1_ john zorn & masada live! july 11, wels, schlachthof 2_ unlimited XIX news! 2005, nov. 11.12.13 =============================================== please feel free to forward the information to interested friends. thanks. =============================================== july 11, wels, schlachthof 21.00 JOHN ZORN & MASADA john zorn sax, comp dave douglas, trumpet greg cohen, bass joey baron, drums As the members of this classic quartet get busier and busier, performances get rarer and rarer. So we are really pleased to be able to announce a performance of the outstanding masada-quartet. and it will be the one and only this years masada-performance between den haag and pula. Started in 1994, Masada has quickly become one of John Zorn's most popular and adventurous musical projects. The Masada songbook is Zorn's attempt at forging a new form of Jewish music, one consciously rooted in the past and with an eye to the future of Jewish culture. Zorn's two hundred or so Masada compositions (the news say that zorn composed another 300 pieces of music during the last months of 2004) integrate elements of klezmer, Eastern and Middle music with jazz, avantgarde, and classical, to produce this new form of Jewish music. It does not emphasize the unity and permanence of the Jewish experience, but rather its many facets and aspects. Zorn doesn't draw on one tradition, but on many. Like Zorn's "Great Jewish Music" series on Tzadik, he identifies Jewish music as not just klezmer, but all kinds of music that Jews of the ages have lived with, composed and performed. All these types of music, from Mahler's symphonies to Burt Bacharach's pop melodies and Lou Reed's dissonant rock are echoed in the Masada songbook. The project seems to indicate a major shift in Zorn's output and intent for his music. Compositionally, it was an opportunity for him to explore more traditional jazz influenced song writing with melodies and changes. Although not all of the Masada songs reflect this more conventional approach to composing, most seem to fit squarely within the jazz tradition of two repetitions of the melody seperated by a solo section. The standards he set for himself were that the songs should be played by any group of instruments, and none of them should exceed three stave lines. The music also seems to represent a shift in Zorn's relationship to the listener. While much of his earlier projects like Naked City and Spy vs. Spy initially confront the listener, daring them to sit through the performance, Masada is a very appealing project. It seems to be more of a contemplation of issues of Jewish identity and heritage as opposed to an attack on the listener's perception of music. Like many earlier Zorn projects, it contains a political, as well as a musical, message. News For Lulu and The Big Gundown both championed music that Zorn felt had been unfairly ignored by the conventional music establishment. Masada's aggressive and solid sound seems to reflect a new self assertive Jewish identity that seeks to understand the many triumphs and tribulations of the Jewish diaspora over the centuries. The music is being performed by several Masada groups. The original Masada quartet (John Zorn: alto sax, Dave Douglas: trumpet, Greg Cohen: bass and Joey Baron: drums) draws heavy influence from Ornette Coleman quartet from the 60's and the Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker piano-less quartets of the 50's. Masada is improvisation at its best, with the horns weaving complex lines around each other, and the rhythm section is one of the most fluid and flexible I have ever heard. This band has recorded nine albums and one EP for DIW, and three live albums for Tzadik since 1994. They still occasionally tour Europe and play New York City two or three times a year. The Masada is a once in a lifetime ensemble akin to the John Coltrane Quartet with McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones or the Miles Davis Quintet of the late 60's. Their performances are a clear example of why they are such an unusual jazz group. The band typically receives the response you would expect at a rock concert, not an avant-garde jazz performance. Hard-core fans rush for good seats with crazed abandon, tapers go to great lengths to smuggle in recording equipment, and encores are the rule, not the exception. ============================================================== 2_ larry ochs, by the way one of the very first mentors of john zorn and his work, known as one leading member of san franciscos ROVA SAXOPHONE QUARTET will curate the upcoming nineteenth issue of the music unlimited festival, which this year takes place from nov. 11 to 13 under the titel "the gift" (again zorn fans will become observed as "the gift" also is the titel of one of zorns cds on his tzadik label). more information and news can be found soon under: http://www.musicunlimited.at we are pleased to announce the first version of larrys program (which by the way looks great!!), so here we go: unlimited XIX "the gift" curated by larry ochs 11. 12. 13. november 2005 alter schlachthof wels österreich vorläufiges programm / subject to change! FRANK GRATKOWSKI DOPPELQUARTETT (d, usa, nl) feat. tobias delius, herb robertson, wolter wierbos, wilbert de joode, dieter manderscheid, michael vatcher, gerry hemingway JOHN SCHOTTS TYPICAL ORCHESTRA (usa) feat. ben goldberg, devin hoff, ches smith CARLA KIHLSTEDT & SATOKO FUJII DUO (usa, jap) ETAGE 34 (f, jap) feat. dominique répécaud, olivier paquotte, daniel koskowitz, tenko JOHN SCHOTT solo acoustic guitar @ im pavillon ROVA SAXOPHONE QUARTET @ im pavillon TIN HAT QUARTET @ the movies im stadttheater feat. carla kihlstedt, ben goldberg, mark orton, ara anderson feat. the insect animations of ladislaw starewicz GOOD FOR COWS (usa) @ medienkulturhaus feat. devin hoff, ches smith TREVOR DUNNS TRIO CONVULSANT (usa) feat. mary halvorson, ches smith ALBERTO BRAIDA & LISLE ELLIS & FABRIZO SPERA TRIO (usa, i) CHARLOTTE HUG & CHANTAL LAPLANTE DUO (can, ch) JOHN COLTRANES ELECTRIC ASCENSION (usa, jap, d) feat. the rova saxophone quaretet (larry ochs, bruce ackley, steve adams, john raskin) plus nels cline, andrea parkins, thomas lehn, chris brown, natsuki tamura, trevor dunn, lisle ellis, tom rainey BARRY GUYS ODYSSEY (gb, spain) feat. agusti fernandez, paul lytton JEAN MARC MONTERA & THOMAS LEHN DUO (f, d) LARRY OCHS & NATSUKI TAMURA & NINH LE QUAN & CHRIS BROWN (usa, jap, f) NELS CLINE & ANDREA PARKINS & TOM RAINEY TRIO (usa) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ kv waschaecht wels dragonerstr.22 a-4600 wels ++43-7242-56375 http://www.servus.at/w8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.schl8hof.wels.at ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~