Loading ...Oy! Back from what seems to be the last vacation of this summer. Let’s end the one week drought with one of the best albums of 2008, from the powerhouse sextet of the downtown scene (which I’ve been holding back since April). The second Masada songbook releases this year were impressive with fab albums from Bar Kokhba, Secret Chiefs 3 and finally Medeski Martin and Wood!
There’s not much to say about Bar Kokhba; with an unsurpassed line up from the downtown contemporary jazz circle: the foundation of the original Masada line-up Greg Cohen on bass and Joey Baron on drums, the iconic Marc Ribot on guitar, Mark Feldman on violin, Erik Friedlander on cello and the percussion wiz Cyro Baptista, who cements the Bar Kokhba sound.
Lucifer Book of Angels, the 10th installment of the second Masada series and their first album in 12 years (if you don’t count the 3CD live) has similarities with The Dreamers and 2001’s The Gift; traditional Sephardic music meets, surf music meets jazz meets cinema. I’m such a fool for this sound and I’m confident that the world will be a better place if everyone listened to this, yet I think it might be out of touch with the young indie crowd who happen to frequent here time and time again.
This is a mature album (perhaps a bit too much with Mr. John Zorn seemingly leaving all the edgy bits out for this one) as expected from a 6 piece chamber trio + a composer who’re all past 50 years of age. Yet it’s timeless and as opposed to other Zorn stuff pretty easy to get into at the same time (yes even for your elderly neighbour) and if you don’t have a disdain against non-western musical scales, you might be marveling at the otherworldly blend of romantic melodies and cinematic ambience – which I feel I have to stress once again, comes singlehandedly from the brilliant Cyro Baptista.
Lovely photo of a young John Zorn playing sax by A23H
Bar Kokhba Sextet – 
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Tim
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Marc
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mersenne
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mersenne
