ANTHONY BRAXTON - Trillium R : Composition 162 - An Opera in Four Acts / Shala Fears for the Poor (1999) 4CD | FLAC (tracks), lossless

So why is this so important? How can a guy like Braxton, who writes constantly, get a high mark on his first outing? Simple -- with the exception of Anthony Davis, who wrote Malcolm X, no one from the jazz side of the fence has attempted such a complete attempt to embrace the world of Western classical music so thoroughly. (Yes, forget Blood on the Fields, it's a jazz oratorio according to its composer.) And it deems that Braxton is the only one who can be counted -- if this opera, the first of 36 by the year 2020 if the composer lives that long and lives up to his word (is there any doubt?), is any example -- to have his work be worthy of comparison to the works of Webern, Berg, and Schoenberg, not to mention Morton Feldman and John Cage. Compared to his jazz work, Composition No. 162 -- An Opera in Four Acts/Shala Fears for the Poor (dedicated to Nelson Mandela) is far from dense compared to his jazz quartet, quintet, and orchestra work. The opera is performed by nine singers and a full symphony orchestra who has among its membership instrumental soloists like clarinetist Chris Speed, flutists Ned Rothenberg and Rob Brown, and violinist Sara Parkins. All of the operas in the Trillium series will have three primary levels spread throughout their acts and scenes: an "apparent story," which is a narrative that can be appreciated more or less for what it seems to say; a set of "philosophical associations" that make the work refer outside itself into the world of ideas; and finally, "the mystical or spiritual fundamental that underlines each setting," in other words, an allegory -- noh or kabuki theater anyone? The narrative in Shala is a long, drawn-out, rhetorical narrative involving the marketing of products and productions to the masses, specifically to the lower classes. These products are everything from food to loans, all of them created to extract a maximum of profit regardless of damage. Certainly there is a preaching to the converted here, with a plot as concerned with the obvious as the face of our culture. But Braxton -- through his use of color, shape, texture, and above all intersecting musical and dramatic dynamics -- cuts through and makes his dialogue enter into the imagination, where the listener extrapolates her or his own experience and places it firmly in the operatic sequence of events. The smarminess of the Board of Directors and the under-sung plaintive wail of Shala are downright moving. The interplay of the strings with the solo voices and horns and percussion creating mysterious shapes underneath, filling out scenarios and sub-plots, is masterful. Yes, it does seem as if there is a bit of the overly dramatic "snidely whiplash" in all of this, but isn't it that cynical anyway? That Braxton can overcome his temptation to preach at all is compelling (remember Schöenberg's similar taste of pulpit-climbing sin in Moses and Aaron?), as is his ability to lay everything at the altar of image (as his musicians paint them in the air next to the singers) in elongated modes of introverted harmonics and striated tonal linguistics. And after all, like all of Braxton's music, this opera, Shala Fears for the Poor, is about language and how it mediates and transcends images. Braxton is trying to transcend the language of the opera while using it for his own purposes. If this is where the future of opera is headed, if this is where it's language will ultimately be decided, then someone please give me a grammar book -- I'm in.
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Trillium R: Shala Fears For The Poor - Composition No. 162 (Opera In Four Acts)   
1-1    Act 1    1:03:05
2-1    Act 2    31:32
3-1    Act 3    39:20
4-1    Act 4    42:06
All Credits

CRAIG TABORN - Daylight Ghosts (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Keyboardist Craig Taborn’s Daylight Ghosts is the Minneapolis-bred New Yorker’s third ECM release as a leader, a quartet album following the solo Avenging Angel and trio disc Chants. Both projects earned wide acclaim, with The Guardian saying that Taborn’s “musicality and his attention to detail are hypnotic, as is his remarkable sense of compositional narrative within an improvised performance.” Along with the questing Taborn on piano and electronic keyboards, the quartet of Daylight Ghosts features two other luminaries from the New York scene – reed player Chris Speed and bassist Chris Lightcap – plus drummer Dave King, the leader’s fellow Minnesota native and one-third of alt-jazz trio The Bad Plus. Each player draws from a broad artistic background, as informed by rock, electronica and diverse strains of world music as they are the various permutations of jazz improvisation. Dynamism and spectral ambience, acoustic and electric sounds, groove and lingering melody – all come together to animate Daylight Ghosts. ecm
Tracklist :
1    The Shining One 3'34
(Craig Taborn)
2    Abandoned Reminder 7'46
(Craig Taborn)
3    Daylight Ghosts 7'36
(Craig Taborn)
4    New Glory 3'14
(Craig Taborn)
5    The Great Silence 5'37
(Craig Taborn)
6    Ancient 8'15
(Craig Taborn)
7    Jamaican Farewell 5'39
(Roscoe Mitchell)
8    Subtle Living Equations 4'31
(Craig Taborn)
9    Phantom Ratio 8'29
(Craig Taborn)
Credits :
Craig Taborn   Piano, Electronics
Chris Speed   Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet
Chris Lightcap   Double bass, Bass Guitar
Dave King   Drums, Electronic Percussion  

JOHN ZORN | MASADA CHAMBER ENSEMBLES - Bar Kokhba (1996) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Masada has quickly become one of John Zorn's most popular and adventurous musical projects. These special arrangements for small ensembles of strings, keyboards and clarinets, shed new light on his book of inspiring compositions expanding the Jewish tradition. Bar Kokhba presents over two hours of dark, passionate and evocative Jewish music, featuring some of New York City's finest musicians.

This double-CD is the long-awaited first American release of Zorn's Masada material, featuring startling new chamber arrangements of music from the six Masada albums on Avant (Japan). TZADIK
Tracklist 1 :
1    Gevurah    6:55
2    Nezikin    1:51
3    Mahshav    4:33
4    Rokhev    3:10
5    Abidan    5:19
6    Sheloshim    5:03
7    Hath-Arob    2:25
8    Paran    4:48
9    Mahlah    7:48
10    Socoh    4:07
11    Yechida    8:24
12    Bikkurim    3:25
13    Idalah-Abal    5:05
Tracklist 2 :
1    Tannaim    4:39
2    Nefesh    3:33
3    Abidan    3:13
4    Mo'ed    4:59
5    Maskil    4:41
6    Mishpatim    6:46
7    Sansanah    6:56
8    Shear-Jashub    2:06
9    Mahshav    4:50
10    Sheloshim    6:45
11    Mochin    13:11
12    Karaim    3:39
Credits :
Greg Cohen - Bass
Anthony Coleman - Piano
Dave Douglas - Trumpet
Mark Dresser - Bass
Mark Feldman - Violin
Erik Friedlander - Cello
David Krakauer - Clarinet
John Medeski - Organ, Piano
Marc Ribot - Guitar
Chris Speed - Clarinet
Kenny Wollesen - Drums

JOHN ZORN - Filmworks IX : Trembling Before G-d (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Zorn’s first soundtrack in three years is a dark and moody setting for a controversial documentary about the Gay Hasidic community. The score for Trembling Before G-d features two of the most inventive and creative musicians out of the burgeoning Brooklyn scene: Jamie Saft on organ and piano and Chris Speed on clarinet, with a special guest appearance by Filmworks regular Cyro Baptista. Over sixty minutes of beautiful and haunting Jewish music, including several pieces from Zorn’s popular book of Masada compositions. TZADIK
Tracklist :
1    Trembling Before G-d    2:25
2    Mahshav (Solo Piano)    5:01
3    Tashlikh    4:26
4    Yechida    0:54
5    Idalah-Abal    7:49
6    Simen Tov / Mazel Tov 1:25
Voice – John Zorn
7    Sholom Aleichem    1:12
8    Notarikon    4:11
9    Maskil    3:25
10    Trembling Before G-d (Solo Organ)    2:51
11    Mahshav (Duo)    8:26
12    Desert Montage 1:45
Percussion – Cyro Baptista
13    Kaporeh    3:25
14    Tashlikh (Fast)    2:18
15    Nigun    2:02
16    Trembling Before G-d (Intro)    3:13
17    End Titles 6:01
Percussion – Cyro Baptista
18    Kaporeh (Solo Piano)    4:18
Credits :
Clarinet – Chris Speed
Piano, Organ, Recorded By, Mixed By – Jamie Saft
Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Liner Notes – John Zorn