John Zorn - Unknown Masada: 10th Anniversary 3
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Music CD Cover Artist: John Zorn Edition: Music CD CD Release Date: 2003-07-22 Music Label: Tzadik Soundtracks:
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Free Music Notes for Unknown Masada: 10th Anniversary 3 Album
Free Music Review: Picking up where "Voices in the Wilderness" left off.
Hit: 2 Stars
"The Unknown Masada" is the third in the Masada Tenth Anniversary series of releases, and like the previous volume ("Voices in the Wilderness") is an anthology of different performers doing Masada tunes. The difference here is that whereas that last volume consisted of performances of previously recorded songs from the Masada songbook, this volume consists of previously unrecorded pieces.
Like "Voices in the Wilderness", this record suffers from a sort of inconsistency induced upon it by having a dozen tracks by a dozen different artists-- the material is all at worse listenable and at best highly enjoyable. Several of the cuts really impressed me, Yoshida Tatsua's "Shofetim" is a sort of prog rock meets Masada sound, with overblown organs and a great synth solo. Julian Kytasty's solo bandura perforamnce ("Kadmut") is quite impressive (although its an instrument I'm largely unfamiliar with, so I can't speak to specifics about the performance), its a delicate an quiet arrangement that recalls the best of the "Masada Guitars" sort of sound, plus it contrasts nicely with the followup-- the Fantomas arrangement "Zemaraim"-- sludgy death metal take on a Masada theme. Its certainly destined not to be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.
And there's a couple pieces where some element stands out-- Rashanim's "Olamin" is a pretty standard performance by the, but is saved by Matthias Kunzli's inspired and superb drumming, and Jamie Saft's "Zarach" is full of interesting ideas, finding a home between trance, dub, and jazz, but is mangled for me by an irritating sample. And as one would suspect, some of the performances were a bit disappointing-- I found Erik Friedlander's "Kinyan" a bit overarranged and busy, and while Dave Douglas and John Zorn sound to be having a good deal of fun on "Veheul", its not a particularly inspired take and seems to work hard to avoid falling into a Masada (the band) cliche.
In the end, this isn't a really essential compilation. The standout tracks make it worth having for anyone who exlores Masada's music, but its not one that comes off my racks very often.