The Mysteries (album)

Last updated
The Mysteries
The Mysteries (album).jpg
Studio album by John Zorn
Released March 26, 2013
Recorded December 2012
Genre Avant-garde, Jazz, Contemporary classical music
Length48:32
Label Tzadik TZ 8306
Producer John Zorn
John Zorn chronology
Lemma
(2013)		The Mysteries
(2013)		 Tap: Book of Angels Volume 20
(2013)
The Gnostic Trio chronology
The Gnostic Preludes
(2012)		The Mysteries
(2013)		 In Lambeth
(2013)

The Mysteries is an album composed by John Zorn and performed by Bill Frisell, Carol Emanuel and Kenny Wollesen which as recorded in New York City in December 2012 and released on the Tzadik label in March 2013. [1] The album is the second by the trio following 2012's The Gnostic Preludes .

John Zorn American composer, saxophonist and bandleader

John Zorn is an American composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist with hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, and producer across a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and improvised music. He incorporates diverse styles in his compositions, which he identifies as avant-garde or experimental. Zorn was described by Down Beat as "one of our most important composers".

Bill Frisell American musician

William Richard Frisell is an American guitarist, composer and arranger. One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell came to prominence as a stalwart for ECM Records. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a member of the New York City Downtown Scene where he formed a long partnership with John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until Motian's death in 2011. Since 2000, Frisell's eclectic output as a bandleader has emphasized folk, country music, and Americana.

Kenny Wollesen American musician

Kenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Free Jazz CollectiveStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]

Allmusic said "The Mysteries is another facet of this fine trio's persona as they elegantly yet inquisitively interpret these beautiful pieces by the composer. Their interplay is at such a high level, it feels nearly instinctive." [2] Martin Schray stated "The Mysteries is a very exciting follow-up to The Gnostic Preludes, particularly in its details. And again it is pure joy listening to the outstanding interplay of these master musicians." [3]

Track listing

All compositions by John Zorn

  1. "Sacred Oracle" – 5:35
  2. "Hymn of the Naassenes" – 5:05
  3. "Dance of Sappho" – 4:05
  4. "The Bacchanalia" – 2:56
  5. "Consolamentum" – 5:48
  6. "Ode to the Cathars" – 6:55
  7. "Apollo" – 3:27
  8. "Yaldabaoth" – 3:54
  9. "The Nymphs" – 10:47

Personnel

Harp class of musical instruments

The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3500 BC. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, where it evolved into a wide range of variants with new technologies, and was disseminated to Europe's colonies, finding particular popularity in Latin America. Although some ancient members of the harp family died out in the Near East and South Asia, descendants of early harps are still played in Myanmar and parts of Africa, and other defunct variants in Europe and Asia have been utilized by musicians in the modern era.

Guitar fretted string instrument

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that usually has six strings. It is typically played with both hands by strumming or plucking the strings with either a guitar pick or the finger(s)/fingernails of one hand, while simultaneously fretting with the fingers of the other hand. The sound of the vibrating strings is projected either acoustically, by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar, or through an electrical amplifier and a speaker.

Vibraphone musical instrument

The vibraphone is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family. It consists of tuned metal bars, and is usually played by holding two or four soft mallets and striking the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist or vibraharpist.

Production

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References

  1. ↑ Tzadik Catalog, accessed October 17, 2013
  2. 1 2 Jurek, T. Allmusic Review, accessed October 17, 2013
  3. 1 2 Schray, M. The Free Jazz Collective Review, Free Jazz Collective, September 5, 2013
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