- Audio CD (12 Jan 2009)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Soundtrack
- Label: Tzadik
- ASIN: B000ZOVQ9A
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 46,687 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
John Zorn's soundtracks always depend hugely on the line-up that he has assembled for the day of the recording session. Due to the difficulty of putting together his first-choice line-up (as Zorn freely admits in the liner notes) the trio here is unusual: bass, cello and piano. As usual, however, Zorn coaxes something very special out of this band: a warm, untroubled suite of pieces that imposes no demand on the listener other than to sit back and enjoy.
Although the strengths of Zorn regulars Friedlander and Cohen (on cello and bass respectively) are well known to regular listeners, the key performer here is Rob Burger, whose lightness of touch (on his second instrument!) is a remarkable strength here. While in terms of its Middle Eastern inflection this music has an affinity with Zorn's Masada works, it also has an identity of its own which Burger's delicate and flowing improvisation enhances beautifully. Perhaps it is because he is more usually an accordionist that made it so natural for him to emphasize the right hand, leaving the bass register free for the strings. Whatever the reason, the result is a more lyrical album, liberated somewhat from the sometimes oppressive melodic sweetness of Zorn's other post-Masada film work. "Bird in the Mist" - a solo cello piece - is a nice curtain-raiser for Friedlander's excellent Volac album if you have yet to hear that.
At forty minutes, this is not a particularly long album, and it presents the listener with fewer challenges (and therefore, arguably, fewer rewards) than other discs by Zorn. Nevertheless, the unobtrusively shifting bar lengths of the title track provide just one of many subtle musical details that gradually emerge from the sweet wistfulness of this suite. "Charming" is not an adjective that one employs very often in response to John Zorn, but here for once it is fully merited.
Although the strengths of Zorn regulars Friedlander and Cohen (on cello and bass respectively) are well known to regular listeners, the key performer here is Rob Burger, whose lightness of touch (on his second instrument!) is a remarkable strength here. While in terms of its Middle Eastern inflection this music has an affinity with Zorn's Masada works, it also has an identity of its own which Burger's delicate and flowing improvisation enhances beautifully. Perhaps it is because he is more usually an accordionist that made it so natural for him to emphasize the right hand, leaving the bass register free for the strings. Whatever the reason, the result is a more lyrical album, liberated somewhat from the sometimes oppressive melodic sweetness of Zorn's other post-Masada film work. "Bird in the Mist" - a solo cello piece - is a nice curtain-raiser for Friedlander's excellent Volac album if you have yet to hear that.
At forty minutes, this is not a particularly long album, and it presents the listener with fewer challenges (and therefore, arguably, fewer rewards) than other discs by Zorn. Nevertheless, the unobtrusively shifting bar lengths of the title track provide just one of many subtle musical details that gradually emerge from the sweet wistfulness of this suite. "Charming" is not an adjective that one employs very often in response to John Zorn, but here for once it is fully merited.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Quietly powerful.
23 Jan 2008
Format:Audio CD
The first release of a film score by John Zorn in nearly two years (2006's Film Works, Vol. 18: The Treatment being the most recent volume prior to this), "Filmworks XIX: The Rain Horse" was highly anticipated-- the beginnings of this decade had fans of Zorn's film soundtrack work spoiled with seemingly endless jewels and extraordinary prolificness (having released eight volumes of film scores between 2001 and 2006).
Assembling of trio of Erik Friedlander (cello), Rob Burger (performing on piano) and Greg Cohen (bass), the film in question was a Russian animation piece by Dmitri Geller. Zorn was originally approached for licensing of several Masada pieces but negotiated recording an original score instead. Intriguingly, given the original request and the proliferation of Masada or Masada-like pieces on Zorn's scores, Zorn's chosen a different direction. While it hints at the Masada sound, this one is more deeply imbedded in gypsy jazz and Russian folk sounds to my ear. The performers work with unnerving sensitivity to the feel of the music, invoking motion and power ("The Stallion"), foreboding and mystery ("Parable of Job", "Forests in the Mist" and it's solo cello reprise, "Bird in the Mist") and an unusually uplifting mournfulness ("Tree of Life"), this one makes a quiet and powerful statement.
One thing it does do unusually is blend in the background-- when this came in the mail I ripped it open and threw it on while I was cooking dinner. In this environment, I was not terribly impressed with it because it's strength is so quiet, but having listened to it several times since that first play, particularly with headphones on where its subtleties come through, I've been staggered at just the range of emotion the three musicians on this record convey. This is one that demands direct attention for full appreciation, and it offers a lot to appreciate. Highly recommended.
Assembling of trio of Erik Friedlander (cello), Rob Burger (performing on piano) and Greg Cohen (bass), the film in question was a Russian animation piece by Dmitri Geller. Zorn was originally approached for licensing of several Masada pieces but negotiated recording an original score instead. Intriguingly, given the original request and the proliferation of Masada or Masada-like pieces on Zorn's scores, Zorn's chosen a different direction. While it hints at the Masada sound, this one is more deeply imbedded in gypsy jazz and Russian folk sounds to my ear. The performers work with unnerving sensitivity to the feel of the music, invoking motion and power ("The Stallion"), foreboding and mystery ("Parable of Job", "Forests in the Mist" and it's solo cello reprise, "Bird in the Mist") and an unusually uplifting mournfulness ("Tree of Life"), this one makes a quiet and powerful statement.
One thing it does do unusually is blend in the background-- when this came in the mail I ripped it open and threw it on while I was cooking dinner. In this environment, I was not terribly impressed with it because it's strength is so quiet, but having listened to it several times since that first play, particularly with headphones on where its subtleties come through, I've been staggered at just the range of emotion the three musicians on this record convey. This is one that demands direct attention for full appreciation, and it offers a lot to appreciate. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Ballet for Horses?
15 July 2009
Format:Audio CD
After 40 minutes as "The Rain Horse" is wrapping up, you can't get away from how focused this whole disc sounds. Zorn explores gypsy and eastern European dance in the chamber music environment (at times sounding a little like Jon Brion which is not a bad thing) pushing things from tender to quirky to agitated all the while remaining quite elegant. The trio of Erik Friedlander (cello), Rob Burger (here on piano) and Greg Cohen (bass) have dropped the gauntlet on Zorn's compositions going from intimate to surprisingly expansive across the breadth of the disc with each's own superb lyricism blending flawlessly. It's an enjoyable listen hindered only be the fact that it is perhaps too comfortable in its own skin, that it doesn't try to be more. Then again, some things exist on their own terms -- The Rain Horse is one. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
one of the best in the series
26 Oct 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
'Rain Horse', is the latest installment in Tzadik's very own 'Filmworks' series. It is also one of the best, as I'm stating very clearly in the title.
As the story goes, Zorn was approached by the director of this russian animated movie and asked to license several Masada pieces for the soundtrack.
He somehow fell in love with the movie and decided to produce several original compositions to better suit the story.
What the director (and us) got is a brilliant compilation of tunes well steeped in the russian folk/gypsy tradition, as another reviewer noted. Fans of Masada should be careful then, the 'jazz' element here is almost absent.
Also worth of mention: Erik Friedlander, whom I consider one of the best musicians to come out of the Downtown NY music scene, is in a state of grace here, which is probably part of the reason why I like the album so much.
Highly recommended!
As the story goes, Zorn was approached by the director of this russian animated movie and asked to license several Masada pieces for the soundtrack.
He somehow fell in love with the movie and decided to produce several original compositions to better suit the story.
What the director (and us) got is a brilliant compilation of tunes well steeped in the russian folk/gypsy tradition, as another reviewer noted. Fans of Masada should be careful then, the 'jazz' element here is almost absent.
Also worth of mention: Erik Friedlander, whom I consider one of the best musicians to come out of the Downtown NY music scene, is in a state of grace here, which is probably part of the reason why I like the album so much.
Highly recommended!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
