SECRET CHIEFS 3 - BOOK OF ANGELS VOLUME 9

• secret chiefs 3: xaphan: book of angels volume 9
      (2008, cd, usa, tzadik records #7364) 

With a brand-new Secret Chiefs 3 album ("Book Of Souls - Folio A") scheduled to be released in October, it's about time to shed a light upon their excellent 2008 release: "Xaphan".
Subtitled "Book Of Angels, Volume 9", "Xaphan" is part of John Zorn's "Masada Book Two" series.

Some twenty years ago, John Zorn started writing a number of songs that were inspired by traditional Jewish music. These compositions are known as the "Masada Book", and they got performed and recorded by the Masada ensemble. The sequel of the "Masada Book" is called "Masada Book Two". These pieces are intended to be performed and recorded by other arists. The series of albums that emerged from "Masada Book Two" is called "Book Of Angels". It presents an impressive list of artists that perform compositions from John Zorn's "Masada Book Two".
This list of artists include Marc Ribot (Volume 7) and Pat Metheny (Volume 20) to name two, but also Secret Chiefs 3 (Volume 9).

This is pretty impressive. John Zorn's compositions fit the Secret Chiefs 3 perfectly.

Recommended listening.

Here are some samples.