Medeski, Martin and Wood - 2008 - Zaebos: The Book of Angels Vol. 11

(By Doug Collette)
" Master improvisers that they are, Medeski, Martin and Wood nevertheless do nothing without purpose. Their participation in John Zorn's Masada Series is just such a decisive action.
Zaebos: The Book of Angels Vol. 11 was recorded in January and March of 2008, just prior to MMW's announcement of its year-long project dubbed "The Radiolarian Series" (whereby the group would compose, play live, then record three different batches of new original material). Thus, to take part in Zorn's exploration of his musical heritage, while not wholly unlike what the trio does on its own, nevertheless affords a certain healthy detachment from a musical endeavor, before becoming immersed wholly in an ambitious one of its own.

Introduced by an unusually aggressive burst of Billy Martin's drums, then rumbling bass from Chris Wood, John Medeski enters the fray on "Zagzagel" with a squalling electric keyboard. It's as if the trio is freed from the expectations of its own music and its own audience, and happily succumbs to a desire to break free on its own terms. To luxuriate in the exotic tranquility of "Sefrial," its vaguely Eastern melody line floating like a smoke ring while the rhythm section hypnotizes, is just such a sublime moment.

Not surprisingly, Zaebos ebbs and flows like a high-quality MMW live set, including customary drum breaks like the one on "Ahaii" that, as usual, thrust the group further into its own momentum. Having simmered a time, the music reaches a boiling point on "Rifion," before the band brings it back to a median heat. They proceed to cook in tandem, with keyboards (primarily organ) intersecting with rim shots and taut bass lines.

The faint whisper of percussion on "Chafriel" slips into an enticing mini-groove accentuated with electric piano, while "Vianuel" finds the trio twisting and turning, yet always moving forward—a description of its career path if there ever was one. This is the free thinking and playing that brought the trio into John Zorn's Masada family back in the formative early 1990s. It's remarkable that their imagination remains vigorous and ripe with ideas, after some twenty years at work together, and on solo jaunts that no doubt enliven their own three-way chemistry.

Medeski, Martin and Wood push the envelope of avant-garde, yet it's their grasp of jazz traditionalism, on exhibit within the acoustic piano intervals here, that sets their adventurous streak in sharp relief. Heady as this music is, the band itself sounds free and loose, even at a low volume. "Jeudthun" seems a non sequitur, but also reminds how this album, unlike End of the World Party (Just in Case) (Blue Note, 2004), is comparatively free of treatments and production effects. That said, is that really a bowed double-bass on "Malach Ha-sopher"?

And does this fairly standard-length CD have a killer ending on "Tutrusa'i"? The fairly formless motif takes shape as an after-hours club theme song, its ruminations anything but sentimental and soft. Instead, it's pointed and quietly propulsive and progressive—another microcosm of the MMW oeuvre."

(By Troy Collins)
" Composer John Zorn has entered what could cautiously be referred to as his mature period. His early game pieces have given way to neoclassical works heavily influenced by modernists such as Boulez, Ligeti and Xenakis, while his Hassidic-inspired Masada projects have gained him unprecedented mainstream popularity. Masada has roots deeper than its recorded history however; before the original acoustic Masada quartet, there was the Thieves Quartet.

Zorn's score for Joel Chappelle's 1994 film noir, Thieves Quartet, utilized the same line-up that would eventually become known as Masada. On subsequent tours, that small, but talented roster occasionally included John Medeski and Billy Martin.

The Book of Angels, Zorn's second book of Masada tunes, has been a continuing source of inspiration for the composer and his legion of interpreters. On Zaebos: The Book of Angels Vol. 11, Medeski, Martin & Wood's intimate understanding of Zorn's working method lends their interpretations of these sturdily crafted tunes an air of cleverly inspired authority.

Embracing a wealth of genres, instrumental combinations and stylistic detours, the veteran trio brings their signature sound to this melodically distinctive body of work; the end result is one of their most satisfyingly diverse efforts.

Dispensing with preconceived boundaries, the trio ranges far and wide across the spectrum of available sound. "Rifion" utilizes classic swinging piano trio dynamics, complete with brief detours into outside playing. "Malach ha-Sopher" unveils a moody, haunting tone poem, while "Jeduthun" adopts the stunning silences, harsh angularity and pneumatic rhythms of Zorn's own jump-cut/collage oriented approach towards popular music.

Plugged-in, the trio burns white-hot as they careen through the whiplash frenzy of "Zagzagel" and the propulsive anthem "Vianuel." Medeski's vintage analog keyboards squeal and sputter, Wood ferrets out subterranean reverberations from a fuzz-toned electric bass and Martin kicks out thorny polyrhythms as the trio basks in waves of distortion and electronic sustain.

Covering familiar ground, "Agmatia" and "Chafriel" ride groovy, modal melodies driven by swirling organ washes, hypnotic bass lines and snappy shuffle rhythms. Revealing their longstanding rapport, they invest the oblique angles of "Ahaij" with a string of inventive solos and edgy interplay.

Maximizing the gorgeous melodic potential of Zorn's writing, "Sefrial" and "Asaliah" recall the dreamy exotica of the composer's lounge-inspired ensemble, The Gift, as kaleidoscopic keyboard washes, languorous bass pulses and spare trap set ruminations expand with cinematic atmosphere.

Zaebos is a homecoming of sorts for both Zorn and the Brooklyn-based trio. An endlessly rewarding listen, this session is one of Medeski, Martin & Wood's most varied and enjoyable releases, and one of the most commanding interpretations of the Book of Angels. "

tower пишет: Да и коврики лишними не будут.

tower пишет:Помнится, Валентин Пикуль когда-то написал, что если метиловый спирт закусывать хамсой (рыбка такая мелкая), то негативных последствий можно и избежать...