By Lee Rice Epstein
John Zorn’s inaugural 1990s Masada songbook ranks as one of the
most iconic books of compositions in modern jazz, alongside equally
recognizable and influential songbooks of that time, like Anthony Braxton’s
collage music, Henry Threadgill’s Very Very Circus, and Tim Berne’s Bloodcount.
These groups, and the altoists at their helms, launched new ways of composing,
performing, and listening to modern jazz—it’s like alleged joke Brian Eno made
about the Velvet Underground, not a lot of people bought their first record,
but everybody who did started a band. And among those bands, here comes John
Zorn with his New Masada Quartet with their third album, the first live
document of this lineup.
New Masada Quartet earned a spot alongside their namesake with
their first outing in 2021, an eight-song, roughly hour-long trip that gestured
toward Memory Lane, then took an immediate left turn down Got You, Sucker. In
other words, this isn’t a nostalgic project as much as its a renewal or
declaration of intent, performed with a revamped lineup of Zorn on alto, Julian
Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums. All three
have recorded at least a dozen other albums of Zorn’s music, and, as a result,
they are deeply familiar with the various books and approaches he’s taken over
the years. New Masada Quartet isn’t just “playing the hits”; the group plays
songs from the book not quite like they’ve been done before. This feels
like a natural next step after Masada Books Two & Three, where the
composer entrusted about 40 ensembles to record the songbook, where Zorn has
come back around to take the lead role once more.
Volume 3 (Live) was recorded at Roulette on May 24, 2024,
mixed about fifteen days later, and released this fall. It’s about as close as
audiences can get to hearing a band in motion, with less than six months from
performed to packaged. The opener “Acharei Mot” was recorded four times with
the original lineup, a mid-set, mid-tempo number that allowed the group to
stretch out before the final stretch. Here, Zorn takes the song quite a bit
faster, relying on Wollesen’s rumbling, percussive drive to urge the quartet
beyond whatever might be a normal band’s breaking point. Watch any clip on
YouTube, you’ll see the joy radiating from all four players, as they rip
barn-burner solos off, then throw in a quick stop and pivot to a restatement of
the theme or a wholly new idea.
Lage is a fascinating addition to Zorn’s cast, fitting in
somewhere between long-time partners Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot (he’s also
played with both), and he seems to delight in opening up his palette to the
myriad influences in Zorn’s music. As often as he plays back and forth with
Zorn, Lage does a lot of background duetting with Roeder, who has become a
foundational player in several of Zorn’s ensembles. A brief Roeder-Zorn duet
cuts right through the opening of “Karaim,” where the head is typically blown
by one or more players. Roeder lays down more of a funky shuffle, where
previously Masada, Electric Masada, and Bar Kokhba each approached from their
own vantage points of, to simplify things, jazz, fusion, and chamber music.
“Dalquiel” opens a sequence of three compositions from Masada
Book Two, Book of Angels. Grouped with “Rahtiel” and “Mibi” (both of which
were also recorded in-studio for Volume 1 and Volume 2), the
center of the album demonstrates just how varied the whole of the Masada
songbook became over the course of 613 compositions. Zorn’s rich, full tone
here—arguably more than some of his high-pitched wailing—reminds one of how
he’s also an incredible player, again bringing to mind Braxton, Threadgill,
Berne, all of whom still manage to blow minds every time they pick up a horn.
For a closer, the band pulls out “Sansanah,” one of the earliest
compositions (number six of the first songbook’s 205), it’s also appeared now
over five times in the hands of different groups and artists. In some ways,
this is the most passionate reading in the catalog, with a dazzling, deeply
felt Zorn solo near the end that directs the group toward a contemplative
landing. It’s a phenomenal closer, and in a final introduction of the band,
Zorn sounds simultaneously proud, grateful, and delighted by the set. It’s no
wonder this was chosen for release; one hopes to see many more live sessions
soon.
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