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| Radical Jewish Music Festival in Philadelphia Radical Jewish Music Festival in Philadelphia will take place on March 1-4 Presented by Ars Nova Workshop. Saturday, March 1, Masada Guitars with Jon Madof, acoustic guitar; and Tim Sparks, acoustic guitar. Performing traditional and modern Jewish music as well as compositions from John Zorn's Masada songbook, Madof and Sparks will perform virtuosic solo and duo interpretations. Jon Madof's musical collaborations cover the spectrum of the vibrant New York City music scene, from recordings and sold-out shows with John Zorn and Marc Ribot to genre-busting work alongside Frank London, Matisyahu and others. With his Jewish power trio Rashanim, he has recorded extensively for John Zorn's Tzadik Records, including the trio's latest, Shalosh. A longtime veteran of Klezmer and Balkan bands, the legendary Tim Sparks touches on traditional Jewish melodies from around the world, Yemen to the Caucasus, Krakow to Tin Pan Alley, artfully arranged for solo guitar. Bill Frisell has already exclaimed that “Tim Sparks is incredible, a complete original." Penn Hillel, University of Pennsylvania 215 S. 39th Street $12 General Admission Sunday, March 2, 2pm JOHN ZORN'S THE DREAMERS JOHN ZORN ESSENTIAL CINEMA with Cyro Baptista, percussion; Joey Baron, drums; Trevor Dunn, bass; Ikue Mori, electronics; Marc Ribot, el. guitar; Jamie Saft, keyboards; Kenny Wollesen, drums; and John Zorn, alto saxophone Please join us for this special matinee performance featuring two very different projects from composer John Zorn. Essential Cinema features the members of Electric Masada performing live scores to American experimental filmmakers Maya Deren ("Ritual in transfigured time"), Joseph Cornell ("Rose Hobart"), Harry Smith ("Oz: The Tin Woodman's Dream") and Marie Menken ("Go! Go! Go!"). And, continuing in the tradition of his popular project The Gift, Zorn again combines a lifetime of musical passions - world music, movie soundtracks, jazz, minimalism, exotica, funk, surf rock and more - to create a vibrant and multifaceted experience of instrumental fairy tales. Masterfully performed by the all-star players from Electric Masada, The Dreamers is a project of breathtaking variety and one of Zorn's most beautiful and appealing projects. Seductive lyricism, hypnotic grooves, catchy hooks and romantic moods from this genre-bashing master of surprise. International House, 3701 Chestnut Street $25 General Admission Sunday, March 2, 8pm JOHN ZORN'S ELECTRIC MASADA JAMIE SAFT TRIO ERIK FRIEDLANDER SOLO CELLO perform music from Masada Book Two: The Book of Angels with Cyro Baptista, percussion; Joey Baron, drums; Trevor Dunn, bass; Ikue Mori, electronics; Marc Ribot, el. guitar; Jamie Saft, keyboards; Kenny Wollesen, drums; Erik Friedlander, cello; and John Zorn, alto saxophone Presented with International House Philadelphia A true downtown supergroup, blending the raw power of Naked City with the improvisational madness of Cobra and the lyrical soul of the Masada songbook, Electric Masada is considered by many to be the most exciting bands Zorn has ever had. Please join us for this very rare appearance featuring opening sets from the Jamie Saft Trio and Erik Friedlander, both performing acoustic interpretations from John Zorn's Masada songbook. This is an event not to be missed. A lifelong New Yorker, composer and saxophonist John Zorn made his mark as a central participant in the fertile “Downtown" experimental music scene beginning in the mid-1970s. In the mid-1980s he signed to the Elektra-Nonesuch label, releasing the critically-acclaimed breakthrough The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone, which was endorsed by Morricone, and incorporated elements of traditional Japanese music, soul jazz, and other diverse musical genres. Since then, he has been exceptionally prolific, usually putting out several new recordings each year. In 1993 Zorn began composing and performing his 208 tunes that now comprises his Masada songbook. Over the years, these compositions have been performed by various artists including his ensembles the Masada String Trio and Bar Kohkba, but most frequently with his extremely popular Ornette Coleman-influenced quartet Masada featuring Joey Baron, Dave Douglas and Greg Cohen. He has also founded Painkiller, a mix of heavy metal and free jazz, and Naked City, an often aggressive mix of jazz, rock and thrash metal. He has worked with musicians such as Bill Frisell, William Parker, George Lewis, The Boredoms Yamatsuka Eye, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Melt Banana, John Medeski, and the Violent Femmes. He has written music extensively for television and film, continues to oversee his recording label, Tzadik, which is dedicated to experimental music, and is the principal force behind The Stone, an avant-garde performance space in New York's Alphabet City. In 2006, Zorn was honored with a MacArthur Fellow. International House, 3701 Chestnut Street $26.25-35.00 Admission The performance of John Zorn's Electric Masada is made possible by a grant from the Philadelphia Music Project, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts. Monday, March 3, 8pm AYELET ROSE GOTTLIEB / ANAT FORT / MICHAEL WINOGRAD TRIO with Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, vocals; Anat Fort, piano; and Michael Winograd, clarinet Presented with Crossroads Music and Kol Tzedek Ayelet is a Swiss/Israeli singer based in New York. Born in Jerusalem, she studied at the New England Conservatory before settling in New York in 2002. Her music is a passionate blend of Jazz, Middle Eastern rhythms and improvisation, drawing inspiration from the likes of Oum Kalsoum, Betty Carter, Ornette Coleman as well as the Jewish traditions of Sephardic music and Klezmer. Ayelet is joined by the emerging clarinetist Michael Winograd and the remarkable pianist and ECM Records' artist Anat Fort, best known for her work featuring Paul Motian and Perry Robinson. Calvary Center, 48th and Baltimore $12 General Admission Tuesday, March 4, 8pm DANIEL BLACKSBERG'S YIDDISH SEXTET featuring FRANK LONDON with Daniel Blacksberg, trombone; Frank London, trumpet; Michael Winograd, clarinet; Brandon Seabrook, guitar/banjo; Jorge Roeder, bass; and Ritchie Barshay, percussion Philadelphia-based trombonist Dan Blacksberg presents a new and exciting sextet featuring Klezmatics/Hasidic New Wave trumpeter Frank London, a major voice in today's Jewish music renaissance, who has worked with the likes of John Zorn, LL Cool J, LaMonte Young, Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, and David Byrne. Blacksberg, fast becoming one of the most in-demand trombonists in the world of Klezmer music, has collaborated with such artists as Bobby Zankel, Joe Maneri, Joe Morris, Danilo Perez and Anthony Braxton. Please join us for the debut performance of this wonderful ensemble. Society Hill Synagogue, 418 Spruce Street $12 General Admission Sponsored by Penn Hillel, Kehillah of Center City, National Museum of American Jewish History, Society Hill Synagogue, uwishunu.com, International House Philadelphia and Kol Tzedek. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |