JOHN ZORN : ALHAMBRA LOVE SONGS
Tzadik
John Zorn is a complete musical GOD! I suppose, technically speaking, he is a saxophonist, though as often as not he come across as a torturer of said instrument. I have followed the Zornster for nigh on two decades now, having been lucky enough to see him in concert as a solo jazz performer (as in fronting his own outfit), then alongside Bill Laswell, and Mickey Harris (ex Napalm Death/Scorn drummer /percussionist/dub artist) in the insane Painkiller! (Which, just in case it counts for anything to you, is singly one of the greatest gigs I’ve ever attended!).
I also have something like 50 or more JZ albums in my collection, and others by his jazz peers, the likes of Joey Baron, Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Yamatsuka Eye, Fred Frith, Mike Patton, Brian Eno, Kronos Quartet etc. I genuinely believe that Zorn is one of the greatest musicians and composers in the history of ‘modern’ music – someone who is universally loved or hated, or more possibly misunderstood by people who seem to fear the extremity of what he does, and of the limits he perpetually pushes. More recently, his music has explored and championed his Jewish musical roots, adding a further twist to his remarkable musical vocabulary.
So, what you’re now expecting is to read about yet another excursion into John’s insanely extreme and wacky multiverse… right? WRONG! This is a blissfully beautiful album, gentle, flawless, hypnotic, emotionally charged, and is a magical experience. I personally think it is so powerful, because John has made it a personal musical homage to the San Franciscan jazz scene, and to the bay Area’s musicians that so moved and influenced him on a direct level… many of whom are still there and musically thriving to this very day. It sets moods and atmospheres that I honestly struggle to describe…
This is a sublime and achingly beautiful record, that’s right… I said BEAUTIFUL! Forget any ideas of wild histrionics or extreme noise “freakouts”, this is Zorn at his mellifluous and sentimental best, his music is wistful, soothing, I hate to sound ‘pretentious’, but it’s a fabulous late summer night album, best listened to under a warm starry sky, preferably near (or even ON) water, it’s simply spellbinding and utterly mesmerising, ‘moody and magnificent’, and is one of the most perfect albums I has been my pleasure to lose myself in for a very long time indeed! Utter genius!
93/100
SATANIC MUTTLEY
