Volume number
three for John Zorn’s Masada, and ‘Gimel’ though recorded at the same sessions
as ‘Alef’ and ‘Beit’ raises the bar to near-perfection. Of course the outfit of
Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen and Joey Baron are as excellent as ever and
together form arguably the finest twin-horn inspired quartet this side of
Ornette Coleman.
‘Gimel’ is a
notably more diverse and experimental record than before, though not
necessarily toward the avant garde. Aside from the assumed dense ‘Masada sound’
of some pieces here, a good few numbers possess a stunningly meditative vibe. ‘Abidan’
in particular, featuring some superb Zorn and Douglas teamwork, is a real gem,
not just on this album, but also in the entire Masada discography. ‘Karaim’ too
benefits from some incredible playing courtesy of Douglas, while ‘Tannaim’
chooses a more spacious and clear sound than is usual, and with its sumptuous
Eastern leanings it works to great effect. ‘Sheloshim’ is perhaps an odd mix,
starting with a simmering tension that is pure brilliance, before exploding
into something both passionate and aggressive, that though also strong, doesn’t
quite gel with how it starts. It is however by no means a weak track.
A very strong
slice of the hefty Masada catalogue, ‘Gimel’ with the first two volumes forms a
genuinely great opening trilogy that should all definitely be investigated. Zorn
obviously loved it a great deal too as he would go on to rework some of the
material here for his equally great Bar Kokhba.
*****
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