More Zorn! And More Reasons to Look Beyond the Names

Yesterday I had a couple of hours to kill while I was waiting for my daughter, who was participating in a Chemistry Olympiad, and found a used copy of "Masada Guitars" (Tzadik 2003) at the FYE Store in the nearby Mall. First off, I was shocked that the FYE even had a jazz section and second, though it was small, was also surprised to find it had both new and used CDs. And finally, was pleased to find not only this disc but also Keith Jarrett's 1992 ECM recording "Changeless", one of the few of the Standards Trio's works I did not have and an unusual one at that as it is one of the few to feature that group doing totally improvised works. But I digress.

As I have written in the past I have overcome my immediate knee-jerk reaction to pass on Zorn as I have found more and more pieces that are appealing, like "Alhambra Love Songs", "O'o", "Mount Analogue", and "The Gnostic Preludes". So I picked up Masada Guitars to look at what it was and who was playing and saw that it was Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot,  and Tim Sparks. That wasn't so good -- I am not a fan of what I hear from Ribot for the most part -- too much electic guitar skronks and squealing. Frisell I know can go either way, but when he is mellow his playing is wonderful. And I had no clue about Sparks, a new name to me. And was it made up of solos, duets, or trios? Acoustic or electric? And what was the format -- one song or many -- the jewel case was blank on all of that.

Good to have the iPhone and allmusic.com to refer to, since clearly nobody at the store was going to know about this disc. To make a long story short(er), All Music let me know that it was made up of 21 solo pieces from the body of Masada songs, in celebration of Masada's 10th anniversary, each selected by the individual guitarist. Seven works are played by Frisell, nine by Ribot, and five by Sparks. But that was okay too, because all but two of the works are acoustic, and surprisingly those two are played by Frisell.  All Music in fact says "Those expecting an electric romp through the Masada songbook might be disappointed; Masada Guitars consists entirely of solo, mostly acoustic performances. Preconceptions aside, this is a beautiful album." Further, "Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, and Tim Sparks each bring their own voice to these tunes: Sparks with his rich fingerpicking... Ribot coming from his classical guitar background, [and] Bill Frisell with his unmistakable ethereal tone.  Sparks' renditions are on steel string acoustic ... [and] Marc Ribot's playing on what sounds like a nylon-string classical guitar." Less was said about Sparks, but it turns out he too was classical trained, in this case by Andre Segovia, and his background is in  classical, folk, and new age music.

The music lives up to the descriptions above. The mood is meditative, very mellow, and the playing is wonderfully soothing. Unfortunately the two electic pieces by Frisell break up that mood, but since all the pieces are short -- 2 to 4 minutes -- the two departures are not deal-breakers. The names of the songs may be derived from Jewish themes, but the music is not noticably middle eastern. It is just pure guitar work, some of it amazingly intricate, by three masters, and a tip of the hat to Ribot in particular for his beautiful work on those nylon strings.

For those who like Zorn and/or for those who like accoutic guitar play this is a must listen delight. Once again I am glad I didn't react immediately in the negative to the names Zorn and Ribot.

   

Stretching Out: Discovering John Zorn

 

Look at the 10 record covers on the page. What they have in common is that they are all on Tzadik Records, and the all are works by John Zorn. Now for a long time I stayed clear of both Tzadik and Zorn, having heard bits and pieces of some of the music, and associating much of it with the NY Downtown Scene, experimental works, and the avant-garde. Words like skronk just never were in my vocabulary, and players like Mark Ribot were pretty far removed from my aural palatte.

However, one day I happened across "Alhambra Love Songs", a simple piano trio recording of what turns out to be very mellow, beautifully composed songs in tribute to the towns of the Bay Area, and realized that there is a body of work here that is a lot broader than I ever realized. Examining the works of Zorn more closely, I found a whole lot of threads -- Filmworks, The Books of Angels, The Masada Group, and a whole lot more. And I realized that everything in the Zorn catalogue did not have to be loud, free, and too far out there. In fact, as I began culling through all of the recordings, sampling many on-line, and talking to a couple of giant Zorn fans at my local store who understood my reservations and preferences, I was turned onto several more outstanding works, and then did some mining of my own. Ten Cds are shown in the accompanying pictures, each very much attuned to my tastes. A couple of Books of the Angels, a Filmworks project, a Masada group disc, and a bunch of free-standing recordings are represented, with the common characteristics being an emphasis on accoustic instruments, uncluttered and highly meodic lines, and interesting chamber-like performances. Among the highlights to this listener would be Uri Caine on "Moloch: Book of Angels 6 ", "Stolas: The Book of Angels 12" by the Masada Group, the aforementioned "Alhambra Love Songs", and three very recent recordings, "At the Gates of Paradise", "The Gnostic Preludes", and "Mount Analogue."  

John Zorn is a major figure on the jazz scene today and particularly of the downtown jazz scene in New York. Besides being a prolific composer, he is a producer who brings together some really outstanding players to give life to his works. So don't let  the name or associations scare you away; read the labels and look at the payers on each disc, sample some tracks on-line, and then try one or two recordings. Starting with "Alhambra Love Songs" in particular is a good way to experience some fine trio play, and from there you have many avenues to explore.

Once again, read past the brand name and study the ingredients -- I think what you find will surprise and amaze you.