Tzadik

''A downtown mainstay for twenty years, composer/multi-woodwind performer Ned Rothenberg makes his Tzadik debut with a stunning CD of chamber music. Acclaimed for work in a wide variety of contexts, from the multi-metric funk of his Double Band to the ...

"A major new work by this imaginative musical mastermind! Born in 1956 in Boston and now residing in Brooklyn, Rothenberg has studied at Oberlin Conservatory and Berklee School of Music. Since 1979 his remarkable reed playing and compelling compositional

"Internationally acclaimed for his solo music since the late ’70s, Ned Rothenberg is one of the world’s most original voices on the shakuhachi. A student of two of the foremost masters of the instrument, Yamaguchi Goro and Yokoyama Katsuya, his style...

"Since the early 1980s Ned Rothenberg has been forging some of the most original solo saxophone music in the world. Drawing upon classical, jazz, improvisation and world music traditions his solo performances are passionate, virtuosic and hypnotic...

I don't get to actually see a lot of the Tzadik artists perform, but I've seen Ned Rothenberg and his great Sync group (Jerome Harris-acoustic bass guitar and Smir Chatterjee-tabla) play a pretty great show in March, 2006, so my interest in this band...

Some of the very best musicians in Japan, veterans of such bands as Bondage Fruit, the Boredoms, Bazooka Joe, Demi Semi Quaver...have come together in Rovo, a virtuosic trance-rock group based in Tokyo. This dynamic set collects the best of their legendary two-night run at New York City's premier new music club, Tonic. Beautifully recorded and impeccably mixed by Rovo mastermind, violinist Katsui Yuji in Japan, Tonic 2001 captures the firey brilliance of this dazzling band like no studio recording ever...

"The first release on Tzadik by one of the most celebrated and skilled clarinetists in the New Jewish Renaissance features Joel Rubin in a surprising and exciting new context—the fascinating and vibrant intersection between Jewish music and jazz...

The truly amazing bass/drums duo where drummer/composer Yoshida Tatsuya first made his mark and appeared on people's radar, who were obviously influenced by punk, math rock, Magma & This Heat.
"Along with the Boredoms, Naked City and very few others, this amazing drums/bass duo are masters of quick-change, stop/start tempos, time-signatures and textures. Ruins' explosive and intricately composed tunes are sung in a peculiar language of their own invention." [note: which sounds a LOT like Kobaian]....

''A blistering live performance...of over twenty stop-on-a-dime Ruins classics, Mandala 2000 captures the raw power and visceral energy of this dynamic band better than any studio recording ever could. Also included is twenty minutes of encores featuri...

''A new direction for this innovative group , which until now has worked solely as a duo. Augmenting their core unit of drums and bass with two female vocalists and a keyboard player of astonishing virtuosity, these brilliant orchestral arrangements of...

"To composer/bassist Daphna Sadeh, Jewish Music is the cross-cultural patchwork quilt of the diaspora experience. Born in Israel, she has studied in New York and since 2002 has been based mostly in London where she leads her own ensemble and performs...

In the final months of 2004, John Zorn wrote over 300 new tunes for his popular Masada project, and he now initiates a new series of recordings featuring the best players out of the burgeoning Masada family in dynamic units performing compositions from...

Another amazing band of likely and unlikely bandmates on this record!

"Virtuoso pianist/guitarist/recording engineer/composer Jamie Saft has been a crucial member of the downtown scene since the early 1990s, both as sideman and as leader of his...

"After two stunning jazz piano trio recordings featuring the music of Dylan and Zorn, dubmeister Jamie Saft returns to his roots with a masterpiece of Jewish heavy metal. Slashing and burning his way through nine tracks of unbridled madness, this is...

"Keyboard virtuoso, dub-master supreme, heavy metal guitarist, soundtrack composer, versatile arranger, master butcher and zonked madman, Jamie Saft has been responsible for some of the wildest and most soulful sounds heard on the Tzadik Jewish series...

Jamie's second CD for Tzadik is a cinematic exploration of dub, pop and club music filtered through his own very personal Jewish lens. Spacy DJ mixes, deep grooves, fucked-up dubs and soulful vocals on subjects ranging from tashlikh toprayer to fratric...

''Guitars and beats, both electric and acoustic, mixed in dub...Jamie Saft's debut recording deals with the interaction of Black, Arab and Jewish cultures in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY. Featuring his longtime collaborators Jim Black and Chris Speedas...

"Sajjanu is a ripping new unit from Tokyo that performs incredibly complex through-composed compositions with few if any repetition. Performed with an intensity and power that is absolutely staggering, this trio of two guitars and drums sounds like a...

"The design of the Hebrew letter samech is a circle, and represents infinity, because it has no beginning or end. In Kabbalah the samech represents the infinite power of the Ein Sof, G-d’s infinite light. Another brilliant Jewish music group out of...

''Danny Zamir is an astounding young alto saxophonist/composer from Israel who plays with a passion, command and mastery unheard of in a musician of only nineteen. Moving to NYC in 1998, Danny hooked up with two kindred spirits to create their telepath...

''A beautiful live recording of acoustic Klez/Jazz by one of the most exciting young bands working today. In the year that has passed since the release of their first CD, Satlah has grown more confident, increasing in both power and sensitivity. Taking...

"Setting the Yiddish poetry of the revered Civil Rights advocate Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel to music, Basya Schechter has created a rich new collection of Yiddish songs. Colorful arrangements featuring many of the downtown Jewish scene’s greatest...

An absolutely stunning instrumental album from Basya Schechter, the beautiful vocalist and guiding force of the popular group Pharaoh's Daughter. Collaborating with Alan Kushan, a virtuoso on the santur, they combine influences from both Jewish and Ara...

Jenny Scheinman, a frequent collaborator of guitarist Bill Frisell, is one of the most sought-after violinists on the scene today. Her second CD for Tzadik, created especially for the Oracles series, features her brilliant quartet augmented by the beau...

An impressive new recording by one of the most sought-after new violinists in the downtown scene. Born in California, Jenny moved to New York in 1998. Most recently heard in a variety of contexts with Bill Frisell, Jenny has also graced projects by Myr...

''Evocative sound-scapes by an imaginative Swiss-born producer/composer who has worked with Caetano Veloso, Nana Vasconcelos, Laurie Anderson and choreographer Amanda Miller, and collaborated with Arto Lindsay as the Ambitious Lovers from 1984-91. Sche...

"A veteran of Junk Genius with Ben Goldberg, T.J. Kirk with Charlie Hunter as well as varied projects with Tom Waits, John Zorn and many others, John Schott is one of the most dynamic guitarists out of the Bay Area. For his third CD on Tzadik he presents an exciting guitar trio with two of his closest musical associates. Beautiful compositions, spare and lean, and fabulous telepathic improvising makes this one of John’s best CDs to date."
John Schott: Guitar
Dan Seamans: Bass
John Hanes: Drum

''A virtuoso guitarist best known as a member of Junk Genius and the San Francisco jazz/funk supergroup T.J. Kirk, Schott is joined by tenor John Horton Murray (The Metropolitan Opera), bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) and drummer Kenny Wollesen on his...

"Around since the mid-1990s, Secret Chiefs 3 is one of the most popular instrumental ensembles working today, with a devoted cult following and a constantly changing lineup of stellar musicians. Featuring one of the best groupings they have ever had, in "Malkhut" they turn their hand to twelve tunes from Zorn’s "Book Beri’ah." Years in the making, SC3 mastermind Trey Spruance considers this to be one of his most ambitious and involved CDs to date. Even better than their "Masada Book of Angels" release...

Whether singing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino or French, Zahava Seewald is one of the most accomplished and soulful vocalists in the modern Jewish music scene. Following up on her very successful Tzadik debut Abi Gezint!, her latest recording takes a trad...

From organizing concerts at his club Bears to performing in the cult bands Omoide Hatoba, Rovo and Boredoms, Yamamoto has been a central figure of the internationally acclaimed Osaka rock/noise scene since the late 80's. For his second Tzadik CD, one o...

A driving force at the heart of the much acclaimed Kansai rock scene since the late 1980s, Yamamotos piercing guitar has energized some of Japans finest bands. From the spiritual madness of the Boredoms, the psychedelic trance rock of Rovo to the qu...

''Jazz, classical, Klezmer and improvisational traditions blend and crash in Selfhaters, Anthony Coleman's most personal project. A disturbing and all-too-close peek into the very Jewish world of alienation and self-revulsion. Two long masterful compos...

''...showcasing an unique approach to the classic piano trio. this second collection of original compositions and quirky cover tunes adds a newly-developed virtuosic edge to this already sick and twisted technique, making Morenica his ultimate statemen...

The third CD in the legacy of mad genius Anthony Coleman's most popular working band takes us, as always, to a magnetic world of loving dysfunction. Together for over four years, the piano trio Sephardic Tinge has developed a unique style rivaling the ...

Another charming CD of music from the imaginative mind of composer/performer Roberto Rodriguez, whose first CD El Danzon de Moises is one of Tzadik's best sellers. Celebrating the elusive Jewish community of Cuba, Roberto has fashioned an exotic new mu...

Paul Shapiro has done it again! Following up on the enormous success of his first CD for Tzadik, Midnight Minyan, Shapiro here turns his prodigious arranging talents and fat tenor sound to eight of his own compositions and two liturgical melodies evoki...

Paul Shapiros fat tenor sound has graced the music of such diverse artists as Lou Reed, Michael Jackson, Nyorican Soul, the Microscopic Septet and Brooklyn Funk Essentials of which he was a founding member. On Tzadik he can be heard on two of the label...

The latest solo album from this long time member of the Microscopic Septet, and a fine, mainstream saxophonist!

"No one does it quite like Shapiro! Blending Soul and R&B with the Jewish tradition, Paul Shapiro’s three CDs on Tzadik are some...

"This new instrumental trio project from the burning guitarist of Cleric and Simulacrum blends avant-garde classical, free jazz, dissonant math metal, ambient and world music into a powerful new mix.
Originally from Philly and now living in Brooklyn, Matt Hollenberg has spent over a year composing these complex and exciting pieces and has chosen two of his oldest musical cohorts to perform them. This bold new take on the power trio will fry your mind!"...

''Sharp's most eclectic album to date. Using guitars, saxophones, computers, analog synthesizers and kitchen sink, Sharp performs powerful scores for four films including Daddy & the Muscle Academy (a documentary on the life of pioneering gay fetish ca...

Elliott Sharp is one of the downtowns most consistently original composers and a wildly versatile string player, whether it be on bass, electric guitar, or one of his wacky homemade hybrids. His music is rhythmic and intense, often drawing upon mathema...

Elliott Sharp is one of the most versatile composer/performers on the downtown scene -- a musician who has embraced free jazz, funk, blues, contemporary classical, rock, world music and distilled them all into his own unique amalgam. Suspension of Disb...

This is two extended works; the psychedelic transformations of Xtopia & the dark, jagged snapshots of Intifada, performed by the Soldier String Quartet joined by the composer on Buchia Thunder, fretless guitar & clarinet. [Tzadik]

''The atmospheric Chamber Symphony #1 juxtaposes liveand sampled instrumental sonorities in a complex world of modern polyphony with turntable/sampler wizard David Shea playing along with members of the Ictus Ensemble. 'The Voice Suite' features the br...

In the 1990s David Shea was a regular on the downtown scene working with Anthony Coleman, John Zorn, Zeena Parkins, Shelly Hirsch and many others. Since 1998 he has been living and working in Brussels collaborating with some of Belgiums finest classica...

Turntable/sample manipulator Shea works with Zeena Parkins, John Zorn, Mark Ribot & HidekiKato. [Tzadik]

''Produced and arranged by enigmatic mystical traveller Eyvind Kang, Blue Marble is a CD of surreal folk songs by singer/songwriter Aiko Shimada. Born in Japan and now based in Seattle, Aiko's music is fresh, original and heartfelt. For this latest rel...

Did you hear of Boychick Pincus, how he opened wide the gate and hippety-hopped over the sweet warm meadow? So begins Maurice Sendak's charming and hilarious retelling of Prokofiev's classic children's legend Peter and the Wolf where Peter has become P...

"David Simons is an enigmatic figure in the Moondog/Partch mold who has been doing things his own peculiar way for decades. An instrument builder and virtuoso thereminist, David has written music for theater, dance, film, sound installations and...