JOHN ZORN NEW MASADA QUARTET
Village Vanguard178 7th Avenue South, New York 10014
John Zorn brings his New Masada Quartet to the Village Vanguard: Zorn on alto saxophone, Julian Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums. The quartet draws from the hundreds of compositions in Zorn’s Masada project, a songbook he has summed up as “Ornette Coleman with Jewish scales.” Lage’s electric guitar gives this version of Masada a sound distinct from the original acoustic group, with written material continually opening into improvisation.
A New York experimentalist, Zorn re-formed the New Masada Quartet in 2019 with Lage, Roeder and Wollesen. All three have recorded on at least a dozen other albums of Zorn’s music, and the group brings deep familiarity to a repertoire rooted in what Arts Fuse calls “radical Jewish culture.” That review heard “focused communication” and “exceptional musicianship” in a band bridging “the accessible and avant-garde,” with playful exchanges that blur composition and improvisation. The Free Jazz Collective called the interaction “telepathic,” saying the quartet plays the Masada songbook “not quite like they’ve been done before.”
A narrow basement staircase leads to a triangular room with a red curtain and a stage at the point, where musicians play for a small audience of 123. Tables open like spokes from the stage, and the walls hold portraits of jazz legends. The acoustics are excellent, and the only sound before the music begins is the hum of the room. No food is served, only drinks at a bar. Shows start at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with seating beginning at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. respectively. The atmosphere is focused entirely on the music, with silence requested before the concert begins.