Music Review John Zorn’s Masada at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, October 15 That night Isaw music. On the stage without amplification (Greg Cohen’s electric bass was amplified but that was it.) John Zorn on alto saxophone, Dave Douglas on trumpet, and Joey Baron on drums made music that was heavenly chaotic. Volcanically beautiful. I thought that jazz was a dead form and I thought low things about people who tried to pass themselves off as being practitioners of it. I thought they were stupid, like anachronists, trying to relive a bygone time, but not the time as it really was but how they thought the time was. But music is music, par- ticularly when it’s pure. Zorn’s basic idea for this show was to impose the looser structure of free form jazz on his heritage of Jewish tunes. Melodies crept and wove themselves in and out of the miasma and sound took shape. The players wandered around the floor of the Cultch, their voices like ghosts, fading and then appearing. Zorn’s technique ranged from sublime and controlled to spastic and uncontained. He seemed to want to destroy the melody in places, to degenerate it until it was just barely recognizable and then to bring it back. Occasionally covering the horn’s mouth with his leg, he demonstrated the in- stinct to fix his instrument, to screw it up until it sounded like something else. Joey Baron’s virtuosity is obvious so I won’t dwell on it too — much since you’ve probably heard something about it. Greg Cohen’s bass playing dwelled like a rock against which waves crash, contain- ing everything, allowing the others to show off. Dave Douglas provided the warp to Zorn’s weave, like the two guitars in Television. I guess this work is sort of traditional if you’re used to the idea of Zorn being some kind of zany skronk-meister but it contained just that right formula of balance and destruction as to be unpretentious. Hopefully, we’ll see some recorded manifestation of this particular branch of Zorn’s work since it provides a needed weight to counter his domestically available reputation as a noise prankster. Oh Sandra. Well, I went off to the infa- mous Sandra Bernhard show on Friday night to see what this lady was all about. I feel that you can only tell what a performer is like if you see them live, and up ‘til Friday all I had ever seen Sandra in was films, magazine interviews and fashion photographs. So when she slowly sauntered on stage in her small silk dress singing a slow blues tune, I was excited. So, yes I would say that she is just as charismatic live as her Boel celluloid personas. As far as the performance went, the show was fueled on her menstrual energy which she was considerate enough to share with the audience ten minutes into the show. That’s kind of hip of her, you know, Cool, Sandra, thank you for talking about your period for all the women in the audience that need to feel that kind of freedom. Thanks for breaking down those old boring social boundaries that say we can't, as superstars, talk about our periods. | Sat amazed as she turned her audience into a emo- tional witness to her life stresses. She completely turned the idea of, “I’m the performer entertaining you the audience,” into,” I’m the celebrity and I’m going to rant about what ever the fuck I want to, and you paid 33-some-odd-dollars to let me do that.” I _ personally respect this woman for having the courage to try and pull it off. So, yes she sings through the entire show, and frankly “Jannys Got a Gun” by Arrowsmith never ment so much. Sandra has a flair for taking well known songs and the ideas around them and presenting them to you in a subversive fashion. The Rolling Stones, Barbara Streisand, Jimmy Hendrix, and Andrew Lloyd Webber are just a few artists that she fucks with. And lets face it, these peo- ple need some criticism. Thank god her singing has gotten somewhat better though, because there was a few moments that I felt I was being punished for something I didn’t do. Sandra also spoke on her Hollywood experiences. Frankly she didn’t sound very happy with the situation. All the roles were going to dumb white trash actresses like Patrica Arquette and Juliet Lewis and smart Jewish lesbians with big mouths like her were struggling along. Poor hard- working Sandra. So, to sum up my evening with Sandra I would say that this woman has mucho courage, talent, and some crazy long legs. She is doing stand up comedy and social commentary like nothing you have ever seen and she fuckin’ wants your sup- port! Cool baby. Reviewed by Tristesse Seeliger Music Review John Zorn’s Masada at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, October 15 That night Isaw music. On the stage without amplification (Greg Cohen’s electric bass was amplified but that was it.) John Zorn on alto saxophone, Dave Douglas on trumpet, and Joey Baron on drums made music that was heavenly chaotic. Volcanically beautiful. I thought that jazz was a dead form and I thought low things about people who tried to pass themselves off as being practitioners of . I thought they were stupid, like anachronists, trying to relive a bygone time, but not the time as it really was but how they thought the time was. But music is music, par- ticularly when it’s pure. Zorn’s basic idea for this show was to impose the looser structure of free form jazz on his heritage of Jewish tunes. Melodies crept and wove themselves in and out of the miasma and sound took shape. The players wandered around the floor of the Cultch, their voices like ghosts, fading and then appearing. Zorn’s technique ranged from sublime and controlled to spastic and uncontained. He seemed to want to destroy the melody in places, to degenerate it until it was just barely recognizable and then to bring it back. Occasionally covering the horn’s mouth with his leg, he demonstrated the in- stinct to fix his instrument, to screw it up until it sounded like something else. Joey Baron’s virtuosity is obvious so I won’t dwell on it too much since you’ve probably heard something about it. Greg Cohen’s bass playing dwelled like a rock against which waves crash, contain- ing everything, allowing the others to show off. Dave Douglas provided the warp to Zorn’s weave, like the two guitars in Television. I guess this work is sort of traditional if you’re used to the idea of Zorn being some kind of zany skronk-meister but it contained just that right formula of balance and destruction as to be unpretentious. Hopefully, we’ll see some recorded manifestation of this particular branch of Zorn’s work since it provides a needed weight to counter his domestically available reputation as a noise prankster. Oh Sandra Well, I went off to the infa- mous Sandra Bernhard show on Friday night to see What this lady was all about. I feel that you can only tell what a performer is like if you see them live, and up ‘til Friday all I had ever seen Sandra in was films, magazine interviews and fashion photographs. So when she slowly sauntered on stage in her small silk dress singing a slow blues tune, I was excited. So, yes I would say that she is just as charismatic live as her many celluloid personas. As far as the performance went, the show was fueled on her menstrual energy which she was considerate enough to share with the audience ten minutes into the show. That’s kind of hip of her, you know, Cool, Sandra, thank you for talking about your period for all the women in the audience that need to feel that kind of freedom. Thanks for breaking down those old boring social boundaries that say we Can't, as superstars, talk about our periods. 1 sat amazed as she turned her audience into a emo- tional witness to her life stresses. She completely turned the idea of, “I'm the performer entertaining you the audience,” into,” I'm the celebrity and I'm going to rant about what ever the fuck I want to, and you paid 33-some-odd-dollars to let me do that.” I personally respect this woman for having the courage to try and pull it off. So, yes she sings through the entire show, and frankly “Jannys Got a Gun” by Arrowsmith never ment so much. Sandra has a flair for taking well known songs and the ideas around them and presenting them to you in a subversive fashion. The Rolling Stones, Barbara Streisand, Jimmy Hendrix, and Andrew Lloyd Webber are just a few artists that she fucks with. And lets face it, these peo- ple need some criticism. Thank god her singing has gotten somewhat better though, because there was a few moments that I felt I was being punished for something I didn’t do. Sandra also spoke on her Hollywood experiences. Frankly she didn’t sound very happy with the situation. All the roles were going to dumb white trash actresses like Patrica Arquette and Juliet Lewis and smart Jewish lesbians with big mouths like her were struggling along. Poor hard- working Sandra. So, to sum up my evening with Sandra I would say that this woman has mucho courage, talent, and some crazy long legs. She is doing stand up comedy and social commentary like nothing you have ever seen and she fuckin’ wants your sup- port! Cool baby. Reviewed by Tristesse Seliger