| Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 1: Masada Guitars | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 2003 | |||
| Genre | Jazz, klezmer | |||
| Length | 74:39 | |||
| Label | Tzadik TZ 7171 | |||
| Producer | John Zorn | |||
| John Zorn chronology | ||||
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| Masada Anniversary chronology | ||||
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Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 1: Masada Guitars is the first album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. [1] [2]
Masada Guitars was the first release in 2003 of a series commemorating the tenth anniversary of Zorn's group Masada and the 205-song Masada songbook. Each song is written in accordance with a number of rules, including the maximum number of staves, the modes or scales that are used, and the fact that the songs must be playable by any small group of instruments. The album features 21 Masada songs performed by solo guitar. The tracks are split between three performers: Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Tim Sparks. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz | (not rated) [4] |
| Allmusic |   [5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz |  [6] |
| Pitchfork Media |    [3] |
Masada Guitars received mostly favorable reviews. Allmusic music critic Sean Westergaard stated "Those expecting an electric romp through the Masada songbook might be disappointed; Masada Guitars consists entirely of solo, mostly acoustic performances. Preconceptions aside, this is a beautiful album. Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, and Tim Sparks each bring their own voice to these tunes: Sparks with his rich fingerpicking, Ribot coming from his classical guitar background, and Bill Frisell with his unmistakable ethereal tone." [5]
In his review for All About Jazz, Farrell Lowe writes of the stripped-down nature of the songs revealing their essence, writing: "This recording also reveals how powerful the modern guitar can be. Zorn chose three very distinctive players to interpret these pieces. Each guitarist shapes and cuts his own world of sound out of Zorn's compositions." [4]
Chris Dahlen was less positive about the disc as a whole, considering it too long: "This disc is almost indulgently long, crammed with 21 similar pieces that get dignified, mid-tempo readings. That's a lot of samey acoustic guitar to wade through, and the fact that it's all pretty doesn't justify the length. But the upside is that Zorn knows where he's going, and he knows what he wants from these guitarists; he's just willing to give them a lot of chances to hit it." He calls Sparks' arrangements "rigorous and exciting", Ribot as "plain-spoken" and Frisell the "maverick" of the three. [3]
Acoustic Guitar named Masada Guitars as essential in their article "20 Years of Essential Acoustic Albums". [7]
All compositions by John Zorn. Performer's name in parentheses.
John Zorn is an American composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist. His music crosses genres that include jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and improvised music. Zorn incorporates diverse styles and compositional methods in his works, which he identifies as avant-garde or experimental. In 2013, Down Beat described Zorn as "one of our most important composers".
Marc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.
Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s.
Greg Cohen is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades.
Tim Sparks is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer.
At the Rebbe's Table is the third recording by guitarist Tim Sparks on the Tzadik Records label.
Tanz is the second recording by American guitarist Tim Sparks on the Tzadik Records label, released in 2000. The word טאַנץ is Yiddish for dance, cognate to the German word Tanz with the same meaning.
Filmworks VII: Cynical Hysterie Hour is a 1989 album by John Zorn featuring music written for a series of Japanese animated shorts that were created by Kiriko Kubo. It features Zorn's first music for cartoons and was originally released on the Japanese Sony label in limited numbers. In late 1996 Zorn finally attained the rights for his music and remastered and re-released the album on his own label, Tzadik, in 1997.
Taboo & Exile is an album by John Zorn. It is the second album to appear in Zorn's Music Romance Series following Music for Children (1998). Three of the tracks on this recording are from Zorn's Masada songbook.
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 4 is a live album by Electric Masada documenting their performance at Tonic in September 2003 as part of John Zorn's month-long 50th Birthday Celebration.
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 4: Masada Recital is the fourth album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features 12 Masada songs performed by Sylvie Courvoisier on piano and Mark Feldman on violin. It was released in 2004 on Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Radical Jewish Culture Series.
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 5: Masada Rock is the fifth and final album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features 10 Masada songs performed by Jon Madof's Rashanim trio with Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass and Mathias Kunzli on drums in addition to Madof's guitar with guest appearances from Marc Ribot on two tracks. It was released in 2005 on Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Radical Jewish Culture Series.
Lucifer: Book of Angels Volume 10 is an album by the Bar Kokhba Sextet performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Asmodeus: Book of Angels Volume 7 is an album by Marc Ribot performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, The Book of Angels.
Yankees is an album of improvised music by Derek Bailey, John Zorn & George Lewis. The album was released as an LP by Celluloid in 1983 and was reissued on CD by Celluloid and Charly. It is the first recorded meeting of John Zorn and Derek Bailey. The pair would later release the album, Harras, with William Parker in 1993. Zorn and Lewis would collaborate further on News for Lulu (1988) and More News for Lulu (1993) with Bill Frisell.
The Willies is the 15th album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 2002 and features performances by Frisell, Danny Barnes and Keith Lowe.
Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-profit, cooperative record label.
Ipos: Book of Angels Volume 14 is an album by the Dreamers performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, The Book of Angels.
The Sound of Summer Running is a 1998 studio album by jazz bassist Marc Johnson released by Verve Records. It features an all-star Quartet with guitarists Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, and John Zorn's frequent drummer Joey Baron. The title was borrowed from a story by Ray Bradbury.
Right Brain Patrol, put out on JMT label, is a studio album by jazz acoustic bassist Marc Johnson and the first with his trio featuring guitarist Ben Monder and percussionist and singer Arto Tuncboyaciyan. Jazz Music Today released the album in 1992.
