Bravo Clippings #40

Ted Rall, No More Mr. Nice Guy, 06.03.2004

Mystic Fugu Orchestra - Zohar (1995)

"From the inventive minds of John Zorn and Yamantaka Eye comes an intimate and highly original duo project inspired by historical recordings of ancient Judaica. The Mystic Fugu Orchestra masquerades as "newly discovered" recordings from the Mystical tradition of Kabbalah - paralleling 14th century author Moses de Leon's original presentation of of his Kabbalistic classic "The Zohar" or "Book of Splendors" as having been discovered by him and actually written by Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai centuries before. Humorous, touching, traditional, irreverent, perplexing, soulful. A sound that could only come about with years of friendship, empathy and collaboration, The Mystic Fugu Orchestra will surprise and delight you as yet another unusual direction in music from these two masters of the unexpected." Tzadik Press Release

1. Alef
2. Book of Splendors
3. Frog Doyna
4. The Dybbuk
5. 2000 Years
6. Goniff Dance
7. Rov Nova
8. Zayin

Rav Yechida - Voice
Rav Tzizit - Harmonium

link@320

New Klezmer Trio - Masks and Faces (1996)

"Ben Goldberg was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo, and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano. In 1991, long before the downtown jewish music revival, Goldberg’s group New Klezmer Trio took a slightly different view of the klezmer tradition and expanded it through a jazz-improv idiom. Their CD Masks and Faces was listed as one of the ten best recordings of 1992 by Cadence magazine, and as The San Francisco Chronicle noted, it "kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music". John Zorn, in creating his Masada projects, was heavily influenced by the recordings of New Klezmer Trio and therefore re-released this record in 1996". (An assortment of internet reviews)

"A recording the Ewings can't get enough of" (The Dallas Review)

Ben Goldberg - clarinet
Dan Seamans - bass
Kenny Wollesen - drums

link@320

Edward Said + Noam Chomsky - Middle East Politics (1999)

An audio-lecture by Edward Said and Noam Chomsky on Middle East Politics,
Miller Theater, Columbia University, New York, 4/9/1999.

link [15 Mb]