Jazz
John Zorn - Producer, Saxophone
Dave Douglas - Trumpet
Greg Cohen - Bass
Joey Baron - Drums
Crossing the Atlantic to meet in Belgium for the first time in almost six months, and going their separate ways less than twenty hours later, Masada's concert in Middleheim was under pressure from the beginning. Reaching full-out intensity in the first thirty seconds of their very first piece, this is Masada at their wildest - simultaneously out of control and yet intensely focused like a laser beam. "I felt like a squirrel being dragged behind a Mack truck."
--- Greg Cohen. Beautifully recorded by the Belgian radio.
* Allan Tucker - Mastering
* Heung-Heung "Chippy" Chin - Design
* Kazunori Sugiyama - Associate Producer
Every album by John Zorn's Masada seems better than the last, and this one is no exception. By the time of this recording the group was a tightly cohesive unit, performing at an extremely high and satisfying level, with Zorn and Douglas playing comfortably at a blistering pace. The songs are tinged with hints of Eastern European harmony, but the heat generated, while perhaps related to the raucous dancing at a Jewish wedding, is firmly rooted in the ways of Avant Garde Jazz. Zorn takes some of his best solos on disk, sounding like silly putty on speed, while the more proper Dave Douglas lags only slightly behind. With a recording time nearing eighty minutes, and substantial contributions from the entire quartet, the recording marks not so much a milestone in the life of the group as a symbol of its ability to constantly expand upon itself and draw on its not inconsequential roots, proving again that you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Jewish-tinged culture.
---Steven Loewy, All Music Guide |
