Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Medeski Martin and Wood: Zaebos: Book of Angels, Vol. 11

365

Medeski Martin and Wood: Zaebos: Book of Angels, Vol. 11

By

View read count
Medeski Martin and Wood: Zaebos: Book of Angels, Vol. 11
Just take a moment to absorb this disc's exhausting title; yeah... this probably isn't what you should pick up after drawing the name of your Erskine Hawkins-loving grandpa when figuring out whose Secret Santa you're going to be; that is, unless said grandpa has a penchant for atonal, acid-tinged klezmer-jazz. Hey, you never know. To the uninitiated, this title certainly might seem, on the surface, somewhat imposing. "Should I first check out Volumes 1-10? Will I have the slightest clue what is going on?" Zaebos definitely serves as a solid jumping-off point for those who initially might find John Zorn's own music a little too overwhelming, Medeski Martin & Wood translating his work into a funky, accessible, groove-oriented experience. John Medeski (keyboards), Chris Wood (bass) and Billy Martin (drums) infuse 11 of the composer's spiritual instrumentals with the trademark blend of jambient jazz that quietly made them one of the top-drawing acts of the jamband scene.

It's necessary to surrender all expectations for this disc to occupy easily the rest of the familiar MMW canon. In fact, the challenging opener "Zagzagel" appears to exist in order to weed out any stragglers not yet ready to submit. Survive through but half of the first song, however, and things will become much clearer. By the fifth track "Chafriel," you'll feel like you're listening to the soundtrack for the fourth entry in the Oceans' Eleven series...albeit one that involves the epic heist of a row of jewelry stores in the Hasidic Diamond District! Don't think you've gotten off easy, though, because Zaebos takes plenty of unexpected musical turns into the land of the modal and even atonal. At one point it sounds like Martin actually drags a piece of wrought-iron furniture across his patio while his bandmates groove independently. Not so surprisingly, it works. This music never feels pretentious, only exciting and even celebratory. MMW fans will no doubt embrace this as another unpredictable-yet-enjoyable entry into their steadily growing discography.

Track Listing

Zagzagel; Sefrial; Agmatia; Rifion; Chafriel; Ahaij; Asaliah; Vianuel; Jeduthun; Malach ha-Sopher; Tutrusa'i.

Personnel

Medeski Martin & Wood
band / ensemble / orchestra

John Medeski: keyboards; Chris Wood: bass; Billy Martin: drums.

Album information

Title: Zaebos: Book of Angels, Vol. 11 | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Tzadik

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.