmer-ish sound to the music and serving as a springboard for improvisation, kind of the downtown version of Thelonious Monk's songbook. The group assembled was modelled after Ornette Coleman's great quartets-- Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass and Joey Baron on drums-- and they really don't get better than this. But at this performance at Taipei, the spirit of Ornette Coleman was sometimes left aside in favor of that of another jazz giant-- Albert Ayler.

Admittedly, the influence on Coleman is felt here, but Ayler seems more strongly in place, particularly in Zorn's playing. He burns throughout, fierce and dynamic, and while Douglas is powerful in his performance, it is in many ways reminiscent of Don Ayler with Albert Ayler-- no matter how intriguing Don was, Albert's performance was always so dominant. "Idalah-Abal" on the first disc is probably the best example of this-- Douglas even assumes a Don Ayler-like stance in varying the theme beneath Zorn's explosive solo-- the leader sounds as though he's inches from coming unglued, but never does his solo degenerate into self-indulgence or randomness-- it is just simply overwhelming in its power.

The remainder of the two discs overflow with standout performances-- the positively soporific, nigh-minimalist jazz of "Yoreh", the leave-them-hanging-a-la-'70s-Miles "Achshaph", and a downright powerful and passionate reading of "Hadasha" (a piece that quite frankly always gets me) are real highlights for me, but I suspect a different listener would have a different set, it's one of those recordings. Nonetheless, I can't really bring myself to give it five stars because of the sound quality, it's still a worthwhile purchase. If you're new to Masada, get something that sounds better ("50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7" is a good pick), but if you're familiar with this work, this one is essential, highly recommended.

I guess I should count myself lucky. This is the first, and to date only, Masada CD that I have bought. I found the music transcendent and inspiring. I consider myself lucky, because I have been listening to this disc for at least a year, and didn't even notice the sound problems that most of the other reviewers are complaining about. Maybe it's because I listen to a lot of underground punk bands who sound like they were recorded in a tin can, but the sound on "Live in Taipei" has been crisp enough for my ears. If you think the sound here is bad, then you've never heard "Junkyard" by The Birthday Party. One of the best albums ever made, and it sounds like the microphone was in between two mattresses while they were recording it. I guess different people can handle different levels of quality. With all the complaints, I can't wait to hear what the better Masada CDs sound like, because I really like this one.

I am a fan of improvisational jazz; but I have very picky tastes. I first came to John Zorn through the band Painkiller. I am a Justin Broadrick fanatic, and pick up every disc in which he has involvement (even though Justin was only a "guest" in Painkiller). Reading the liner notes, I learned about John Zorn, and realized that my CD store had well over 60 different titles from him. I picked up several based on cover art or guest artists (such as Mick Harris, Bill Laswell, or Mike Patton). I avoided the Masada CDs for quite a while, partially because there were so many of them, and I didn't know which one to choose. Eventually I picked up "Live in Taipei" because the price was low, and it was a two disc set.

I love this CD. I have played it loud and often. The music is manic and wild, but never repetitive or so dissonant that it becomes annoying (though, I think it did bother my neighbors when I played it a little too loud one day). I guess I'll give it four and a half stars, simply because everyone seems to think the sound is so much better on all the other Masada CD's available. Honestly though, the sound quality never bothered me. This might make a good first Masada CD, because I sure want to get more of them after listening to this one.

The sound quality of these discs may be distracting, but the music is so inspired that it shines through the quality. While the other live Masada discs are all good, none of them seem to capture the experience of seeing the band live: this is one of their finest performances, and you can hear the band stretching itself out, taking chances which occasionally goof but more often produce astounding results. This album flat out swings more than any other Masada album out there. Of the fifteen available albums, this is my favorite by Masada.

Out of the fourteen Masada CD's floating around out there, this one just may be the best at capturing the energy of their incredible concerts. While the sound quality leaves quite a bit to be desired, the strength of these performances shiens through nonetheless. While Live in Jerusalem and Middleheim are both good discs, they don't seem veyr different from the excellent studio albums. The tracks on this album are some of the best and most inventive material that Masada has released, they take tunes at different tempos, and the band tends to stray from the way they usually do these songs, stretching out to different areas. Well worth the sound problems.

This recording comes from a four-night run by Masada from May 22 through 25, 1996 (not 1995 as claimed in the title) at Taipei's Crown Theater, which is actually a dance studio and not much of a performance hall. The venue is rectangular, with the audience stretching along its width. This resulted in a lot of front-back reflection of the brass and the drums and bass dissipating into the corners. Plus, with the band facing a wide but shallow audience space, their orientation was not fixed in any particular direction, compounding the poor acoustics of the venue.

I mention this because I recorded all four nights with a Sony D8 DAT tape machine and binaural microphones clipped onto the ear pieces of my glasses. I traded the tapes with other bootleg collectors and the tapes were passed on to John Zorn, who had the wisdom to release them on his Tzadik label. Like many others, I'm a Masada nut, and those four nights in Taipei were by far the most sublime musical experiences of my life. The audience was charged, the band picked up on the vibe and carried it further, and the results were sublime and often cathartic. After the last encore of the final night, Dave Douglas was literally lying on the floor of the dressing room with a big red imprint from his mouthpiece etched on his lips, looking like an athlete that had been physically exhausted but held on through mental fortitude and adreneline until he crossed the finish line.

I admit the sound quality isn't professional, but it's still damn good and certainly clear and balanced enough to allow the magic that took place in that odd little dance studio to shine through and touch the listener with the drive, energy, rapport, and even restraint that Masada exhibits at its very best.

Enjoy!

I'm more of a guitarista than a Zorn follower. The Zorn experts know far more than I do about how this album fits into his canon of work. But as far as guitar albums are concerned, this has to be one of the most sophisticated and sublime works I've ever heard.

The recording method allows much of the process to bleed through, which places the listener in the room. This creates an intimacy that is rare for this level of playing.

It's not what I would call a friendly album. Considering its theme, it shouldn't be. It's a challenging exploration of the sonic range of acoustic and electric guitars by three of the best instrumentalists to ever play this instrument.

This is one of my favourable collection though I've owned more than 3000 CDs. The three guitarists, Tim Sparks, Marc Ribot and Bill Frisell were able to demonstrate their virtuoso in this project. Touching guitar music.

Some of Zorn's most restrained, sincere work comes in the form of his Masada revisions via a few friends on guitar. Immediately, and throughout the sprawling compilation it is apparent just how spectacularly sensitive playing remains by three alternating guitarists, giving these usually brassed and jacked-up renditions a minimal, lingering sheen any instrumentalist would only wish to bask inside of. A must for classical guitar enthusiasts and seekers of technical talent everywhere.

For the tenth anniversary of the Masada project, John Zorn decided to pull the project into different contexts, to let the songbook breathe a bit more on its own rather than in the shadow of the quartet. This, the first volume of this series, "Masada Guitars" is pretty much what it sounds like, solo guitar performances from three masters and friends of John Zorn: Bill Frisell, Tim Sparks, and Marc Ribot. Frisell performs seven pieces (and is the only one to use an electric guitar on any of them), Sparks performs five, and Ribot performs nine. The performances are mixed throughout the disc (i.e. a Ribot may be followed by a Sparks and so on) and it provides a nice contrast in styles.

The music on here is fairly unique-- with the Masada songbook having the flavor it does and the presentation-- each guitarist pretty tightly infuses their own style on the pieces-- Frisell is all over the map, from haunting delicate playing ("Abidan") to electric, processed, and bizarre ("Katzatz"), Ribot infuses his own personality on the pieces, the sort of folk-meets-surf-meets-free jazz that was so clearly illustrated on his "Saints" album comes out here ("Hodaah", "Moshav"), and an extrordinarily wide range of technique is often in the fore ("Hadasha"). Sparks, whose work I'm relatively unfamiliar with, manages to strike a nice counterbalance to the two-- his playing is a bit more firmly lodged in classical technique (at least on this recording) and I think the pieces actually benefit from this-- from beautiful circular lines ("Ravayah") to a subtlely decorated melody and bass ("Kanah", "Kedushah") that really matches the music well.

One complaint though, and it largely effects my rating-- as many have said, this is pretty music that generally can be appreciated by a wide audience. This is precisely the problem I have with it-- Sparks and to a lesser extent Frisell (when he's not plugged in) don't take enough chances with the pieces, and render them in a sort of background mode. They're all quite nice, but they don't reach out and grab me. The music all works well enough, but I don't think it takes enough chances. An enjoyable listen, and maybe a good way to appreciate Zorn as a composer, but I don't think of this as essential in his canon.

This is a good album but I don't find myself coming back for repeat listening like I do with the Masada quartet. All the guitarist are very good and interesting but the album lacks a coherence. Perhaps having all the Frisell songs together, then all the Ribot songs, etc. would've worked out a little better. The CD might also be improved upon with more guitar players in the mix. Ducret, Kaiser, Frith perhaps, etc. If you're into Masada - get it, if not, skip it.