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john's Collection

John Zorn's Masada   05/22/1996

Crown Theater, Taipei, Taiwan
Source Core Sound Binaural mics > Sony TCD-D8 DAT deck @ 48 kHz
Media shn   1 disc
Tech Notes John Zorn's Masada
May 22-25, 1996
Crown Theater
Taipei, Taiwan

John Zorn (alto sax)
Dave Douglas (trumpet)
Greg Cohen (bass)
Joey Baron (drums)

Source: Core Sound Binaural mics > Sony TCD-D8 DAT deck @ 48 kHz

CDR/SHN Transfers:
DAT masters >hard disk drive via coax cable and Midiman Dio 2448 soundcard
>remastering, wav editing, and resampling at highest accuracy with SoundForge 6.0 >tracks
split with CD Wave >MKW Audio Compression Tool 0.97 Beta 1 >SHN

No analog conversions or digital audio extraction (DAE) used in the preparation of this set.

SHNs
1996-05-22: 640 MB

Notes:
These sets come from the same masters from which the official Tzadik release
"Masada: Live in Taipei 1995" (sic) was prepared. However, these are complete, and to my ears
the Tzadik release suffers from some kind of reverb treatment that alters the timbre of
Zorn's alto in particular.

Much has been made of the sound quality of the official release. Many of the acoustic problems
stem from the size, materials, and layout of the venue, a dance studio shaped in the form
of a long rectangle. The band lined up four in a row against the far wall, facing an audience
only about five rows deep but seated wide across the long part of the rectangle. The wooden
floors and the short depth of the sound stage created considerable reflection of the horns, while
the drums and bass rebounded and trailed into the corners. Definitely a problematic acoustic
environment, but nothing that cannot be overlooked given the positively electric atmosphere
present each night of the four-night consecutive run.

All shows complete except for:
The very first clangs of Joey Baron's cymbals were missed at the start of the May 25 recording.

From AMG:
Masada Live in Taipei quickly got flak amongst Zorn fans for its sound quality, suffering in comparison to the simultaneously released Masada Live in Jerusalem. And granted, it doesn't have the best sound ? the bass is muddy, and the venue's ringing acoustics nearly swallow the trumpet and bass at points ? but it's no field recording either! More importantly, the quartet is on fire during these shows, delivering inspired versions from the Masada songbook. On the set list are compositions originally heard on Masada volumes 5-7, and a few tunes ? such as "Lachish," "Hadasha," and "Ziphim" ? that are also heard on the Jerusalem performance. Some of the highlights include the explosive, powerhouse version of "Shilhim," the seductive take on "Idalah-Abal," and the stunning, breakneck soloing heard during "Debir" and "Ziphim." With so many exceptional recordings available of the Masada quartet, this one may be considered less necessary, but it's still necessary for most fans because of the exceptional interplay between Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, and Joey Baron. ? Joslyn Layne

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Available Setlists:

1996-05-22

Disc 1
1. Nevuah
2. Tiferet
3. Lakum
4. Kedem
5. Piram
6. Shevet
7. Shamor

Disc 2
1. Hobah
2. Tannaim
3. Ruach
4. Zelah
5. Karaim
Trades Allowed Yes   Traded from: sharingthegroove
Reference / Generation Data 49
Owned by john · Last Updated May 23, 2023