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Rating: The good Zorn is definitely one of the prominent figures in the music scene of the last two decades. A famous workaholic, founder of his own label (the Tzadik), aimed at promoting the most promising new avant-garde artists, as well as the father of an infinity of groups, collaborations, and the like, smoothly ranging from chill-out-lounge to grindcore jazz, touching all sorts of genres between these two extremes.
Some compare him to a Zappa or a Miles Davis of our time, others are horrified by these high-sounding comparisons, seeing him as an overhyped, overrated geek (probably with schizophrenic tendencies) devoted only to intellectualisms and mental-instrumental masturbations. Well, I am among those who adore him, even without feeling the need to evoke the greats of the past, and I believe that the good Zorn has certainly left (and continues to leave) deep marks in the world of music; after all, the numbers play in his favor: among his countless albums (an underestimation) how could there not be even ONE album worthy of note, even for purely statistical reasons? Actually, fortunately for us, the albums worthy of attention are even the majority; and while such a prolific artist inevitably releases minor works, sometimes underwhelming or excessively (sometimes a bit gratuitously) challenging/experimental (but after all, it is this continuous daring that I so appreciate in him and that has led him to create his best works); even in these last, given the caliber of the musicians involved (another secret of our guy, as with all the greats, is the ability to choose good collaborators) there is always some element that renders it at least partly interesting.
Well, recently (or more precisely on 09/02/11) our favorite celebrated his 50th year, an important date and certainly worthy of being celebrated. But instead of having a pizza party with friends or going to get drunk in a pub like we mere mortals would, he decided to do things big and further expand his endless discography; planning 50 nights (!) with 50 different formations (!) at the Tonic in Manhattan to then release them all in physical format under the aegis of "50th Birthday Celebration" (yes, 50 new releases are planned). Although all the albums so far released in the series are of very high quality, one of the best episodes (for many fans THE best) is thus far this volume 4, which features the so-called Electric Masada (besides having an astonishing lineup, but for that, I refer you to the entry on wikipedia), dedicated to mixing jazz, prog, no-wave, electronic, rock, and Jewish music. The result is a solid live performance, 70 minutes of great music in a sublime succession of improvisations, sound experiments, and style changes. And the best (and most surprising) part is that everything is not indigestible at all (as some Zornian parts can sometimes be, especially on first listens) but rather it pleases and engages right from the first listen!
A must-have (or at least listen)!
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