Jazz Articles about Rashanim
Rashanim: The Gathering

by Warren Allen
Jon Madof was studying jazz and rock guitar when he first heard John Zorn and Masada, playing what Zorn eventually termed radical Jewish music." Masada's sound, imbued with the fire of rock and the dynamic improvisation of jazz--and combined with the powerful roots of Hebraic modes and Middle Eastern rhythms--became an inspiration to make something new out of tradition. It led Madof to a similar expansion of Jewish religious and cultural music beyond the world of scratchy Klezmer and cantorial ...
read moreRashanim: Shalosh

by Troy Collins
Shalosh is the third release by guitarist Jon Madof's power trio Rashanim. One of the leading lights of the Radical Jewish Culture movement, Madof works with his electrifying trio to update traditional Yiddish and Hassidic melodies with the infectious rhythms of surf music and the throttling, riff-driven frenzy of indie rock.
Not all impetuous energy and testosterone, the trio explores a range of emotions with maturity and restraint, providing sonic space even in the densest passages. Resonating with ...
read moreRashanim: Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 5: Masada Rock

by Renato Wardle
John Zorn's groundbreaking Masada outfits have been successfully expanding their own unique realm of klezmer-infused jazz and improvisational music for more than ten years. To celebrate, Zorn's own Tzadik label has released five tenth anniversary CDs featuring an array of musical cohorts performing their own arrangements of selections from his Masada songbook. Masada Rock documents Rashanim, perhaps the most explosive group of the new Jewish Renaissance, exploring ten unknown songs from the original Masada songbook. Running the gamut from surfer-tinged ...
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