Inspired by esoteric spiritual practices, white magic, ritual, traditional myths and ancient legends, Zorn brings together a life long interest in mysticism with powerful lyricism to fashion this dynamic and evocative series of Odes for the New Millennium. Featuring the landmark extended composition The Magus, one of Zorn's most exciting new works, the music takes on a scintillating new edge—dramatic, hypnotic and mysterious. Performed by the remarkable Alhambra Trio enhanced by special guests Kenny Wollesen on vibraphone, Carol Emanuel on harp and Shanir Blumenkranz on Fender bass, In Search of the Miraculous is a deeply moving listening experience—ecstatic music for young and old that touches on the sublime!

The dynamic sextet featured in two of Zorn's most recent and popular musical projects-The Dreamers and O'o-jump another level in Ipos, their most beautiful and powerful recording to date. Featuring ten new compositions from the lyrical Book of Angels, the music draws exotica, surf, world music, latin jazz, rock, film music and more into a seductive new musical world. Perfect for the early morning, late at night, at home or in the car, The Dreamers play Masada is truly a magical combination. Powerful new music performed by an all-star band of downtown masters.

A mind blowing and fiery new quartet featuring Ben Goldberg, one the true pioneers of Radical Jewish Culture whose groundbreaking group New Klezmer Trio proved an important influence on the Masada legacy. Turning his hand to Masada music in this fabulous all star quartet organized, arranged and conducted by Zorn himself, Ben plays like never before, displaying a sensitive virtuosity and a brilliant sense of sound and space. At times moody, intense, meditative, driving, lyrical and atmospheric, this is brilliant Jewish chamber music from four longtime and intimate members of the Masada family. Absolutely stunning!

Fred Frith and John Zorn have a close working relationship that's has been fruitful since they first met in 1978. Close friends and cohorts, veterans of many ensembles and bands, they are two of the downtown scene’s founding fathers. Sharing a love for improvisation, composition and music from all over the map, they have developed a unique duo language that jumps from moment to moment with lightening speed and a near-endless imagination. Their yearly sold-out duo performances are some of the most anticipated events in New Music and while their previous releases have all been documents of these exciting concerts, here they enter the studio for
the first time in a beautiful recording of improvisation at its very best. Two of the world's greatest experimental instrumentalists in wild telepathic interplay!

John King has composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, rock bands, dance, film and theater. He has written three operas to texts by Heiner Müller, Robbe-Grillet and Mallarmé, and worked closely with Merce Cunningham for many years. In his second CD for Tzadik he again embraces rock, jazz, blues and other popular styles in an energetic and colorful program for string quartet. Featuring passionate and inspiring performances by the remarkable quartet Crucible with King himself on viola, the music jumps from moment to moment with lightening speed and an organic sense of form.

Newly revised, this is the definitive version of a Zorn masterpiece! Loosely inspired by the remarkable worlds of Henry Darger, Lewis Carroll and Unica Zürn which throw childlike innocence against a backdrop of violence and perversion, Chimeras is one of Zorn’s greatest works in the classical tradition. A work of fantasy and imagination scored for a Pierrot Lunaire ensemble plus percussion, the work has been resequenced, remastered and a brief, fleeting newly recorded postlude has been added. Dramatic and colorful, Chimeras is a work filled with femininity, innocence, beauty and violence.

One of the most influential musicians on the planet, Terry Riley is the father of both minimalism and the downtown scene, having incorporated improvisation into his work from as far back as the early 1960s. This project, a musical dream diary, was created in 1996 and features Terry playing and telling stories from his unconscious. Coupled with his legendary Hook Lecture from Sydney, Australia, Autodreamographical Tales is unique in the Riley discography—a CD of spoken word with music. Incredibly evocative musical backgrounds highlight these strange stories read with eloquence and panache by one of most important musical figures of the late 20th century. At 75, still writing and performing with incredible power, magic and love, Terry Riley remains THE MAN—the hippest, coolest cat around.

One of the most radical musical renegades since his early days in the 1980s as Foetus, JG Thirlwell has been expanding his musical language more recently through collaborations with classical musicians, improvisers and even robots! This CD is the long awaited third installment in his Manorexia trilogy, his most experimental instrumental grouping to date, and presents his dynamic music in colorful chamber arrangements for string quartet, piano, percussion and laptop. The compositions are in turn strongly rhythmical, cinematic and textural, disturbing yet beautiful.

A major new work by this imaginative musical mastermind! Born in 1956 in Boston and now residing in Brooklyn, Rothenberg has studied at Oberlin Conservatory and Berklee School of Music. Since 1979 his remarkable reed playing and compelling compositional strategem have played a central role in New York’s fertile downtown scene. This CD blends his brilliant classical writing with the polyphonic and microtonal woodwind techniques of his acclaimed solo music. A master of multiphonics, circular breathing and overtone control, Ned here uses his horn in both its standard melodic role and as rhythmic and harmonic engines to create rich new tapestries of
sound in combination with the strings.

Virtuoso pianist/guitarist/recording engineer/composer Jamie Saft has been a crucial member of the downtown scene since the early 1990s, both as sideman and as leader of his own ensembles. In more recent years he has turned his hand to scoring film, and this exciting collection displays the incredible facility and diverse range of his compositional and production skills. Recorded and mixed at his infamous studio Frank Booth, the cues range from jazz, reggae and heavy metal to Jewish music, classical and more. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Jamie performs most of the music himself, bringing in a few luminaries from the downtown scene as special guests. The music is moody, intense, driving, lyrical and a constant delight.

Internationally acclaimed for his solo music since the late ’70s, Ned Rothenberg is one of the world’s most original voices on the shakuhachi. A student of two of the foremost masters of the instrument, Yamaguchi Goro and Yokoyama Katsuya, his style is informed by tradition, but goes beyond it to many new and exciting domains. This CD presents his original music for this unique Japanese end blown flute in beautiful recordings that capture all the subtle nuances of this ancient and profoundly moving instrument. Performed by Ned and some of the foremost players outside Japan, Ryu Nashi is evocative and cutting edge music for shakuhachi.

A wild klezmer/rock fusion by this crazed band of Paris-born punk rockers. Led by the extraordinary young guitarist David Konopnicki, Autoryno hits with a hardedged sound and an exciting musical imagination. Full of youthful energy, massive guitar and centered by a powerful beat, they present eleven instrumentals that combine the power of rock with a taste of Jewish tradition. With Eyal Maoz, Jon Madof, Yoshie Fruchter and a handful of others, David is spearheading a New Jewish Rock Music that has passion, intensity, honesty and a fresh open sound.