Tzadik

''Composer, performer, one of the foremost sound designers on the West Coast, the mad genius of David Slusser has enhanced the films of David Lynch, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and the music of John Zorn, Mike Patton and Angelo Badalamenti. Draw...

"This fabulous collaborative musical project features the legendary magus David Chaim Smith reading selections from his mystical text The Awakening Ground along with the magical creator of Dark Ambient music Bill Laswell on bass and drones, and John...

''A longtime dream project of Wadada Leo Smith, one of creative music's most original voices, Tzadik is proud to present the first recording by a modern jazz supergroup. The four instrumental giants that comprise the Golden Quartet are veterans of some...

''Trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, improviser and theoretician, Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most important composers of our time. An original member of Chicago's AACM, his exciting pieces blending composition and improvisation have been performed b...

A relentless musical innovator since his early days in the Chicago AACM, Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most consistently creative composer/performers in new music. In his sixth Tzadik release he once again explores new territory, bringing six absolute...

''The first solo recording in over thirty years by the brilliant composer/performer Wadada Leo Smith. Born in Leland, Mississippi, Leo was a founding member of the AACM in Chicago, and has been performing his music all over the world since themid-1960s...

This is a re-recording of an early 1970's release that was originally released on Leo's own label. It is ''is one of the most important extended compositions blending improvisationand composition, and one of Leo Smith's masterpieces. This exciting new ...

''A breathtakingly beautiful document of new compositions from a founding member of the Chicago's AACM and one of the world's most important contemporary musician/composers. Featuring his ensemble Nda-Kulture and California E.A.R. Unit.'' [Tzadik]

"Tzadik introduces its new SPECTRUM series with a very special and exciting new group featuring three of the most creative wind players in new music. Friends and colleagues since the ’70s, these three musicians share a vision of improvisation and...

"Two creative music legends who share a remarkable spiritual connection in their first duo outing. Originally proposed to ECM in 1979 and rejected, this rare musical treasure is a project that has been brewing for thirty years. Featuring six new...

An exciting meeting of two eclectic Jewish masters. Ronny Someck, a poet born in Iraq, now living in Israel and composer Elliott Sharp born in Cleveland, now living in NYC. Revenge... is a collaboration of sounds -- sounds as word and sounds as music, ...

The breathtaking guitarist who created Neshamah and Tanz, two of the most popular CDs in the Tzadik catalog, continues to delight us with his newest release. Tim Sparks once again has managed to choose a surprising program of Jewish music from around t...

Tim Sparks-Little Princess $13.00 "Another fabulous CD of traditional Jewish music arranged for fingerstyle guitar and performed by the wonderful trio of Tim Sparks, Greg Cohen and Cyro Baptista, whose CD Tanz was released in 2000 to great acclaim...

An album of solo guitar, performed by this longtime veteran of Klezmer & Balkan bands. ''This is totally beautiful & inspiring music, warm & soulful, rich with melody, harmony & rhythm. Every guitarist on the planet has got to hear this. Tim Sparks is ...

''Following the success of his first CD for Tzadik, Neshamah, the amazing Tim Sparks is joined here by extraordinary bassist Greg Cohen (Masada, The Charms of the Night Sky) and Brazilian percussionist Cryo Baptista (Herbie Hancock, Laurie Anderson) fo...

''The question of identity has historically played a large role in thesurvival of the Jewish people and had special significance to free jazz tenor titan Glenn Spearman, as the son of an African-American father and a Jewish mother. Before his death of ...

"Splintered Stories is the brilliant new CD by Sam Eastmond of the Spike Orchestra, whose sparkling arrangements of Masada compositions were a highlight of both "The Book of Angels" and Zorn's Book "Beri'ah."
Filled with startling instrumental colors, fiery solos, driving rhythms and moody harmonies, the music is brilliantly performed by this tight 15-piece big band and lovingly mixed by Marc Urselli. Cutting edge big band music for the 21st century by one of the most powerful ensembles working today!

“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 Beri’ah. With influences ranging from Gil Evans, Frank Zappa, Zorn and the most...

Excellent album and one of the few releases on Tzadik that falls heavily into the 'avant-progressive' vein. Lots of tricky charts and interesting ideas. Recommended!

"Maxime Delporte is a passionate and talented young composer based in Toulouse...

One of the originators of the Klezmer Revival, Andy Statman is one of the most important figures in modern Jewish Music. A talented instrumentalist, composer and bandleader, his recent music looks out from the traditional towards a more modern Jewish s...

Good, interesting, musical and unique. I really enjoyed this one; I hear a lot of things mixed up together, but what comes out is very much theirs. Highly recommended.

"Brooklyn based Lily Maase is a guitarist and composer of powerful originality..

''Sung's debut album, a collection of his works from 1992 to '95, was never intended for commercial release. The subject matter of this work is deeply personal, dealing with the people and things around him, especially his family and friends, and as su...

Lovely album by this protege of Zakir Hussain and Ustad Alla Rakha, who mixes traditional Indian classical music with a spacey hipness. Recommended to world jazz music/Indian music fans who are looking for something that 'crosses over' but doesn't...

The talented singer from After Dinner, an environmental composer now living in New York, a legendary pioneer of laptop electronics and a multi-instrumentalist from Kansai come together to create a beautiful CD of experimental pop songs. Working togethe...

This is 2 Japanese women who have been working since 1985. I believe this is their 1st release, & it is reminiscent of an updated Young Marble Giants (due to the drum machines & general combination of simplicity with tunefulness) with microtones! This ...

Showcasing the inspired, quirky lunacy that seems to only be possible in Japan, Syzygys was a remarkable instrumental duo of two women who performed original pop songs...built upon the framework of Harry Partch's 43 notes to the octave microtonal organ...

"Two of the most creative, elusive and modest musicians in the Downtown scene in an intimate and free wheeling duo session. Mutual admirers for well over a decade, Ikue and Craig first performed as a duo at the Village Vanguard in December 2016 and now step into the recording studio for an astonishing session of duo improvisations. Inspiring and dynamic music for piano and electronics that explode every expectation. Essential listening for all interested in music that defies ALL categorization."...

“Craig Taborn and Vadim Neselovskyi are two of the most acclaimed and brilliant pianists working today and here they perform a select set of Masada compositions in solo, duo and trio permutations. Created as a bonus disc for the "Book Beri'ah," it is a beautiful program and highlights the incredible versatility of the Masada compositions themselves as well as and the stunning virtuosity and imaginative creativity of these two keyboard masters. Featuring pieces for solo piano, two amazing piano duets...

"Sacred texts from the Mishnah, prayers from North Africa and the Middle East, modern Hebrew poetry and even a letter found in the streets of Jerusalem all serve as the basis for this exciting exploration of the roots of Hebrew song by these innovative...

''One of the foremost pianists of the 20th century, composer Yuji Takahashi makes a long-awaited return to solo piano composition along with intriguing works for shamisen, bass shamisen and sho (Japanese mouth organ), applying his own techniques to the...

"Tangele explores the fascinating nexus of Yiddish song and Tango and features songs from European Ghettos and Concentration Camps, and from the Yiddish Theatre in Buenos Aires and New York, radically transformed into the language of Tango by the...

"David Taylor is one of the world's greatest virtuosos on the bass trombone—a musician of incredible charisma and eclecticism who has worked with everyone from Gil Evans, Charles Wuorinen, and Frank Sinatra, to Yo-Yo Ma, Barbara Streisand, Duke...

''A co-founder of Musica Elettronica Viva (M.E.V.) Richard Teitelbaum has been acknowledged as a musical pioneer for over three decades. Golem, a multimedia 'interactive opera,' features vocalists Shelley Hirsch and David Moss, violinist Carlos Zingaro...

Trevor Dunn: Bass
Louie Belogenis: Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Ryan Sawyer: Drums

“Remaining true to the alchemical beginner’s mind, Terton is a band that places exploration and improvisation first and foremost. Featuring saxophonist Louie Belogenis, bassist Trevor Dunn, and drummer Ryan Sawyer, the music pushes the envelope of free jazz and points in many directions at once. In Tibetan Buddhism, a terton uncovers and reveals esoteric spiritual teachings currently unknown and...

"One of the most radical musical renegades since his early days in the 1980s as Foetus, JG Thirlwell has been expanding his musical language more recently through collaborations with classical musicians, improvisers and even robots! This CD is the long...

This was written by me a long time ago, long before we worked together on their unbelievably great final album, Namesake Caution. But you can still see my enthusiasm, which would only get greater!

This is the fourth album by this NYC-based band. I heard their previous album and it was very good, but of lesser interest to the readers of this catalog, whereas this one hits closer to the spot, I think.

"Time of Orchids blurs the line between metal, classical and industrial with stunning...

Trevor Dunn: Bass
Sally Gates: Guitar
Kenny Grohowski: Drums
Matt Hollenberg: Bass VI

Somewhere between brutal prog (Orthrealm, Upsilon Acrux) and technical metal lives this fairly great instrumental band! Recommended!

“... we can now add TITAN TO TACHYONS to the list of modern purveyors of this stylistic niche, such as Behold… The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, and Ground Patrol. […] TITAN TO TACHYONS balance their dazzling musical abilities with equally impressive songwriting..

Adachi Tomomi Royal Chorus is an experimental vocal group based in Tokyo. Drawing upon influences as diverse as the Fluxus movement, hardcore punk, contemporary classical, TV commercials, cartoon music, Conceptual Art and more, Adachis complex composit...

''A founding member of the Fluxus Movement with Takehisa Kosugi, Yoko Ono and George Maciunas, Yasunao Tone has been doing experimental sound pieces since the early 1960s. For the past ten years much of his work has centered on extending the possibilit...

"A lynchpin of the Oakland rock/improv scene and now based in Brooklyn, Ava Mendoza has been taking Downtown NY by storm, performing with many of the best musicians around and leading her own dynamite bands. Her cutting edge guitar playing is front and center here in nine hard-edged and steely blues-tinged rock instrumentals. With a twisted sensibility and plenty of shredding, psychedelic effects and surprises, the music features Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Pulverize the Sound) on bass...

'Tzadik artists and special guests paying tribute to one of the great geniuses of American music. Modern jazz greats (Horvitz, Frisell, Baron, Douglas, Medeski, Martin & Wood), rock luminaries (Quine, Patton, Ribot, Kramer, Honda, Holcomb) and experime...

I gotta say that Bolan was never one of my personal favorites, although I did buy one 45 by T. Rex when I was 12. Arto Lindsay, Vernon Reid, Marc Ribot & Buckethead, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Chris Cochrane & others play the music of man so in touch with...

''A superstar since the 1950's in his native France, Gainsbourg is barely known here in the US -- a condition this special tribute to his genius hopes in some way to remedy. 21 tracks by 21 artists -- over 74 minutes of music, all on one dynamic disc.'...

'Tom Cora's premature death in 1997 was a tragic blow to contemporary music. One of the founding members of the downtown improvising scene, Tom was a vital member of some of the most important cutting-edge groups of the the past twenty years, including...

Irving Stone was a fixture on the downtown music scene since the mid-seventies. Every musician knew and respected this longtime music aficionado who had seen everything from Bird with Bud to Dolphy with Trane. His presence at a gig always meant that th...

''The world's foremost Brazilian percussionist, Nana's stunning virtuosity is matched only by the originality of his compositional vision. The music here ranges from his trademark solo music to ensemble pieces featuring some of his favorite collaborato...

''Vierk's music explores texture and microtonality in highly structured pieces that build to swirling high energy intensity. Influenced by minimalism, Japanese Gagaku, and Appalachian folk music, Lois Vierk is one of America's great originals. Her firs...

"A leading figure in the Jewish music scene for over thirty years, Greg Wall is one of the pioneers in blending Jewish music with jazz. His newest recording with his powerful ensemble Later Prophets is a colorful and provocative mix of jazz and Jewish...

Saxophonist Greg Wall has been a leading figure in the Jewish Music scene since the late seventies. A veteran of countless bands, he is a founding member of the acclaimed Hasidic New Wave with Frank London, and was one of the first musicians to blend J...

Matt Mitchell: Piano
Anna Webber: Tenor Sax, Flutes

“Two of new music’s most powerful and virtuosic composer-performers get together for a dazzling and thoughtful program of radical compositions and improvisations. Featuring brilliant writing and telepathic improvisational interplay, the music is concise, intense, and endlessly imaginative. An essential view into the Downtown scene’s newest generation of musical masters.”