JOHN ZORN

John Zorn Filmworks XIV: Hiding and Seeking 2003, Tzadik 7343
www.tzadik.com

by Efren del Valle

Another volume of the endless film music collection of John Zorn, probably one of the richest vaults of his discography or, better said, one of the most productive and accessible sides of the composer among the avalanche of reissues he’s been involved with during the last years.

It has been some time since exotica and easy listening took Zorn’s work over and we have since been hearing echoes of long-lost musical traditions that have reemerged during the last years. Such clash of genres already dominated early works like Spillane, Godard or the Naked City project, and it is now the exuberance and elegant atmospheres of Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny that pervade the composer’s musical universe.

From Filmworks VIII to Taboo and Exile or the Bar Kokhba Ensemble, John Zorn’s music has appeared smoother and he’s turned, say, more listeneable. Hiding and Seeking is not only accessible, but also strikingly beautiful music. With a small acoustic ensemble of guitars, bass, percussion and vocals, Zorn has built the perfect mood for a documentary on an orthodox Jewish family heading for Poland in search of their roots.

The inspired bass lines of Trevor Dunn, the lightness of Wollesen’s vibraphone, the subtlety of Baptista’s hand-percussion and Marc Ribot’s especially clean touch on acoustic guitar, offer the compositions (touching again upon Jewish music), unquestionable performances of great dramatism and melancholy, often punctuated by the naïf vocal lines of Ganda Suthivarakom.

Zorn’s hardcore fans will probably miss a touch of dissonance here and there, but Hiding and Seeking is -I insist- eminently delicate, provocative and haunting, and despite of the fact that some motifs leave a certain taste of dejà-vu, the dynamism of the ensemble and the lyricism of the pieces again dispel any doubts about John Zorn’s melodic skills.

Tracks: Merkabah (vocal)/Sekhel/Zhakor (vocal)/Muflah/Abulafia/Abulafia (vocal)/Chirik/Moadim/Zhakor/Sekhel (vocal)/Adamah/Merkabah Time: 53:35

Personnel: Marc Ribot: acoustic guitar; Kenny Wollesen: vibraphone; Trevor Dunn: bass; Cyro Baptista: percussion; Ganda Suthivarakom: vocals (tracks 1, 3, 6 &10)