Customer Reviews

Dreamers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If nothing else, John Zorn is a man of stunningly diverse interests. While generally thought of as the enfant terrible of modern music, Zorn's influences include not just avant-garde masters of various forms from Kagel to Ayler to early Napalm Death, but this is the same guy who stated on NPR that, "Dick Dale... is welcome to ANYBODY'S Bar Mitzvah". "The Dreamers", in the tradition of The Gift, is an exploration not of Zorn's avant-garde passions, but of his commercial ones. Performed by the musicians from Electric Masada-- Marc Ribot (guitar), Jamie Saft (keys), Kenny Wollesen (vibes), Trevor Dunn (bass), Joey Baron (drums) and Cyro Baptista (percussion) with the composer sitting in on his alto sax on one track-- Zorn weaves together a mix of surf, Hawaiian, exotica, film scores, jazz and probably half a dozen more subtle influences. The resulting stew, expertly executed by the band, proves to be a superb listen.

Right from the start, it's clearly going to be Ribot who's the star of this one, particularly on the first half of the record, and really this is no surprise-- Ribot eats this kind of stuff up, providing delicate lyricism (Hawaiian tinged "Mow Mow"), bleak, wailing guitar over an extended performance with stunning use of space ("Anulikwutsayl") and fierce energy that boils over when prodded by the composition ("Of Wonder and Certainty"). Along the way, Zorn also serves up a great sing-song piece ("Toys", the only piece on which Zorn actually performs-- stating the theme and serving up the only real slice of skronk while he wails over free association from Saft and Wollesen), a great funk/blues workout ("Exodus", another great workout for Ribot) and even a chance for Saft to show off how lyrical he can be on the Rhodes ("Nekashim"). When closer "Raksasa" finishes up its rolling atmospherics, you'll probably find yourself either restarting the disc or reaching for The Gift to hear more like it.

While this isn't going to appeal to Zorn's entire audience-- certainly there's those who really want to hear the skronk all the time, "The Dreamers" really is a superb effort and a nice change of pace from Zorn. Highly recommended.

I liked this one a lot. It takes the time to explore the group's sound and isn't as scattershot as were The Gift, Taboo & Exile, or Music For Children. The band gets an absolutely wicked groove going on "Exodus." Certainly fans of Zorn's more outrageous material might find this a bit tame, but it's also a sort of all-killer, no filler Zorn - a good point of entry. Marc Ribot and Joey Baron are outstanding on this album.

John Zorn's "The Dreamers" is a delightfully lyrical and poetic journey through instrumental fairy tales from the Electric Masada all-stars. Album opener "Mow Mow" sets the tone for a marvellous dream-like tour into a mesmeric world of exotica music. Listen for Jamie Saft's piano via "A Ride On Cottonfair", John Zorn's alto-sax on "Toys", both Marc Ribot's guitar and Kenny Wollesen's vibes on "Of Wonder And Certainty". "The Dreamers" is a varied and vibrant release perfect for fans who fell in love with John Zorn's "The Gift". Tzadik's incredible artwork for this album also features a sheet of sixteen collectable character stickers in a stunning CD package.

What makes Zorn's work so enjoyable for me is an intangible feeling that i can inadequately describe as "edgy". Ok, so that sounds lame, anyway... i feel this in much of his early and middle periods, e.g. Yankees, News for Lulu, Big Gundown, even early Masada. i have listened to this disc many times and it is simply not happening (for me, at least). The level of musicianship is very high, but the path is rote. A large part of this seems to be the composing which doesn't light any sparks for the performers. Compare any track on this record with "Surfer Girl" from Naked City's Radio, which is going for a similar vibe. The Naked City track has everything this record does plus something more. What that "something" is may be elusive, but it is there. Has the downtown scene become this bland? Definitely not, so i will listen to something else.

zorn's follow-up to the very listenable "The Gift" is a gem. mixing the pleasures of surf music with just enough avant-edge, "The Dreamers" is a winner.

I hate to say it, but lately it seems that John Zorn's been going off the rails a little bit. It no doubt started when 1996's Bar Kokhba (chamber reworkings of the Masada songbook) became Tzadik's best seller. It was indeed a fantastic album, but what followed was album after album with a similar flavour - the last dozen or so Filmworks, The Circle Maker, the Masada anniversary series, etc. And of course 2001's The Gift - similar in lineup to the Masada chamber ensembles but a different vibe, more surf, latin, lounge and exotica.

The Dreamers follows in a similar vein, though without that hint of 'darkness' that The Gift had. To be honest I'm a bit torn about this album. On one hand it sounds great, as all Zorn's albums do. And it's hard to fault any of the performances. But the compositions are just so repetitive and one-dimensional, there's really nothing to 'explore' like in most of Zorn's output.

It kind of feels like everything's on autopilot, and it lacks the meticulous arrangements of the past. "Anulikwutsayl" could have been a highly atmospheric ambient piece but it gets disrupted by basically everyone in the band banging on things at inappropriate moments. There is a beautiful mood created on "Forbidden Tears", but Jamie Saft really fumbles through his Rhodes solo (and one also wonders if he maybe should have taken his keyboard in for a checkup before the session, there are some really out notes there!).

Zorn features on one track, the playful "Toys". It's a fun tune, but the solos are ridiculously noisy and random, and ultimately this piece probably doesn't fit on what is otherwise a very laid back album (though I am aware that despite this being a quite 'easy listening' album, Zorn is still Zorn and never likes to settle into a pattern for too long).

So all in all it's not an absolutely terrible album, but Zorn can do so much better. 2 and a half stars...