John Zorn, Uri Caine
Moloch - Book Of Angels Volume 6

It has been many days since I last heard of the god Moloch. Yes, the Sacred Bull was worshipped almost everywhere in the Phoenician cultural area. Depicted as a calf or a bull, or as a man with the head of a bull.

A rabbinic tradition says that the idol was divided into seven parts; in each of which was placed in order flour, a dove, a sheep, a ram, a calf, a bull, and a newborn. All of this was burned and sacrificed by heating the statue. Later in medieval demonology, he became a Prince of Hell, specializing in abducting children and making mothers cry. Milton counts him among the fiercest of the rebellious angels; in the first book of "Paradise Lost" he urges the demonic ranks to immediate war against the Creator.

In the 21st century of the Christian era, everyone has forgotten about him, except for the mephistophelian Zorn and the volcanic pianist-jazzist-classicist Uri Caine, who sacrifice to him nothing less than the sixth volume of Zorn's "Book of Angels".

A Masada as it had never been heard before. The Jamie Saft Trio had also gifted us with a very worthy piano Masada some time ago, that was precisely the Volume 1 of the series. This one is equally wonderful. We have an excellent jazz piano album, with the strong oriental and yiddish tones that characterize the entire Masada songbook, and with all the fire and virtuosity that mark Uri Caine's performances. Among these notes, echoes of many of the greatest pianists of the 20th century can be heard, certainly Art Tatum and Bill Evans as can be read on the Tzadik site, but not only.

Caine is a true cascade of notes. Baroque and arabesque sound carpets, sounds that drag the ear into a multi-voiced demonic saraband. Sometimes it seems that he has extra hands like a mythical Indian deity, because at times you can hear three melodies overlapping, counterpointing each other. The mysteries of Masada. It feels like standing before one of those paintings that you can look at a million times, but each time you notice a small detail more, and you sense that this could completely change its meaning. Paraphrasing Jarrett, Caine has often courted the fire, and many sparks have often crackled in the past. But this time this record speaks the language of the flame itself, and you can even smell the sulfur.

Recommended if you like mephistophelian jazz, a true tumultuous sabbath of angelic-infernal-talmudic notes. If God created the world with the word, these angels rebelled by playing.

And Uri Caine knew well, that the devil is left-handed, is sly, and plays the grand piano.