John Zorn's eighth Masada album, subtitled Het, was released in 1997. At 44 years of age, the saxophonist has more than that many releases as a leader. His work is very broad in scope and includes recordings with Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Big John Patton, Prima Materia, and Thomas Chapin. Recently he's produced albums for Bobby Previte, Duck Baker, Cyro Baptista, and others. Trumpeter Dave Douglas, ten years younger than Zorn, came up working with Horace Silver, Myra Melford, Don Byron, Anthony Braxton, Fred Hersch, and has released eight albums as a leader since 1993. One of the top trumpeters in jazz today, Douglas' pure open tone and thoughtful improvisations speak volumes toward the success of Zorn's Masada projects. Bassist Greg Cohen recently released his debut album as a leader, Way Low on DIW; however, since the late 1970s, Cohen has worked with Tom Waits, David Sanborn, Annie Ross, Madeline Peyroux, Ken Peplowski, and many more. Drummer Joey Baron, who turns 43 on June 26th, completes the baby-boomer lineup for Masada. The drummer's trio Barondown includes two other avant-garde improvisers, Steve Swell and Ellery Eskelin; since his arrival on the jazz scene in the early 1970s, Baron has worked in all fields of jazz, including dates with Carmen McRae, Mark Murphy, Red Rodney, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Marian McPartland, Tim Berne, Randy Brecker, and John Scofield. Bringing a wide array of ideas to the session, the members of Masada combine to form an exciting and eclectic quartet.

The longest of Zorn's ten compositions on Masada Eight is "Shechem," at eleven and a half minutes. Adhering to a hard bop approach, the quartet soars over Baron's loose drum head effects with alto sax and trumpet solos that demonstrate just how superior these musicians really are. "Elilah," and "Mochin" are ballads with the kind of heartfelt lyricism that stems from most traditional music; like many familiar Italian operas, Zorn's compositions contain melodies that take center stage and grab the listener's sole interest. "Kodashim," "Abed-nego," "Tohorot," "Khebar," "Amarim," and "Ne'eman" are based on the kinds of dance music that one would find at a traditional Jewish wedding; it's a rhythmic swing that starts your foot tapping while allowing for solo work by the artists. Regardless of where one's developmental listening focus originated early on, the music is far-reaching and shares a familiarity with like forms around the world. Highly recommended.