John Zorn: Masada Quartet / New Masada Quartet

The best of both worlds

When forming his Masada Quartet in the early 1980s, John Zorn copied the instrumental line-up – trumpet, saxophone, bass and drums – from the revolutionary jazz musician Ornette Coleman. The all-star band was all about dense, free and spontaneous interplay – and that is still very much the case. When Zorn calls his buddies Dave Douglas on the trumpet, the ever-reliable Greg Cohen on the bass and the virtuosic Joey Baron on the drums to make music together, maximum expressivity is guaranteed – especially with Zorn’s lofty and ecstatic flights on the alto saxophone.