Joe Lovano, Masada Quintet - Stolas: The Book of Angels 12
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CD Details
Artist: Joe Lovano, Masada QuintetEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-06-16
Music Label: Tzadik
Soundtracks:
- Haamiah
- Rikbiel
- Psisya
- Sartael
- Tashriel
- Rahtiel
- Tagriel
- Serakel
- Rigal
Music reviews of Stolas: The Book of Angels 12
Music Review: 4 1/2 stars-- Lovano steps into Masada.
Rating: 4 Stars
When John Zorn conceived the second Masada songbook, one of the goals was to have the music be the star rather than the band, so he committed to recording different records with different groups, "Stolas" beyond the twelfth such volume, a record recorded by the Masada Quintet featuring Joe Lovano. Other than Lovano (featured here exclusively on tenor), the band is all Masada regulars-- trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Uri Caine, bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Joey Baron, all of whom except for Caine played with Zorn as their sax player in the great Masada quartet that documented the first book of Masada so thoroughly. This grants an interesting opportunity to hear Zorn's melodies in a familiar form, but without his distinctive voice in there. That the performance is so strong nicely validates the notion that the music can live (particularly in such a strong jazz form-- many of the other successful Masada projects stray into other territories) without its composer.
Lovano is stuck in sort of a difficult position here, taking on the role of Zorn in this band, and to his credit, he sits comfortably in the band, performing with significant fire and creativity, adhering a bit closer to the downtown sound than I would have suspected. On occasion, he seems a bit out of his element (someone once said to me that the downtown guys are all about shtick, e.g. Zorn's high pitched squeals, Lovano not so much), but by and large, it's not apparent and when there is conflict, it's not to the detriment of the music. Moreover, to expectation, the other four guys in the band turn out characteristically fantastic, if a bit subdued on occasion, performances-- we don't get much of the Masada fury that pushes pieces higher and higher as they go on and certainly a bit of the cartoony playfulness is missing (back to that shtick thing again). But you know, not all the Masada pieces were about that stuff, even when it was the quartet playing.
What we do get is great post-bop performance after great post-bop performance-- if the old Masada band is oversimplified to Ornette does Klezmer, this is more a '50s Miles does Klezmer. Opener "Hamiah" is a great example of this, three brief post-bop styled solos by Lovano, Douglas and Caine end in a Masada style collective improv, all sandwiched between a catchy theme statement. The album continues in this vein, with great performances throughout, particularly from Douglas, who just seems to be eating this quintet arrangement up with firey solos throughout ("Tagriel" is the best example, Douglas just explodes and keeps going, it's a performance to hear). The composer sits in on bass feature "Rahtiel", duetting as an intro with Lovano (the two sound fantastic together), then providing some Zorn shtick to assist in thematic drama before turning over to a bass feature for Cohen. After my first couple listens, I decided the real gem of the record is piano feature and closer "Rigal" (which also received a violin and piano duet rendition on Malphas: Book of Angels, Vol. 3). Caine, whose own Masada Book II workout, Moloch: The Book of Angels, Vol. 6, I found a bit lacking, plays with such sensitivity and loveliness during the introduction that you're almost left disappointed that the rest of the band joins him (Douglas does take a nice turn at a solo here, but this one is Caine's feature).
All in all, "Stolas" is a highly satisfying listen and well worth the investment. It's not quite among the best of the Masada pieces (The Masada String Trio record Azazel: Book of Angels, Vol. 2 and the Secret Chiefs 3 on Xaphan: The Book of Angels, Vol. 9 come immediately to mind in that regard), but it is awfully good. Highly recommended.
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Description of Stolas: The Book of Angels 12
For this very special release in The Book of Angels series, John Zorn has brought together five of the most acclaimed musicians in modern jazz to perform nine of his most distinctive and lyrical compositions. Truly a jazz supergroup, these five musicians explore Zorn's beautiful and exotic tunes with profound melodic and harmonic knowledge and a depth of feeling that is a joy to hear. One of the most breathtaking CDs in the entire Masada series - here is a touch of the sublime from the beautiful new Masada Qunitet. With: Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, John Zorn.Classical CDs
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