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Rating: This audio-documentary of the formidable ultra-string and avant-garde Masadesco-trio is truly an extraordinary testimony; the spectacular recording dates back to the nights of the renowned Summer Jazz Day festival held some years ago in the clear Woytilian lands. Majesty Mr. Zorn, in the dual role of Composer and Conductor for this phenomenal incarnation of the Masada Project, surrounds himself, as often happens, with musicians of absolute prominence: Mister Mark Feldman (violin), Monsieur Erik Friedlander (cello), and Signor Greg Cohen on (contra)bass. The veritably formidable, solely-string Trio, already protagonist (besides the thousand-and-one projects not only from Tzadik), of the two Masada-homaging “Circle Makeristici” works, skillfully rummages and fishes in the significant and decade-studied Klezmer-Jazz/Zornian repertoire.
On stage, the three formidable performers project stratospheric, vibrant improvised sound peaks rarely found within the mentioned studio works: a strict instrumental mastery and discipline combined with the will to effectively dilate, almost overwhelm, the original and more “refined” scores. Among the three reigns supreme a compelling instrumental cohesion/tension: peaks of heart-wrenching, dizzying “chamber music” vehemence and sound-siderality are reached with apparent ease. The musical work opens only after giving (us) the chance to eavesdrop on the proemial yet not overly Oxfordian invitation to the immortalizing/photographing [“Get The Fuck Away...” states, without mincing words, the impatient John] stage-side to courteously step aside thus allowing an adequate audio/visual perspective to the ecstatic (no surprise there...) audience. The enthralling trio begins its magnetic performance (not coincidentally) with one of the most significant pieces of the entire Masada musical-parabola, an urgent version of the wavering “Tahah” (taken from “Alef”, the first volume of the “normal” discography): cello and violin in unison undergo a (benign) scintillating treatment, strings nearly stretched to the limit, virtuosity (never self-referential) à go-go (also listen to what Mister Feldman “performs” in the opening of the heart-wrenching “Aravot”, please) for an interpretation genuinely staggering even for those accustomed to listening to the trio’s intricate acrobatics. The little over forty minutes available attest the ensemble to levels of expressivity and sound-innovation frankly thrilling: personally, I would lean towards the stripped musical/contortions contained in the schizophonic “Lachish” or, a few minutes further, in the acoustic idiosyncrasies permeating “Malkhut”: to be fair, the entire concert offers (not only sporadic) celestial audio-satisfactions galore and then some.
Last but not least (as they say in Warsawia), the newly witnessed live recording is not particularly easy to find: fortunately, Tzadik has recently remedied such a catalog deficiency by having Them record and release a Live Volume of the formidable “50th Birthday Anniversary” Tonic-iana. All that remains is to extend heartfelt Birthday Wishes to dear Mr. Zorn: hopefully next birthday he decides to celebrate it at a more easily reachable distance...
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