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I've got a few reviews written up on my computer, and I thought it might be fun to put a few of them up, and encourage others to do so too. I'm going to restrict myself to posting one per week so as not to overpost.
So, for my first entry into the thread: Pat Metheny's Tap
The Book Of Angels series, which this CD is a part of, probably needs some explaining for the uninitiated. John Zorn is a major figure in New York City's so-called "downtown" scene, a loose collective of avant-garde-minded musicians who have, at times, been associated with venues such as The Knitting Factory, The Tonic, and The Stone. In the early nineties, Zorn surprised everyone with his new group, Masada, which played fairly conventional jazz, using Jewish-inspired melodies and rhythms. He later revealed that Masada didn't refer to a band, but a songbook. He had challenged himself to write 100 jazz-meets-klezmer heads in one year. He repeated the feat a few years ago, calling the second book "The Book Of Angels". Rather than recording the material himself, this time he's recruited various artists to create their own interpretations. Until Metheny got on board, the highest-profile artists to tackle the book were probably Medeski, Martin, and Wood, (whose Zaebos, unfortunately, was rather weak.)
Like the best albums in the series, Metheny's goes well beyond the lead sheets, arranging the tunes into interesting, episodic compositions that easily hold the listener's interest. He plays all of the instruments himself, except the drums, which are played by the great Antonio Sanchez.
The album opens with "Mastema", an insistent 11/8 ostinato, over which the melody is stated by sitar guitar. As the drums enter things get rocking, and it's soon clear that this isn't going to be one of those "introspective" Metheny records. His lead guitar here is heavily processed into a fuzzy, glitchy, glorious mess. I'd love to know how he got these sounds. As the track ends, the lead guitar is still freaking out by itself, which sets up a nice contrast into the next song.
"Albim" features a gentle acoustic opening. Not for the last time on this record, I was initially tricked into expecting a solo acoustic reading (a la Zorn's Masada Guitars CD). But soon, electric guitars come in with the melody, and the track builds masterfully, until it's moving along swiftly, and becoming more densely orchestrated in the process. This culminates in some nifty unison lines on the close.
"Tharsis" is perhaps the most "typical" of Zorn's songbook: a brisk head featuring a phrygian dominant motif and fiendishly difficult rhythm, bringing to mind the folk music of Eastern Europe. Metheny builds interest by contrasting this knotty complexity with open sections for soloing, featuring his soaring MIDI guitar lines.
"Sariel" opens again with acoustic guitars, one playing a root-5 motif "bass line" to a very Arabic-sounding rhythm, and the other playing a very Jewish-sounding melody. As the track builds, a busy strum pattern replaces the root-5, and dual electric guitars enter playing simultaneous lyrical leads full of Zappa-esque controlled feedback. The groove deliberately falls apart, and there's a restatement of theme, after which a single guitar takes a busier but no less lyrical solo, which suddenly shifts to an "avant-garde" freakout to end the track. This little "freakout" represents the only major misstep for this listener. Every one of these Book Of Angels CDs (that I've heard) has at least one "noise" section, as if to say "gee, it's a Zorn project, I better get weird". But the section has little meaning in the context of this arrangement.
Although I kept expecting it to happen, "Phanuel" is the closest we get to a solo acoustic piece. The overdubs are multiple, but the focus remains on a single guitar. It starts gently, yet ominously, its dissonant chords soon fleshed out by synth pads, eerie electronic sound effects, and indecipherable muttering. It wouldn't be out of place on your Halloween playlist. If it loses some of its creepiness during the solo, it holds on to a melancholy gravitas, and returns to its unsettling aura for the ending.
The final track is called "Hurmiz". This one features Metheny's piano and Sanchez' drums. It's a lurching, almost drunken-sounding track that makes me think of Thelonius Monk, if he had been born 10 or 15 years later and been part of the 60s avant-garde. It's not the best track on the album, but it's an appropriate closer, as tongue seems to be held at least partially in cheek here, and the "comic relief" is welcome.
So, for my first entry into the thread: Pat Metheny's Tap
The Book Of Angels series, which this CD is a part of, probably needs some explaining for the uninitiated. John Zorn is a major figure in New York City's so-called "downtown" scene, a loose collective of avant-garde-minded musicians who have, at times, been associated with venues such as The Knitting Factory, The Tonic, and The Stone. In the early nineties, Zorn surprised everyone with his new group, Masada, which played fairly conventional jazz, using Jewish-inspired melodies and rhythms. He later revealed that Masada didn't refer to a band, but a songbook. He had challenged himself to write 100 jazz-meets-klezmer heads in one year. He repeated the feat a few years ago, calling the second book "The Book Of Angels". Rather than recording the material himself, this time he's recruited various artists to create their own interpretations. Until Metheny got on board, the highest-profile artists to tackle the book were probably Medeski, Martin, and Wood, (whose Zaebos, unfortunately, was rather weak.)
Like the best albums in the series, Metheny's goes well beyond the lead sheets, arranging the tunes into interesting, episodic compositions that easily hold the listener's interest. He plays all of the instruments himself, except the drums, which are played by the great Antonio Sanchez.
The album opens with "Mastema", an insistent 11/8 ostinato, over which the melody is stated by sitar guitar. As the drums enter things get rocking, and it's soon clear that this isn't going to be one of those "introspective" Metheny records. His lead guitar here is heavily processed into a fuzzy, glitchy, glorious mess. I'd love to know how he got these sounds. As the track ends, the lead guitar is still freaking out by itself, which sets up a nice contrast into the next song.
"Albim" features a gentle acoustic opening. Not for the last time on this record, I was initially tricked into expecting a solo acoustic reading (a la Zorn's Masada Guitars CD). But soon, electric guitars come in with the melody, and the track builds masterfully, until it's moving along swiftly, and becoming more densely orchestrated in the process. This culminates in some nifty unison lines on the close.
"Tharsis" is perhaps the most "typical" of Zorn's songbook: a brisk head featuring a phrygian dominant motif and fiendishly difficult rhythm, bringing to mind the folk music of Eastern Europe. Metheny builds interest by contrasting this knotty complexity with open sections for soloing, featuring his soaring MIDI guitar lines.
"Sariel" opens again with acoustic guitars, one playing a root-5 motif "bass line" to a very Arabic-sounding rhythm, and the other playing a very Jewish-sounding melody. As the track builds, a busy strum pattern replaces the root-5, and dual electric guitars enter playing simultaneous lyrical leads full of Zappa-esque controlled feedback. The groove deliberately falls apart, and there's a restatement of theme, after which a single guitar takes a busier but no less lyrical solo, which suddenly shifts to an "avant-garde" freakout to end the track. This little "freakout" represents the only major misstep for this listener. Every one of these Book Of Angels CDs (that I've heard) has at least one "noise" section, as if to say "gee, it's a Zorn project, I better get weird". But the section has little meaning in the context of this arrangement.
Although I kept expecting it to happen, "Phanuel" is the closest we get to a solo acoustic piece. The overdubs are multiple, but the focus remains on a single guitar. It starts gently, yet ominously, its dissonant chords soon fleshed out by synth pads, eerie electronic sound effects, and indecipherable muttering. It wouldn't be out of place on your Halloween playlist. If it loses some of its creepiness during the solo, it holds on to a melancholy gravitas, and returns to its unsettling aura for the ending.
The final track is called "Hurmiz". This one features Metheny's piano and Sanchez' drums. It's a lurching, almost drunken-sounding track that makes me think of Thelonius Monk, if he had been born 10 or 15 years later and been part of the 60s avant-garde. It's not the best track on the album, but it's an appropriate closer, as tongue seems to be held at least partially in cheek here, and the "comic relief" is welcome.
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