''Masada Anniversary Edition Volume 2: Voices in the Wilderness'' is the second album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of
John Zorn
John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...
's
Masada
Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...
songbook project.
Tzadik catalogue
/ref> It features 24 compositions by Zorn, each performed by different ensembles.[Masada World: Voices in the Wilderness](_blank)
/ref>
Reception
The Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
site awarded the album 3½ stars.[Allmusic Album Entry](_blank)
accessed August 2, 2011. The Klezmer Shack stated "for the wonderous ways in which these compositions are re-discovered and re-explored by a host of ensembles around the world, this collection becomes essential... This tribute only hints at the influence that Zorn and his Masada music have had internationally... This set is a wonderful starting point to get a sense of the music, or to enjoy its diversity and diverse interpretation.
accessed October 31, 2013
Track listing
* *misspelled as "Malkut" on album sleeve [Masada World: Voices in the Wilderness](_blank)
/ref>
Personnel
Disc one
''Karaim''
*Basya Schecter – oud, vocals
*Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (born 1975 in Brooklyn, NY) is an American bassist and oud player who has recorded and performed extensively with Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits, Daniel Zamir's Satlah, Rashanim, and Pharaoh's Daughter, and John Zo ...
– bass
*Daphna Mor – recorder, melodica
*Ben Oir – guitar
*Noah Heoffeld – cello
* Meg Okura – violin
*Daniel Freedman – percussion, vocal shouts
''Kisofim''
*Ben Perowsky
Ben Perowsky (born May 12, 1966) is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, and music producer. He is the drummer on stage in the 8 TONY award winning Broadway musical Hadestown. Perowsky leads the Ben Perowsky Trio, Moodswing Orchestra and ...
– drums
*Uri Caine
Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.
Biography
Early years
The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began p ...
– piano
*Drew Gress
Drew Gress (born November 20, 1959) is an American jazz double-bassist and composer born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in the Philadelphia area.
Biography
Gress studied at Towson State University and Manhattan School of Music. In the late 1 ...
– bass
''Meholalot''
*Jaroslaw Tyrala – violin
*Jaroslaw Bester – accordion
*Oleg Dyyak – accordion, clarinet, percussion
*Wojciech Front – bass
''Lakom''
*Bruce Ackley – soprano
* Larry Ochs – tenor
*Jon Raskin – baritone saxophone
*Steve Adams – sopranino
''Tekufah''
*Wayne Horvitz
Wayne Horvitz (born 1955) is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He ...
– Fender Rhodes
*Timothy Young – guitar
*Keith Lowe – bass
*Andy Roth – drums
''Paran''
*Glenn Dickson – clarinet
*Gary Bohan – trumpet
* Michael McLaughlin – piano
*Brandon Seabrook – guitar
*James Gray – tuba
*Eric Rosenthal – drums
''Khebar''
*Mark Kramer – all instruments, voice
''Nevalah''
*Daniel Zamir
Daniel Zamir ( he, דניאל זמיר; born 1980 in Petah Tikva) is an Israeli saxophonist and singer. Having started on alto saxophone, Zamir is mainly known for his soprano playing.
Background
Zamir was born to a secular family and started ...
– soprano
*Kevin Zubek – drums
''Abidan''
*Jewlia Eisenberg
Jewlia Eisenberg (1970/1 – March 11, 2021) was an American singer, composer, bassist, educator, and cantor. As founder and bandleader of Charming Hostess she coined the term "Nerdy-Sexy-Commie-Girly" to describe her genre of music which spans ...
– voice
* Wesley Anderson – percussion
''Tirzah''
*Chris Speed
Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
Early life and career
Speed grew up outside of Seattle and studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age. He later began studying jazz, took up ...
– clarinet
* Brad Shepik – tamboura, electric saz, guitar
* Skuli Sverrisson – bass, baritone guitar drones
*Jim Black
Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music.
Career
His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarine ...
– drums, percussion
*Jamie Saft
Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private mu ...
– organ, keyboards, bass, guitar, programming
''Peliyot''
* Eyal Maoz – guitar
* Avishai Cohen – trumpet
''Shebuah''
*Steve Bernstein – cornet
*Doug Wieselman
Douglas Joel Wieselman (born November 30, 1954) is an American composer and jazz reedist. He plays primarily clarinet and tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also plays soprano and baritone saxophone.
Early life and education
Wieselman was ...
– Eb clarinet
*Marty Ehrlich
Marty Ehrlich (born May 31, 1955) is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, clarinets, flutes) and is considered one of the leading figures in avant-garde jazz.
Biography
Though born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the portion of Ehrlich's youth spent in ...
– bass clarinet
*Doug Wamble
Doug Wamble (born Samuel Douglas Wamble, October 22, 1972) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist from Tennessee.
Biography
Wamble grew up Memphis, Tennessee. He was inspired to play guitar after hearing records by Charlie Christian. He e ...
– vocals, guitar
* Aaron Johnson – shakers
Disc two
''Ziphim''
*John Medeski
Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...
– keyboards
*Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...
– percussion
* Chris Wood – bass
''Avodah''
*Jon Madof Jon Madof (born May 28, 1974) is an American guitarist, composer, and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, who has performed extensively with other artists including John Zorn, Matisyahu, Marc Ribot, and Frank London.
PopMatters' Sean Murphy ...
– guitar
*Mathias Kunzli – drums, percussion
*Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (born 1975 in Brooklyn, NY) is an American bassist and oud player who has recorded and performed extensively with Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits, Daniel Zamir's Satlah, Rashanim, and Pharaoh's Daughter, and John Zo ...
– bass
''Rokhev''
*Daniel Hoffman – violin
*Moses Sedler – cello
*Paul Hanson
Paul Hanson is an American bassoonist, saxophonist, duduk player, and composer with roots in jazz and classical music.
Music career
Paul Hanson was born in San Francisco, CA, in 1961. His parents were both musicians: his mother a classical pi ...
– bassoon
*Kevin Mummey – cajon
''Tannaim''
*Mark Orton
Mark Orton is an American composer and musician. An alumnus of the Peabody Conservatory and the Hartt School of Music, he is a founding member of the San Francisco-based Tin Hat chamber music group, and is best known for his score for the Academy ...
– guitar, dobro, banjo, percussion
*Carla Kihlstedt
Carla Kihlstedt (born 1971) is an American composer, violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and currently working from a home studio on Cape Cod.
She is a founding member of Tin Hat Trio (1997, ...
– violin, viola
*Rob Burger
Robert Burger (born March 26, 1971) is an American composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and music director.
Biography
Burger began playing piano at an early age, starting his formal training at age six with the pianist Jeffrey Marcus. He pla ...
– accordion, bass harmonica
''Acharei Mot''
* Peter Apfelbaum – organ, tenor, percussion
*Hiawatha Lockport – organ
*Charles Burnham Charles Burnham may refer to:
* Charles Burnham (politician) (1847–1908), American manufacturer and politician in the Wisconsin State Assembly
* Charles Burnham (geneticist) (died 1995), American plant geneticist
* Charles Burnham (musician)
...
– violin
*David Phelps – guitar
* Patrice Blanchard – bass
* Dafnis Prieto – drums
''Malkhut''*
*Ikue Mori
(born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022.
Biography
Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...
– laptop electronics
*Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist and improviser.
Career
Courvoisier, originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, has lived in Brooklyn, New York for years. She has led several groups over the years, recorded 10 albu ...
– piano
* Susie Ibarra – drums
''Kochot''
*Mike Patton
Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...
– all instruments, voice
*William Winant
William Winant (born 1953) is an American percussionist.
In addition to his work in contemporary classical music—notably performing Lou Harrison's compositions—Winant has worked in a variety of genres, including noise rock, free improvisation ...
– percussion
''Jair''
*Ben Goldberg
Ben Goldberg is an American clarinet player and composer.
Career
In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to produce three albums an ...
– clarinet
*Devin Hoff
Devin Hoff is an American bassist, composer and arranger. Hoff has collaborated with Julia Holter, Nels Cline, Sharon Van Etten, Shannon Lay, Cibo Matto, Kira Roessler, Good For Cows, Xiu Xiu, and others.
Hoff has also released three albums ...
– bass
*Ches Smith
Gordon McChesney "Ches" Smith is an American musician, whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone.
He recorded and performed an album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled ''Congs for Brums'' (2006). In 2010 he release ...
– drums
''Ne'eman''
*Dave Binney
David Binney (born August 2, 1961) is an American alto saxophonist and composer.
Early life
Binney was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Carpinteria, California. From his parents, who loved music, he was exposed to albums by John C ...
– alto
*Steve Cardenas
Stephen Antonio Cardenas (born May 29, 1974) is an American martial artist, musician, and actor. Cardenas is best known for playing the character Rocky DeSantos, which was the second Red Power Ranger in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and eventu ...
– guitar
*Tony Scherr
Tony Scherr is an American jazz and folk rock bassist, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer.
Biography
Scherr was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and is a graduate of the Hammonasset School. He played with Woody Herman as a teenag ...
– guitar
* Jesse Murphy – bass
*Brian Mitchell – organ
*Kenny Wollesen
Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist.
Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a foun ...
– drums
''Tahah''
*Anthony Coleman
Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', '' The Big Gundown'', '' Archery'', and '' Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music ...
– piano
* Brad Jones – bass
*Roberto Rodriguez – drums
''Tiferet''
*Jenny Scheinman
Jenny Scheinman is a jazz violinist. She has produced several critically acclaimed solo albums, including ''12 Songs'', named one of the Top Ten Albums of 2005 by ''The New York Times''. She has played with Linda Perry, Norah Jones, Nels Cline, ...
– violin
*Nels Cline
Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004.
In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex Cline, Alex, a percussionis ...
– guitar
*Todd Sickafoose
Todd Sickafoose is an American jazz and rock musician, composer, and producer/engineer from San Francisco, California.
He is best known for playing acoustic bass and keyboards with Ani DiFranco but has also led his own group, Todd Sickafoose's Ti ...
– bass
*Scott Amendola
Scott Amendola (born February 6, 1969) is an American drummer from the San Francisco Bay Area. His styles include jazz, blues, groove, and rock.Andrew Gilbert"Exploring New Degrees In Drumming" ''sfgate.com'', October 3, 2004.
Amendola is origi ...
– drums
''Kedem''
*Jamie Saft
Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private mu ...
– organ, keyboards, bass, guitar, programming
*Vanessa Saft – vocals
* *misspelled as "Malkut" on album sleeve [Masada World: Voices in the Wilderness](_blank)
/ref>
References
{{Authority control
2003 albums
Albums produced by John Zorn
Tzadik Records albums
Masada Anniversary albums