Exploding into life
with manic fury, Masada’s tenth volume ‘Yod’ shows no sign of ending their
studio catalogue run with a graceful retirement, instead choosing to play some
of the most wild and free music the quartet have ever recorded. And while
perhaps ‘Yod’ ranks as one of the more accessible of Masada’s works, it
certainly is nowhere near an easy listen.
There’s a strong ‘go
for broke’ feel to these final studio dates, but also a highly notable overt
klezmer influence. Whereas before it was a sound that added to the melting pot,
here instead it’s a more dominant factor, with pieces like ‘Tevel’ and ‘Zevul’
sounding almost like a traditional Jewish number filtered through free-jazz.
A darker feel too
rules the album, whether on the yearning yet mournful ‘Yechida’, or the more
in-your-face ‘Ruach’ that ranks as probably the most powerful number Masada
have ever laid to tape. The centre of the album does possess a gentler pace
than its bookends, but still maintains its distinct atmosphere, and also
crucially some great solos from the front-line duo of John Zorn and Dave
Douglas.
The last of Masada’s
studio run, it’s a great album in its own right as well as being a good way to
end the ‘songbook’. But crucially this would not be the end to Masada, with
some brilliant live albums to come and Zorn reconfiguring the project in part
with Bar Kokhba (and the Bar Kokhba Sextet), The Masada String Trio and
Electric Masada, many of which would feature Masada alumni. Additionally Zorn
would go on to write hundred more tunes for the Masada songbook under the title
‘Book Of Angels’ to be played by other musicians. All of which are very much worth
investigating.
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