Every right-minded John Zorn fan probably has more than twenty CDs of Acoustic Masada in his cabinet. In fact one would almost believe that this quartet is the only band of the New York based 'enfant terrible' - because he made so many albums with this line up. However Acoustic Masada is just a top of Zorn's creative iceberg: there also is an Electric Masada, the punk/trash oriented Naked City and numerous solo CDs. As a solo artist he composes film music (the series Filmworks), orchestral pieces, string quartets and trios and the list goes on - the productive capacity of John Zorn is so big, it's almost scary. The saxophonist and composer rejects any form of labelling and categorising and actually moves in only one world: that of music.
If we were to, completely against Zorn's will, characterize the music of Acoustic Masada a little, one might think of a musical style that moves on a territory where Jewish folk music meets the ideas of Ornette Coleman. In the last 15 years the members of Masada (John Zorn: alto sax, Dave Douglas: trumpet, Greg Cohen: bass, Joey Baron: drums) have developed a completely intuitive way of playing. The repertoire of the band is enormous. That's why each concert remains exciting for the members. Zorn chooses on the spot which composition of the Masada canon, that contains more than hundred pieces, will be played, a ritual that keeps everyone concentrated. At the age of 51 John Zorn has composed and recorded such an extensive oeuvre, that you can hardly imagine that he will probably double that production in the years to come.
