| The Circle Maker: Issachar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde jazz Downtown music Chamber music | |||
| Length | 122:13 | |||
| Label | Tzadik TZ 7122 | |||
| Producer | John Zorn | |||
| John Zorn chronology | ||||
| ||||
| The Circle Maker: Zevulun | ||||
 | ||||
The Circle Maker is a double album by John Zorn featuring Zorn's Masada compositions performed by the Masada String Trio (on Disc One: Issachar) and the Bar Kokhba Sextet (on Disc Two: Zevulun) which was released in 1998 on the Tzadik label. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [2] |
The Allmusic review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 5 stars stating "Zorn skeptics will find the superb and elegant music on The Circle Maker surprisingly stable and accessible... All of these musicians are accomplished in jazz and improvised music, and have performed extensively in world and/or classical settings as well. The Circle Maker is a very necessary recording for all appreciators of chamber jazz, new Jewish music, or any of these stellar musicians." [2]
All compositions by John Zorn
Bar Kokhba is a double album by John Zorn, recorded between 1994 and 1996. It features music from Zorn's Masada project, rearranged for small ensembles. It also features the original soundtrack from The Art of Remembrance – Simon Wiesenthal, a film by Hannah Heer and Werner Schmiedel (1994–95).
John Zorn is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, contemporary, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and world music.
Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s.
Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City.
Mark Feldman is an American jazz violinist.
Bar Kokhba Sextet brings together six core members of Masada under the leadership of John Zorn. The music act is an improvisational group from New York's best downtown artists, including Cyro Baptista on percussion, Marc Ribot on guitar, Greg Cohen on bass, Joey Baron on drums and Mark Feldman, and Erik Friedlander on strings. According to Tzadik, John Zorn's music label; the band's music is "Sephardic exotica for young moderns".
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.
Music for Children is the first release in John Zorn's Music Romance Series and features three Naked City compositions performed by Zorn with the band Prelapse; a 20-minute composition for wind machines and controlled feedback systems dedicated to Edgar Varese, and a classical chamber music piece for violin, percussion and piano performed by the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio framed by a poly-rhythmic etude for percussion and celeste and a lullaby for music box.
Filmworks VIII: 1997 features two scores for film by John Zorn released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 1998. It features the music that Zorn wrote and recorded for The Port of Last Resort (1998), a documentary directed by Joan Grossman and Paul Rosdy examining the experiences of Jewish refugees in Shanghai and Latin Boys Go to Hell (1997) which was directed by Ela Troyano.
Filmworks XI: Secret Lives features a score for film by John Zorn performed by the Masada String Trio with guest appearances from Vanessa Saft on vocals and Jamie Saft on piano. The album was released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 2002 and contains music that Zorn wrote and recorded for Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII, a documentary on Jewish children hidden during the Second World War directed by Aviva Slesin. The documentary was originally to be titled Under the Wing and several sources still refer to the soundtrack under this name.
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1 is a live album by the Masada String Trio documenting their performance at Tonic in September 2003 as part of John Zorn's month-long 50th Birthday Celebration concert series.
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11 is a triple live album by the Bar Kokhba Sextet documenting their performance at Tonic in September 2003 as part of John Zorn's month-long 50th Birthday Celebration.
Duras: Duchamp is an album of contemporary classical music by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn consisting two tribute compositions for Marguerite Duras and Marcel Duchamp.
The String Quartets is an album of contemporary classical music by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn performed by Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Joyce Hammann and Lois Martin. The piece Kol Nidre is a tune from Zorn's Masada songbook.
Cobra: John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 2 is an album by John Zorn that includes his game piece, Cobra. The piece was recorded in previous versions by the labels HatHut, Knitting Factory, and Avant but this was the first time by Zorn's label Tzadik.
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".
Azazel: Book of Angels Volume 2 is an album by the Masada String Trio performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Masada Anniversary Edition Volume 3: The Unknown Masada is the third album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features twelve previously unreleased Masada compositions performed by Erik Friedlander's Quake (1), Rashanim (2), Dave Douglas (3), Tatsuya Yoshida (4), Naftule's Dream (5), Jamie Saft (6), Zahava Seewald (7), Koby Israelite (8), Julian Kytasty (9); Fantômas (10), Wadada Leo Smith and Ikue Mori (11), and Eyvind Kang (12).
Filmworks XX: Sholem Aleichem features a score for film by John Zorn. The album was released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 2008 and contains music that Zorn wrote and recorded for a documentary on the 19th century Jewish writer Sholem Aleichem.
Haborym: Book of Angels Volume 16 is an album by the Masada String Trio performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
