Track Listing 1. Piram 2. Sansanah 3. Ziphim 4. Zebdi 5. Hadasha 6. Rachab / Lebaoth 7. Hazor
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron | | Distributor: | E1 Distribution (USA) | | Recording Type: | Live | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes Personnel includes: John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron. With dozens of releases (both live and studio) and hundreds of participating musicians, composer John Zorn's ongoing Masada project had become so densely populated by the first years of the 21st century that it almost deserved its own New York City zip code. Apparently, Zorn realized this was the perfect time to unveil Masada's beginnings, and, in 2002, he issued the ensemble's very first concert recording. Performed in 1993 by the original quartet of Zorn (saxophone), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Greg Cohen (bass), and Joey Baron (drums) at the famed Knitting Factory's old Houston Street location, this initial Masada outing finds the band's avant-garde klezmer aesthetic fully formed. While the group's precise attack and uncanny sense of musical telepathy would become more sharply honed in the future, this date still overflows with stunning instrumental interplay, as Zorn and Douglas alternate between tight melodies and sharp bursts of noise, and Cohen and Baron keep the rhythms both propulsive and wildly inventive. Although the first few Masada studio albums are the best introduction to the revered ensemble, this disc is ideal for fans seeking to go back to the music's source.
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