The second Masada book project from the adventurous London big band Spike Orchestra, whose interpretations of Zorn's Book of Angels compositions in their Cerberus album was a high point in that series by presenting lyrical strength, skill and power, heard again merging jazz, rock, & klezmer & more as they take on 9 compositions in Zorn's Book Beriah series.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2019 Country: USA Packaging: Cardboard sleeve, sealed Recorded at Kungar Sound Studios, in London, England, in August, 2017, by Ben Greenslade-Stanton.
"Based in London, The Spike Orchestra is one of the most adventurous Big Bands working today, blending jazz, rock, klezmer, cartoon music and the avant garde into a cohesive and compelling whole. Their first Masada project Cerberus was a surprise hit and one of the most powerful and imaginative interpretations in the entire Book of Angels series. Here they top that spectacular CD with new interpretations from The Book Beriah. With influences ranging from Gil Evans, Frank Zappa, Zorn and the most experimental side of the Stan Kenton organization, Spike Orchestra creates an incredibly varied program of Masada music at its rocking best. Astonishing big band jazz leading us into the 21st century."-Tzadik
"Sam Eastmond is the composer, arranger, and trumpet player best known for his work as bandleader and co-founder of the Spike Orchestra. That UK based large ensemble has released two studio albums to date, Ghetto on their own label followed by Cerberus as part of a collaboration with the legendary John Zorn on his Masada Book Two project.
Great though Ghetto was, Cerberus has proved to be the more significant both in terms of creative development to date and the connection to Zorn that has led to their imminent third album Binah. That collection marks another step forward in the development of the Spike Orchestra sound and is due to be released as part of a lavish eleven-CD box set of the great man's third and final book of Masada compositions The Book Beriah. At the time of writing, only a handful of the ninety-two compositions that make up Beriah were available for preview, yet even the most cursory glance at the featured artists confirms that this is shaping up to be a major event. Any collection of new unreleased compositions from John Zorn performed by high-profile contributors that include talents of the level of Bill Frisell, Jon Madof, Craig Taborn and Zorn himself at the very least deserves our attention.
Yet unlike those esteemed artists, Eastmond calls West London home and, unless large ensemble radical Jewish culture pays rather better than I suspect, does not divide his time there with composing in a loft in Brooklyn. Similarly, the floating pool of musicians that make up the Spike Orchestra are also very much UK based, reflecting the often unappreciated and undervalued depth of talent in the national scene at present. So how did the link to New York avant-jazz royalty come about? The answer is almost too straightforward for words-Eastmond simply sent a copy of the Ghetto CD to John Zorn who not only heard it and liked it, but contacted him to say so. One can only guess at the amount of unsolicited music that Mr Zorn must receive, but it is testament to both the importance that he gives to encouraging the like-minded within the musical community, and the quality of the entirely self-financed Ghetto, that it got his attention. Perhaps he also picked up on the deep, multi-layered inspiration and sincere affection that Eastmond has drawn from Zorn's music, as Eastmond explained:
"Ghetto would never have happened without Masada... Ghetto existed in a world where I was a huge Zorn fan but had never spoken to him, never met him. I'd seen him play of course-but Zorn's radical Jewish culture ideas and language made it possible for me to conceptualize an idea of how to link up that sense of Jewish identity in a contemporary way. This is someone who has loomed large over everything I've listened to and written for decades. To even have got this far is amazing. To even have him just send me an e-mail to say 'I really dig Ghetto' is amazing."
Ghetto was the start of a conversation that led to Zorn asking the Spike Orchestra to produce the Cerberus album for Masada Book Two-an album that, if anything, topped Ghetto with its verve, energy and excitement in performance showcasing what we lose when we allow economics to dictate the creative choice of the small ensemble over a modernised big band format. Cerberus was the sound of a great arranger seizing an opportunity, pushing himself to better his previous work and in so doing realising just what was possible, what he was capable of. Three years on, Eastmond, unsurprisingly, reflects on that collection as having been a learning experience:
"Cereberus was tough, flipping between being a fan to being involved in it. Finding that line between the respect and reverence that the music needs and deserves, and also being able to pull things out of it, take it apart a little bit. It was experimentation and also it was collaborative, trying things, trying to make things work... [I learned that] trying to impose control when you'll get a better musical outcome from trusting the people that you have booked is a mistake. There are moments in the scores where I could have just gone 'yeah let's have more space here, let's have these people talk' ."
Jump cut to summer 2017 and Zorn came calling again-this time with both good news and bad. The good-that he wanted the Spike Orchestra to contribute to the Masada Book Three box set, the bad that the contribution had to be arranged and recorded in two and a half months due to the original planned release date of late 2017. Rather than fold, Eastmond and his collaborators rose to the challenge."-Phil Barnes, All About Jazz