Masada Live In Taipei 1995

The indefatigable John Zorn formed his quartet version of Masada to release an album for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, making this band core to the Radical Jewish Culture movement in Downtown New York improvised music. To set the band up for their barrage of recordings, Zorn cranked out dozens of compositions utilizing a mix of musical languages, creating a free-bop klezmer that sounds like Ornette Coleman's looking proudly on. This live set captures Masada in Taipei, playing so heatedly that you almost don't notice the audio vérité quality of the recording. Sounding a lot like a bootleg, Taipei has an added edge thanks to the tinny percussion sound and washed-out horn dynamics. It sounds thrashy and speedy even when trumpeter Dave Douglas, drummer Joey Baron, and bassist Greg Cohen are inching along in sultry slowness. Recorded in 1995, Taipei catches Masada a year after their Live in Jerusalem 1994, which boasts better audio. What Taipei has on Jerusalem, though, is a fury that's a more all-out explosion when Zorn rips through staccato bursts and out-of-register squawks. --Andrew Bartlett