John Zorn - Taboo & Exile 2
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Music CD Cover
Artist: John ZornEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-11-16
Music Label: Tzadik
Soundtracks:
- In The Temple Of Hadjarim
- Sacrifist
- Mayim
- Koryojang
- Bulls-Eye
- Seraim
- Shaaiapalassi
- Makkot
- Tiki For Blue
- She Possessed
- Oracle
- Koryojang (End Credits)
Free Music Notes for Taboo & Exile 2
Free Music Review: One of Zorn's best, and probably a great place to start.
Hit: 5 Stars
Even for John Zorn, this one manages remarkable diversity-- essentially, I've likened "Taboo & Exile" to Naked City, only with moods held. Rather than jumping from one mood to the next to the next to the next in the course of a two and a half minute song, Zorn sustains feels and moods for the entire length of a piece. The result of Zorn's compositions, when combined with the stunning array of talented musicians contributing, is amazing. Somehow, this may be the best place to start looking at Zorn's work-- it certainly encompasses his many interests, but because ideas are allowed to develop, it presents them in an easier to digest fashion.
While the album is set up to provide a story (or perhaps to serve as a soundtrack without a movie?), I'm going to discuss the pieces instead with respect to the ensembles that play them-- there are several groups that perform on the various tracks.
The Masada String Trio (Mark Feldman on violin, Erik Friedlander on cello, and Greg Cohen on bass) are very prevelent in this music, either performing by themselves or with others. This is really always a good thing, as these three gentlemen are masters of their instrument and have a virtually psychic bond. The pieces they perform on alone ("Mayim" and "Makkot") both sound like they could have been lifted from the Masada songbook-- they've both got that sort of Eastern European meets jazz played by chamber musicians feel that the string trio has. "Mayim" is somewhat unique in that the improv section contains a rather drastic and powerful arco attack by Feldman and Friedlander that is among the best they've recorded, and "Makkot" features some of the trademark pizzicato work the trio does so well.
The trio also appears on two songs with keyboardist Jamie Saft and percussionist Cyro Baptista. The album's opener, "In the Temple of Hadjirim", uses the trio and organ as a drone over percussion whilst a simple melody is stated on piano. The effect of this near-ambient statement is startling, especially given the expectation of Zorn as a noisemaker (the good news is, the second track on the record gets us to our expectations, see "Sacrifist", below). The breezy "Zeraim", a great little tune by the same ensemble, conforms more to the string trio's sound, but is enhanced nicely by soft percussion and piano line, its actually one of the nicest pieces on "Taboo & Exile", really superb.
Another group we see a couple of times on this one consists of guitarists Fred Frith and Marc Ribot, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Dave Lombardo. As one would expect with a former Slayer drummer and two muscular guitarists, the two tracks they feature on ("Sacrifist" and "Chaalapalassi") are more rock-oriented, but actually more in the vein of King Crimson-esque improvs. One piece is droning metal, the other is a bubbling improv that eventually boils into a structured improv over the course of ten and a half minutes. The same group, minus Ribot, but with Zorn's sax, plays a much more structured Zorn wailing over rock rhythm section piece that could have fit in easily among the Naked City material.
The final group appearing on more than one track is Cyro Baptista and drummer Joey Baron, playing the circular, funky, percussion piece "Oryojang" in two parts-- this one for me actually screams for a lead which it lacks. Its a great piece with a nice groove, but I'd love to hear a guitar or horn over it. Then again, I suspect mood was the point, rather than coherency.
A couple more tracks associate together not by the musicians that play on them, but by their style. "Bulls-eye" is a punky, surfish piece, with a shouted lead vocal and Beach Boysesque harmony lines courtesy of Mike Patton, punky surf guitar from Robert Quine (lead) and Marc Ribot (rhythm), and anchored by Chris Wood and Sim Cain. This is actually another favorite of mine of this record, its a lot of fun and punk energy. The other surf piece, "A Tiki For Blue", featuring Ribot on guitar, Saft on organ, Greg Cohen on bass, and Robert Rodriguez on percussion, has a cooled out, laid back, churning feel. Another great piece, Ribot really was born to play Zorn's music.
The only other piece, "Oracle", features a wordless, half sung vocal by Miho Halori, featuring Saft, Friedlander and Baptista as accompaniment, it has the feeling of a wind-down and is almost trancelike in its arrangement.
I realize this review told you very little about the quality of the music, but rest assure, the material is all incredible. Its diversity and stellar performance is what leads one to this impression-- like Naked City, every time you think you know what to expect on the record, Zorn throws another curve ball at you. One thing about John Zorn that lets him do this is that he really excels at moving between styles, and he brings with him an array of musicians that really is without compare.
If you're unfamiliar with John Zorn's work, this or "Naked City" is a good place to start. If you know Zorn and don't have this, you should get it if either Naked City or the Masada work is of interest to you. Highly recommended.
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