Electric Masada
At The Mountains Of Madness

THE REVIEW

A gathering of chameleons. Few groups today are capable of tackling so many and diverse musical genres, to assimilate them, swallow them whole, metabolize them, and deliver them back to us completely transformed yet still perfectly recognizable.

John Zorn offers yet another reinterpretation of the expansive Masada songbook, an ambitious attempt to merge free jazz and klezmer music. After the quartet, string trio, and sextet, here comes the electric band, reinterpreting the tracks in a jazz-rock style, with a nod to funk and one to heavy metal, never forgetting the irreverent, hyper-creative experimentation that has always been the hallmark of the New York saxophonist. This formation had already made its debut on one of the albums of the endless series dedicated to Zorn's fiftieth birthday, but these two CDs, which capture two live concerts held respectively in Moscow and Ljubljana, are the best the band has to offer.

Electric Masada alternates extremely violent sonic waves (which would not be out of place alongside the harshest and wildest death metal) with delicate Middle Eastern-inspired lace, stemming from the Jewish tradition of which Zorn is a proud spokesperson. All seasoned with moments of pure, furious, iconoclastic free jazz.

The result is a cauldron in perpetual boil, an inexhaustible game of echoes, references, and cross-citations (Hendrix and Mahavisnu Orchestra, King Crimson and Black Sabbath...) in which the words "boredom" and "drop in tension" are not contemplated. Much credit goes to Zorn's collaborators, the best the scene has to offer, the intelligentsia of New York's post-jazz. The musicians' cohesion is at stellar levels, and the enthusiasm pours out copiously from the CD grooves, capturing us and giving us the impression of being on stage with them.

The versatile Marc Ribot often draws vintage sounds from his guitar, and even imitates the guitar heroes of classic heavy metal, in the nonetheless furious "Idalah-Abal."

The relentless rhythmic machine set up by bassist Trevor Dunn, drummers Joey Baron and Kenny Wollesen, and percussionist Cyro Baptista overwhelms everything in its path. The keyboardist Jamie Saft is a master of the Fender Rhodes, an instrument that, forty years after its invention, continues to thrill enthusiasts. His endless and incandescent sessions on the electric piano ("Tekufah"), rich in refined harmonic meanderings yet also with an enjoyable groove, pay homage simultaneously to Corea and Zawinul, and reek of '70s Davis from a mile away. Not at all negligible is the contribution of electronics wizard Ikue Mori at the laptop, a musician on par with the others present, who builds dreamlike landscapes and "horror tunnels" of sampled sounds, where the soloists move and revel with immense pleasure.

The two concerts almost feature the same tracklist, so the tracks are often presented twice, but there's really no danger of getting bored. Long-time Zorn fans will recognize many of the compositions present ("Metal Tov" even comes from the Naked City repertoire) and will appreciate the new, complex and imaginative arrangements. The legacy of free is clearly perceived in "Hath-Arob", an "Ornette Coleman-style start and stop," passed through the mincer by Ikue Mori's hallucinated electronic sounds and sanded down by the leader's deadly alto saxophone. "Karaim" and "Abidan" are the usual pearls of refinement, which in the midst of so much fury provide respite like oases in the desert, where Zorn abdicates the usual role of screamer to indulge in soft solos, resting on the sinuous klezmer melodies.

In conclusion, Zorn and company reaffirm the truth of what Jelly Roll Morton said in his day: "Jazz is nothing but an excuse to play what you want." I believe this double CD (released in 2005) is the most evident proof of this.

A dedication and special thanks to muitosaudosismo, without whom this review would never have seen the light.