AJL - Album Review

It is striking that in John Zorn’s long and varied career as a musician, he has never set text to music. While he has worked with many singers, they have sung vocalise (without words) and when he does work with text, it is spoken. Bearing this in mind, it is a rare treat to hear his tunes, all from his second Masada book of tunes, adapted to texts.

Mycale, a vocal quartet made up of four of the most highly individualistic and creative singers working today, more than does justice to the material. Basya Schechter has been making waves in the Jewish music world with her group Pharaoh’s Daughter. Ayelet Rose Gottlieb is an accomplished jazz singer and composer (her recording Mayim Rabim has been previously reviewed). Sofia Rei is one of the new leading voices in South American Jazz. Malika Zarra’s work combines North and Central African musics with jazz and European popular music. The combination of their diverse voices and stylistic inflections is constantly captivating; it is also striking to hear the counterpoint of Hebrew being sung in different lines with such different accents. The texts are from a variety of languages and sources, with Hebrew Bible being the focus and fit perfectly, as if the melodies were written for them. My only complaint is that this disc is full price for barely over half hour of music. Nonetheless, a must have.

Daniel Scheide, Librarian, Wimberly Library, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL; RAS Vice President, AJL; Chair Bibliography and Reference Book Award, AJL