Masada

jazz

There are two active groups named Masada: 1) Masada is an experimental klezmer jazz collective and compositional project led by John Zorn. It began as a songbook of more than 200 short compositions for small mixed ensemble, written in according to a number of rules, such as the maximum number of staves and the modes or scales used. Zorn formed the initial Masada group in order to record and perform this set of tunes. This band consisted of John Zorn - alto saxophone, Dave Douglas - trumpet, Greg Cohen - bass, and Joey Baron - drums. This iteration of Masada released the first Masada songbook on 10 discs with the Japanese DIW label, as well as live recordings on Zorn's Tzadik label. In 2003, Zorn composed a second Masada songbook, The Book of Angels, and vastly expanded the scope of the project by inviting dozens of artists (from multi-Grammy winners to newly-curated ensembles) to record albums for Tzadik based on Zorn's songs. In 2014, Zorn began a third and final Masada songbook, The Book Beri'ah, which was released as an 11 disc box set in 2018. With this book, the compositional aspect of the project was completed, bringing the total number of Masada songs to 613, the number of commandments traditionally understood by Jews to be in the Torah. As a result of the size of the project, multiple offshoot bands and ensembles have developed out of it, such as Electric Masada, Masada String Trio, Bar Kokbha, Bar Kokhba Sextet, Mycale, and Zion80. 2) Masada is a 4-piece screa...