JOHN ZORN

Amid all of Zorn's recent chamber-orientated work, or, of course, his ongoing Masada excursions, T&A stands out as, as it were, 'old school' Zorn: a genre-busting, jump-cutting rollercoaster of a record, which, while eschewing the more overtly collagist tendencies of, say Spillane or The Big Gundown or the early Naked City material, nonetheless crams a whole world of sound and styles into something resembling an imaginary film soundtrack. Along for the ride is a host of regular associates, a virtual roll call of New Music luminaries, arranged in various groupings - duos, trios, quartets and quintets. Stand up: keyboardist Jamie Saft, percussionists and Cyro Baptista and Roberto Rodriguez, guitarists Fred Frith, Marc Ribot and Robert Quine (how's that for a Holy Trinity?!), bassists Bill Laswell and Chris Wood, Slayers' awesome drummer Dave Lombardo, violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Erik Friedlander, double bassist Greg Cohen (the star of a recent evening at London's Barbican centre, onstage all night in the Masada String trio, Bar Kohkba AND Masada, and still smiling at the end of it!), Mr Bungle and Fantomas frontman Mike Patton, drummers Joey Baron and Sim Cain (of Rollins Band fame) and vocalist. Miho Hatori. I don't think I've left anyone out. Oh, Zorn himself, of course, on alto.

So... This isn't Zorn at his most groundbreaking for sure, but what the heck, the guy's gotta let his hair down sometime! And note-for-note, it's one of his most enjoyable releases of late, a blast from end to end.

Simon Hopkins (courtesy of the Motion website)

Like the first volume of the series, Music Romance, Volume Two: Taboo and Exile deals with issues of lost innocence. The first of the Music Romance series had more overt references to childhood, with lengthy literary references and a title which gave it all away: Music for Children. Here the images are a little bit more subtle and a lot darker. The outer sleeve is black, with ritual objects represented in the fiery colors of orange and red. The liner notes contain a photo of poppies as well as more ritual objects, including one which seems to be bathed in blood. The front of the booklet has a photograph of a naked young girl that presents her in a way that is half sexualized, half innocent. There is just one piece of text this time, "A white room with white curtains hides the face of a sleeping child, barely a child, barely asleep, leaving nothing but an image, the sky's double, to rediscover one's innocence."

All of this is mere packaging -- a name, some images, some words, but they prime the listener for the experience of the music, for understanding what this recording is all about. And what it is all about is that painful moment between innocence and experience, that blood-filled time where the world cracks and reforms itself, when a line has been or is being crossed. The music itself is achingly beautiful -- the first track, "In the Temple of Hadjarim" sets a hypnotic mood for the rest of the album, with the sensual piano playing of Jamie Saft wrapped up in the atmospheric strings of Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, and Greg Cohen. By the second track, things have turned discordant, aided by Fred Frith, Dave Lombardo, and Bill Laswell. Indeed, the list of talented musicians on this project is enormous, which lends itself both to quality and diversity of sound. This is not a piece of classical movements; rather, it is like a film with constantly changing scenes. Before the end of the album, images are evoked of slow, metered tribal ritual, escape on an open road, cabaret, desert and dance. This is one of Zorn's most complex and beautiful pieces, showing that he is still constantly evolving as a composer.

Stacia Proefrock (courtesy of the All Music Guide, via the Get Music website)