On the Record is a weekly column meant to round up details about new and pending recordings of interest to the new-music community: contemporary classical music and jazz, electronic and electroacoustic music, and idioms for which no clever genre name has been coined, on CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital-only formats… you name it.

This list of upcoming release dates is culled from press releases, Amazon and other online record stores, social-media posts, and similar resources. Dates cited correspond to U.S. release of physical recordings where applicable, and are subject to change. These listings are not comprehensive—nor could they be! To submit a forthcoming recording for consideration, email information to steve@nationalsawdust.org.

John Zorn

John Zorn Completes Masada in Deluxe Style

Back in 1993, during the run-up to a month-long 40th-birthday celebration at the old Knitting Factory on Houston Street in New York City, the composer, saxophonist, and bandleader John Zorn began to conceive a bold new musical direction. Already widely admired for his lightning-reflex game pieces, his multifarious file-card compositions, and his omnivorous jump-cut quintet Naked City, among myriad other projects, Zorn recently had begun to explore his Jewish heritage in earnest with Kristallnacht, a still-astonishing composition he’d issued that year on CD via the Japanese label Eva.

Setting out to mold a contemporary Jewish music all his own, Zorn wedded the sinuous modal scales of traditional idioms to the vivacious free-jazz style of Ornette Coleman. The result was Masada, named for an ancient Judean fortress subjected to a deadly siege by troops of the Roman Empire. A nascent Masada lineup performed during Zorn’s birthday celebration that September. So, too, did an acoustic jazz group named after a film Zorn had scored: the Thieves Quartet, comprising Zorn, trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer Joey Baron. Acting on impulse, Zorn brought his Masada book to his Thieves comrades—and history was made.

Working at a frenetic clip, Zorn created 205 pieces for the quartet that would become known simply as Masada, music shared with an electric counterpart and other Zorn-directed ensembles. After a break, in 2003 Zorn began to write new Masada compositions; the second collection, The Book of Angels, eventually amounted to another 316 pieces, distributed among friends and collaborators old and new to master and record for his Tzadik label.

Finally, in 2014, Zorn decided to complete the Masada saga with a third collection of new pieces: 92 this time, to produce a sum total of 613, equal to the number of commandments Jews are required by the Torah to observe. He introduced 20 pieces from what would be called The Book Beriah at a Town Hall concert in March 2014 (my review of the event for The New York Times is here), and since then has recorded the entire oeuvre for Tzadik with another constellation of collaborators.

But rather than laying out discs of the newest and last Masada music one by one as before, Zorn this time decided to pack them all into a beautifully designed, limited-edition 11-CD box set. And instead of going directly to record stores, he is offering The Book Beriah in a variety of formats – CDs, autographed sets, bundles with T-shirts, LPs featuring highlights only – for pre-order through PledgeMusic, a crowd-funding, community-building web retailer. Here are the complete contents:

CD1 Keter (crown) – Sofia Rei
CD2 Chokhma (wisdom) – Cleric
CD3 Binah (understanding) – Spike Orchestra
CD4 Chesed (loving kindness) Julian Lage/Gyan Riley
CD5 Gevurah (severity) – Abraxas
CD6 Tiferet (beauty) – Klezmerson
CD7 Netzach (eternity) – Gnostic Trio
CD8 Hod (splendor) – Zion80
CD9 Yesod (foundation) – Banquet of the Spirits
CD10 Malkhut (kingship) – Secret Chiefs 3
BONUS CD
CD11 Da’at (knowledge) – Craig Taborn-Vadim Neselovskyi

The Book Beriah is slated for release on Tzadik via PledgeMusic in May. But with Zorn’s generous permission, National Sawdust Log is proud to offer exclusive, substantial excerpts from four tracks in the new set… right now, right here.

“Ge'ulah” The Book of Beriah 1: Keter - Sofia Rei John Zorn

Audio Player

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<ol> <li><a href='https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Geulah-edit.mp3'>Ge'ulah</a></li><li><a href='https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Hod-edit.mp3'>Hod</a></li><li><a href='https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Iggulim-edit.mp3'>Iggulim</a></li><li><a href='https://nationalsawdust.org/thelog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sitra-Achra-edit.mp3'>Sitra Achra</a></li> </ol>

1. "Ge'ulah" (edit) from The Book of Beriah 1: Keter - Sofia Rei 2:00

2. "Hod" (edit) from The Book Beriah, Vol. 8: Hod - Zion80 2:04

3. "Iggulim" (edit) from The Book Beriah, Vol. 9: Yesod - Banquet of the Spirits 2:00

4. "Sitra Achra" (edit) from The Book Beriah, Vol. 10: Malkhut - Secret Chiefs 3 2:01

The Book Beriah is due in May 2018 on Tzadik in CD, vinyl, and digital formats; pre-ordering is available now via PledgeMusic. Zorn hosts a concert featuring Zion80, Secret Chiefs 3, and Banquet of the Spirits playing material from the set at Symphony Space on April 12 at 8pm, presented in collaboration with World Music Institute; details at symphonyspace.org

Hannah Lash
Photograph: Bob Handelman

New This Week

​François Bayle – Tremblements… (Recollection GRM)
Kate Carr – I Ended Out Moving to Brixton (Flaming Pines)
Mike Shiflet – Tetracosa, Volumes Two & Three (self-released; related Log article here)
Christian Zanési – Grand Bruit/Stop! l’horizon (Recollection GRM)
Yale Choral Artists – Statements: Lang, Hearne, Lash – Eric Brenner, Lydia Consilvio, Hannah Lash, Yale Philharmonia/Jeffrey Douma (Naxos)

Coming Soon

(☆ – new addition this week)

March 16

Ensemble Musikfabrik – Kreutzungen – works by Vassos Nicolaou, Johannes Schöllhorn, Gérard Grisey, Dieter Mack (Wergo) 
Brian Ferneyhough – La Terre est un Homme – Olivia Robinson, Jennifer Adams-Barbaro, Cherith Millburn-Fryer, EXAUDI/James Weeks, ensemble recherche, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins (NMC Recordings)
Rafael Anton Irisarri – Sirimiri (Umor Rex)
Kohl – Learned Ethics/Imposed Ethics (Umor Rex)
LogarDecay – FRGL (Umor Rex)
Sarah Nemtsov – Amplified Imagination – Ensemble Adapter, ensemble mosaik, Sonar Quartett (Wergo)
Jordan Pal – Into the Wonder – Gryphon Trio, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra/Arthur Post (Analekta)
Wang Lu – Urban Inventory – International Contemporary Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Moderne (New Focus)
Scott Miller – Raba – Laura Cocks, Dan Lippel, Ensemble :U (New Focus)
Lucas Niggli – Alchemia Garden (Intakt)
Aruán Ortiz Trio – Live in Zürich (Intakt)
Sergio Sorrentino – dream: American Music for Electric Guitar – works by John Cage, David Lang, Jack Vees, Elliott Sharp, Alvin Curran, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, Larry Polansky, and Van Stiefel (Mode)
Various artists – Phantom Images – improvisatory electronic works by Katherine Young, Chris Mercer, Charmaine Lee & Sam Pluta, and Aaron Cassidy (Huddersfield Contemporary Records)
Philip Venables – Below the Belt – Melinda Maxwell, Phoenix Piano Trio, Ligeti Quartet, David Hoyle, London Sinfonietta/Richard Baker (NMC Recordings)
Byron Westbrook – Confluence Patterns (Umor Rex)

March 20

David Garland – Verdancy (Tall Owl Music; related Log article here)

March 23

Arild Andersen – In-House Science (ECM)
Karl Berger – In a Moment – Music for Piano & Strings (Tzadik)
Jakob Bro – Returnings (ECM)
Caroline Davis – Heart Tonic (Sunnyside)
Yuko Fujiyama – night wave (Innova)
Kyle Gann – Hyperchromatica (Other Minds)
Anne Guthrie – Brass Orchids (Students of Decay)
Ah Young Hong – a breath upwards – vocal works by Milton Babbitt and Michael Hersch (Innova)
Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton – Music and Poetry of the Kesh (Freedom to Spend; related Log article here)

March 27

Hong Chulki/Will Guthrie – Mosquitoes and Crabs (Erstwhile)
Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami – Wovenland (Erstwhile)
Christian Wolff/Antoine Beuger – Where Are We Going, Today (Erstwhile)

March 30

Mary Halvorson – Code Girl (Firehouse 12)
Invisible Anatomy – Dissections (New Amsterdam)
Olivier Messiaen – Catalogue d’oiseaux – Pierre-Laurent Aimard (Pentatone)
☆ Rempis/Piet/Daisy  – Throw Tomatoes (Astral Spirits)
☆ Gyan Riley – Sprig (National Sawdust Tracks)
Sonar with David Torn – Vortex (RareNoise)
Sons of Kemet – Your Queen Is a Reptile (Impulse!)

April 1

Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg – Dirt… and More Dirt (Pi Recordings)

April 6

Clarice Jensen – For this from that will be filled – works by Clarice Jensen, Michael Harrison, and Jóhann Jóhannsson (Miasmah)
Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints – Scandal (Greenleaf Music)
Ashley Paul – Lost in Shadows (Slip)
Quince Ensemble – Motherland – vocal works by Gilda Lyons, Laura Steenberge, Cara Haxo, and Jennifer Jolley (New Focus)
☆ Kristjan Randalu – Absence (ECM)
Dan Weiss – Starebaby (Pi Recordings)
Patrick Zimmerli Quartet – Clockworks (Songlines)

April 13

Anthony Braxton – Quartet (Willisau) 1991 Studio (hatOLOGY; reissue)
Duduka Da Fonseca Trio – Plays Dom Salvador (Sunnyside)
Goldmund – Occasus (Western Vinyl)
Silvan Schmid Quartet – At Gamut (hatOLOGY)
Matthew Shipp – Symbol Systems (hatOLOGY; reissue)

April 20

Basil Athanasiadis – Soft Light – Shonorities (Métier)
District Five – Decoy (Intakt)
☆ Duo Gazzana – Ravel / Franck / Ligeti / Messiaen (ECM New Series)
Joshua Fineberg – Sonic Fictions – Pascal Contet, Arditti Quartet, Argento Chamber Ensemble/Michel Galante, Talea Ensemble/James Baker (Métier)
Uli Fussenegger – San Teodoro 8 – Ernesto Molinari, Mike Svoboda, Martin Siewert, Uli Fussenegger (Kairos)
Globe Unity Orchestra – Globe Unity – 50 Years (Intakt)
Andrew Hamilton – Music for People – Michelle O’Rourke, Juliet Fraser, Maxime Echadour, Crash Ensemble, Ives Ensemble/Alan Pierson (NMC)
☆ Alexander Knaifel – Lukomoriye – Oleg Malov, Tatiana Melentieva, Piotr Migunov, Lege Artis Choir/Boris Abalian (ECM New Series)
Mike McGinnis with Steve Swallow & Art Lande – Singular Awakening (Sunnyside)
Maria Monti – Il Bestario (Unseen Worlds; reissue, LP/CD only)
Luigi Nono – Como una ola de fuerza y luz; …..sofferte onde serene…; Paulo de Assis – unfolding waves… con luigi nono – Claudia Barainsky, Jan Michiels, SWR Experimentalstudio, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln/Peter Rundel, Léo Warinsky (Kairos)
Wenchen Qin – Orchestral Works – Weiwei Lan, Wei Ji, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien/Gottfried Rabl (Kairos)
Edward Simon – Sorrows & Triumphs (Sunnyside)
Karlheinz Stockhausen – Kurzwellen – C.L.S.I Ensemble/Paul Méfano (Mode)
John Zorn – Insurrection (Tzadik)

April 27

Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog – WRU Still Here? (Northern Spy)
Tigue – Strange Paradise (New Amsterdam/NNA Tapes)
Nils Vigeland/Reiko Fueting/Daniel Lippel/John Popham – “…through which the past shines…” – solo and chamber works for guitar by Nils Vigeland and Reiko Fueting (New Focus)

May TBD

John Zorn – The Book Beriah (Tzadik/Pledgemusic; 11-CD limited edition box set)

May 1

☆ Kyle Bobby Dunn/Wayne Robert Thomas – The Searchers/Voyevoda (Whited Sepulchre)

May 11

Roman Filiú – Quarteria (Sunnyside)
Dave Holland, Evan Parker, Craig Taborn & Ches Smith – Uncharted Territories (Dare2 Records; related Log article here)

May 18

Daniel Carter, William Parker & Matthew Shipp – Seraphic Light (AUM Fidelity)
☆ Rachel Grimes – The Doctor from India (Original Soundtrack) (Mossgrove Music)
Robert Honstein – An Economy of Means – Karl Larson, Douglas Perkins (New Focus)

May 25

Loadbang – Old Fires – works by Scott Wollschleger, Angélica Negrón, Taylor Brook, Paula Matthusen, William Lang, Jeffrey Gavett, and Reiko Fueting