Azazel - Masada Book Two - The Book Of Angels

Instantly turned my Honda into a Bentley. John Zorn and the musicians he employs are freaks of nature.

When it comes to John Zorn's music, those interested in dipping their toes in often find themselves sitting there longer than originally intended, staring into an ever expanding, seemingly endless abyss. Many times, new musical ventures are easier to embrace when the discography is modest. With Zorn and his projects, I believe all of us could benefit from a comprehensive discography index book with full explanations and samples. Until then, we're forced to poke around and tilt each album back- seeing if we find something interesting underneath; unless however, you have unlimited funds.
Let me save you some time here. I'm not going to do a frame by frame analysis- I'm sure you'll find plenty of sources turning the review into an overly cerebral appraisal.
You've made it this far, and you deserve to be rewarded for it. Expect a brilliant album. As the name of the band implies, they are a string trio, under the direction of John Zorn and his Masada project. No drums, only a violin, cello, and bass. The terms "alchemy" and "seamless integration of talent" are thrown around a lot. These guys are right on that. Although this is a studio album, you feel the intense mood, joy, and excitement of a live improv performance. The musicianship here is simply stellar. I've rewound parts of this album more times than Slash's solo for Sweet Child o' Mine when I was a kid. Exhilarating. If this is your first Masada experience, I envy you. Enjoy.


Azazel: Book of Angels, Vol. 2
by Masada String Trio

Mark Feldman: violin
Erik Friedlander: cello
Greg Cohen: bass
John Zorn: composer; conductor

Any old genius can write music that startles, challenges the mind or moves the heart. Perhaps only a genius like John Zorn can write something that sounds like middle eastern restaurant muzak and still have his fans barking like trained seals at his cleverness. This is unremarkable world music hash warmed over.

"Azazel" is the second in the series of releases for John Zorn's Masada Book Two. In the early '90s, Zorn wrote about two hundred pieces for his Masada project-- a songbook of melodies that could serve as springboards for improvisation all written using the "Jewish scales"-- this lent a slight klezmer bent to the music. In the second half of 2004, Zorn took it upon himself to compose a new book of Masada pieces-- all told he composed some three hundred melodies, naming each after an angel and titling the songbook "The Book of Angels". "Azazel" is performed by the Masada String Trio-- violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Eric Friedlander and bassist Greg Cohen.

One thing immediately notable about the pieces is the diversity of moods on them-- it seems as a composer Zorn seemed to also challenge himself to repeat little ground and avoid sounding, for lack of better term, Jewish. The pieces cover such diverse styles as frantic cartoon music ("Mibi", "Gurid"), lush and romantic ("Mastema", "Garzanal"), patient yet foreceful ("Tabaet"), moody ("Symnay"), dramatic ("Bethor") and just plain exciting and fantastic ("Uriel", "Aheil"). Of course, this is all helped by having just purely virtuoso performances-- these guys have been playing together (and playing Zorn's compositions) for nearly a decade and it shows-- they approach the material with an unusual sensitivity and vigor-- really digging deep inside the pieces. At times, each receives a spotlight and performs admirably, but its really the collective play that pans out, whether it be cartoon explosions and frantic improvs ("Mibi") or one outdoing the other as they trade solos ("Symnay", "Azazel", "Garzanal"), it seems that every time you think they've reached a peak, someone brings it just a bit higher.

When I first listened to this, I thought to myself that it really isn't quite as good as the live performances,b ut as I listen to this more critically for this review, truthfully I can't find anything bad to say about it-- this album is just utterly fantastic-- its not so simple as to say it's "chamber music" or "jazz on strings" or any other label, its just fantastic music performed admirably. Highly recommended.

You hear people sometimes say that JZ has stopped to surprise us with his various Masada recordings and that there are "too many" Masada records ...
I could'n disagree more. JZ wrote a new batch of around 300 Masada tunes in a few months time : "The Book of Angels". These tunes will not be played by the acoustic Jazz Quartet "Masada", but by various groups. This CD, the second volume, has the Masada String Trio playing 13 new Masada tunes. They do not cease to amaze me in their quality of composition, arrangements, playing, improvising...
The character of the Masada tunes of Book II is a bit different from the first book : they are as versatile and brilliant as those of book one, but also very refined and sometimes a bit less agressive. (more mature ?)
Some pieces have the theme in pizzicato, like "Uriel" and "Tabaet", which reminds us a bit of the famous "Abidan"-theme, but very pleasing indeed. And then there are the lyrical ones, like "Mastema" and "Garzanal", which has some Klezmer violin-playing influence.
On the CD are some jump/cut cartoon-like pieces that are played brillantly. The improvisation is brilliant and very convincing. You feel and hear that these guys have worked a lot together and are at the top of their playing.

If you have not yet tasted the Masada String Trio, this is a must-have. If you know the MST, buy it and you'll be fascinated by the new roads they take with the Book of Angels.