Tzadik

Devon Hoff: Bass
Yuka C. Honda: Electronics
Sean Ono Lennon: Guitar, Mini Moog
Johnny Mathar: Drums
Joao Nogueira: Wurlitzer
Ches Smith: Drums
Michael Leonhart: Trumpet
Mauro Refosco: Percussion

I thought that this was (a) quite good and (b) dare I say it? Obviously a prog inspired album!

“Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/ pro

Devon Hoff: Bass
Yuka C. Honda: Electronics
Sean Ono Lennon: Guitar, Mini Moog
Johnny Mathar: Drums
Joao Nogueira: Wurlitzer
Ches Smith: Drums
Michael Leonhart: Trumpet
Mauro Refosco: Percussion

I thought that this was (a) quite good and (b) dare I say it? Obviously a prog inspired album!

“Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/ pro

"Composer, scholar, computer wizard and trombonist extraordinaire George Lewis is one of the world's most distinguished musicians, and Les Exercices Spirituels is one of his greatest and most ambitious CDs to date. Featuring three new chamber...

"Lukas Ligeti is a young drummer and composer of deep musical lineage (editor's note: this is another way of saying he is the son of Gyorgi Ligeti) who has developed into one of the most interesting compositional voices working today. For his second...

A fabulous string quartet, a dynamic piece for percussion ensemble, a bizarre miniature for string quartet with drum machine and a classic composition for two marimbas from this interesting young composer of Hungarian descent, who was raised in Vienna,...

Another eclectic rock/pop band out of the infamous Kansai scene that produced the Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba and more. This exciting young three piece unit based in Kyoto presents their debut recording after years of playing in just about every small club...

"Continuing Tzadik's series of live recordings from Zorn's 50th birthday month is this classic reunion of three downtown legends, Arto Lindsay (Ambitious Lovers), Anton Fier (Golden Palominos) and John Zorn (Naked City). There has never been a band qui...

Frank London: trumpet
Josh Roseman: trombone
Marcus Rojas: tuba
Javier Diaz: drums, marimba
Ontel Matos: congas
Kenny Wollesen: drums

“Composer, trumpeter, and educator Frank London has been a central figure of the Downtown Scene since the mid 1980s. A founding member of the Klezmatics, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and Hasidic New Wave, he has worked with everyone from LaMonte Young, Itzhak Perlman, John Cale, and Allen Ginsberg to Gal Costa, Lester Bowie, and Iggy Pop...

More beautiful and evocative arrangements of Jewish liturgical music from the ever-creative and indefatigable mind of Frank London, one of the most important musicians out of the New Jewish Renaissance. Franks distinctive trumpet has never sounded more...

''Trumpeter Frank London (Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave) presents his most intimate and personal work to date, evoking the passionate, imploring voices of the great cantorial virtuosos Rosenblatt, Sirota and Kamiol. Recorded live in the Community Synago...

''An intimate trio recording by two members of the Klezmatics and one of jazz's greatest young virtuosos. Blending the Yiddish inflections of Lorin Sklamberg's beautiful voice with the adventurous arranging skills of trumpeter Frank London and the soph...

Originally released in 1999 in a privately pressed limited edition, this is much more than a re-release. Alchemically transformed by John Zorn through radical remixing, editing and overdubs by downtown superstars Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Cyro B...

''Frank London, a major voice in today's Jewish music renaissance, who has worked with the likes of LL Cool J, La Monte Young, Jane Siberry and Gal Costa, is a trumpetist, composer, arranger and musical scholar of startling range and creativity. The De...

"At the epicenter of the klezmer revival and the New Jewish Music scene, Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg have masterminded some of the most exciting Jewish music bands of the past two decades, including The Klezmatics. This third installment of their...

One of the premier conductors of New Music, Brad Lubman has worked closely with some of the greatest contemporary composers (Berio, Boulez, Reich, Wuorinen, Lachenmann) and has appeared with some of the worlds most illustrious ensembles (Ensemble Moder...

''Guitarist extraordinary, Grammy nominated songwriter, TV and film soundtrack composer Gary Lucas has played with Captain Beefheart, Leonard Bernstein, Jeff Buckley, Joan Osborne and many others besides releasing four acclaimed solo albums in his own ...

''Another brilliant collection of scintillating originals and Jewish classics from the unique and twisted mind of guitar madman Gary Lucas. With Street of Lost Brothers, Gary has turned to the dark side. Dances, dirges, and doinas for Gary's versatile...

''A veteran of NY's downtown scene, founding member of the infamous Lounge Lizards and a gifted composer, arranger and pianist, Evan Lurie has been the composer of choice for dozens of directors over the past ten years. For his first Tzadik release he ...

Four startling studio compositions by an extraordinary young French composer. Born in 1980, Pierre Yves-Mac began as an improviser, played in jazz-rock prog bands, studied classically, accompanied dance classes and has composed electronic music for the...

"Born in France and based in Paris, Pierre-Yves Macé is a composer of great imagination and passion. His first recording, “Faux-Jumeaux,” was released on Tzadik in 2002 and he has since released work on Sub Rosa and Orkhêstra to great acclaim. This...

''The 1st release outside Japan by one of the most original & underappreciated composers in contemporary music. Maceda has been creating remarkable compositions for large ensembles of the same instruments for 50 years.'' [Tzadik]

"This is the second Tzadik release of music by one of the most original and under-appreciated composers of the twentieth century. With his passing in 2004, several of his most passionate musical collaborators have been continuing Maceda’s legacy and...

"An important discovery of the original 1974 recording of a Maceda masterpiece! Recorded as 20 channels broadcast simultaneously on all of Manila's radio stations to the population gathered in public spaces with hand-held transistor radios, Ugnayan was...

This dynamic NY guitar/bass/drums trio covers a range from Jim Hall ballads to Blood Ulmer funk harmolodics. Changing time signatures and arrangements that stop on a dime alternate with gorgeous renditions of classic Jewish melodies, making this an ext...

The significance of the name Zion80 is how it relates to Fela Kuti's Africa70 and Egypt80 bands! This is kind of an amazing mash up of Radical Jewish Culture (the music of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach) performed in the style of Afrobeat's greatest exponent...

''One of the unsung heroes from the early days of minimalism, David Mahler has been making music since the early 1970s. A master of the tape recorder and the razor blade, his pieces are legendary and (as is often the case with experimental composers,) ...

"Born in Israel and now based in New York, Rafi Malkiel is a composer/performer of remarkable creativity and versatility. Active for many years as a trombonist in the Latin, jazz and Downtown music scenes he has performed and recorded with...

"A powerful project of bayan (button accordion) and string quintet by this exciting young composer/performer based in Israel. Originally commissioned by the Tel-Aviv Chamber Music Ensemble for members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Boris has...

The third and wildest yet from this avant / new music power trio with ties to Zevious (they share bassist Johnny DeBlase).

"A wild instrumental power trio from Philly, these three manic music masters have released 2 albums to date and this...

"Many Arms, the Philadelphia and New York-based trio is joined here by the Toronto saxophonist Colin Fisher for a hardcore shredfest that will burn your eyebrows off. Blending the intensity of Pharoah Sanders with the speed of Mick Barr and the...

A breakthrough release from this young Israeli guitarist who has been living in New York since 1999. Featuring a spectacular ensemble of downtown superstars, the music is a raging rock/jazz fusion touching upon Tony Williams Lifetime, John Zorns Masada...

"Maoz is a guitarist, bandleader and composer of great intensity and vision. Produced by Shanir Blumenkranz, this second CD by his band Edom pushes Radical Jewish Culture to exciting new places with the addition of keyboard maniac Brian Marsella and...

“This remarkable project features three Philadelphia musicians paying tribute to one of Philly’s most enigmatic and important musical visionaries—The Legendary Hasaan. Hasaan Ibn Ali was born in 1931 and made only one commercial release in his lifetime which has of course become a cult classic.
Combining the craggly dissonances of Monk with the spidery lines of Elmo Hope, and the muscular intensity of Cecil Taylor, his music and theories were a huge influence on Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, and countless...

“Brian Marsella is finally being recognized as one of the most talented and imaginative pianists of his generation. A veteran of countless bands including Banquet of the Spirits and many projects with John Zorn, his recent recordings have been some of the most exciting music coming out of the NYC jazz scene.
Here he leads an octet to perform his scintillating compositions inspired by classical, jazz, and folkloric Brazilian music. Influenced by composers from Ernesto Nazareth, Heitor Villa-Lobos.....

"16 Masada compositions performed by a dynamic piano trio featuring Brian Marsella, the astonishing and passionate pianist from Banquet of the Spirits, Zion80 and The Flail. Joined here by the classic Masada rhythm section of Trevor Dunn and Kenny Wollesen, the performances are powerful, focused and incredibly varied. Each piece presents a different musical world, referencing McCoy Tyner, Don Pullen, Erik Satie, Conlon Nancarrow, Horace Silver,Lennie Tristano, Bill Evans, Bach, Bud Powell, Richard...

This is a pretty great release that came out of nowhere. "A native of Mexico, where as a young man he encountered and became friends with American marverick Conlon Nancarrow, Ernesto Martinez has been sculpting remarkably original polyrhythmic composit...

"The second CD from this maverick Mexican composer, a former colleague of the legendary Conlon Nancarrow, features a radical new instrument—the hyperión: a portable piano with nylon guitar strings! Over two years went into the conception and...

"The magical interplay and incredible virtuosity of this exhilarating trio of string masters has made it one of the most beloved and acclaimed of all Masada ensembles. Back now by popular demand for their first studio recording in over five years, their t

''A legendary meeting of three contemporary masters: Fred Frith (guitar), Bill Laswell (bass) & Charles Hayward (drums). From Material, Arcana and Praxis, Henry Cow, Skeleton Crew, Keep The Dog and This Heat, these three geniuses have been involved in ...

"One of the first, longest running and most acclaimed improvisational rock ensembles in the world presents a special collection of live recordings culled from the private archives of guitarist extraordinaire Fred Frith. Hand picked for this release...

A blistering live performance by one of the greatest instrumental rock trios ever. Fred Frith, Bill Laswell and Charles Hayward have each been responsible for some of the greatest concerts in new music in the last twenty years, and collectively they t...

"A remarkable duo out of France performing traditional and original Sephardic-Jewish songs in an electronica/dance context, Axerico en Selanik is one of the most surprising CDs in recent years to come out on the Tzadik Jewish Series. Charming and...

''Dion McGregor dreams out loud, and his dreams are not very pretty. Tzadik invites you to eavesdrop on the horror in Dion McGregor's mind. In 1964 ten of Dion's tape-recorded dreams were released on album and quickly dropped out of print. This CD is i...

“No there is nothing wrong with your equipment—the music is supposed to sound like this!
Crawlspace is Medeski at his wildest and most imaginative. Using a huge array of electric and acoustic keyboards, synthesizers mellotron and early electronic gear, he has created a complex and trippy solo project that is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. New and uncharted sonic territory by a legendary musical master who has worked with everyone from The Meters, Irma Thomas and John Scofield to...

"The long awaited release of Medeski Martin and Wood performing Masada material is finally available and it is one of their tightest and most imaginative CDs ever! Playing to packed houses from Budokan to Bonaroo and back again, MMW is one of the most...

''Melt Banana is the defining band of New Japanese Hardcore...their songs combine compositional complexity and improvisational noise with the power of a locomotive going full blast through a brick wall. Recorded during their tour of the States in 1998,...

A great, if self-effacing musician joined by a great rhythm section. "Misha Mengelberg has been a central figure of the Dutch Jazz/Improvisers scene since the late 1950s. A brilliant pianist, organizer, conceptualist, composer, dadaist and eccentric le...

Three of downtowns most dynamic performers join forces to form Mephistaone of the first all women supergroups (Susie Ibarra, Sylvie Courvoisier, and Ikue Mori). Separately these three have worked with some of the most important musicians in new...

Featuring the colorful piano of Sylvie Courvoisier, the groundbreaking laptop electronics of Ikue Mori and the dynamic drumming of Susie Ibarra, Mephista is one of the most spectacular new music groups working today, a perfect blend of heart...

Another wild and wonderful celebration of noise from the singular Japanese pioneer who started it all. Active in live noise electronics since 1978, Akita Masami is an international cult figure, and for his second Tzadik release we are once again...