Tanz



Released: 2000

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Liner Notes


Produced by Tim Sparks
Executive Producer - John Zorn
Associate Producer - Kazunori Sugiyama
Recorded June 4, 2000 by David Baker at Orange Music, NJ
Mastered by Allan Tucker at Foothill Digital, NYC
K2 Technology by JVC Disc America
Design - Hueng-Hueng Chin

A huge thank you to John Zorn for his patience and help, and introducing me to some of the great soups of lower Manhattan. Big thanks also to Kazunori Sugiyama for calmly juggling all the last minute details and keeping track of everyone and everything.

Thanks also to David Baker, Allan Tucker, Hueng-Hueng Chin, to Melissa Caruso Scott, Michelle Casillas, and all the folks at Tonic, to Charlie Homans and Joe Kim at WKCR, John Schaefer at WNYC and Hugh Blackmer for his notes on Tanst Yidelekh.

Special thanks to Greg Cohen and obrigado to Cyro Baptista. This was our first musical outing together and their musical monstrosity was exceeded only by their profound warmth and generosity (and willingness to play my Balkanized arrangements in odd time signatures.) We recorded this in an old studio in Jersey that was originally used by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, so John Zorn would break into a refrain from Rag Doll whenever our spirits needed lifting. We had a good time and I hope you enjoy the Tanz.

Rabbi Abraham Yaakov said:

Every people has its own melody, and none sings that of another. But Israel sings all of them, in order to bring them to G-d.

Once when Rabbi Bunam honored a man in his House of Prayer by asking him to blow the ram's horn, and the fellow began to make lengthy preparations to concentrate on the meaning of the sounds, the tzadik cried out: "Fool, go ahead and blow!"
- from Tales of the Hasidim by Martin Buber


ADDITIONAL NOTES

Track list

1. Wie Bist Die Gewesen Vor Prohibition?
   (What Were You Doing During Prohibition?) by Naftule Brandwein 3:53
2. Min Khatrat (Do Not Walk at Night)
   by Sham'a Avakam, Jewish-Yeminite trad. 4:16
3. Bolgarskii Zhok (Bulgar Dance)
   Rumanian trad. 3:25
4. Araber Tanz
   by Naftule Brandwein 3:56
5. Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl
   (The Most Conceited of All ) Yiddish trad. 4:53
6. Der Terk In America
   by Naftule Brandwein 4:51
7. Fufzehn Yahr Fon Der Heim Awek
   (Fifteen Years Away From Home) by Naftule Brandwein 3:26
8. Hila Wasa
   Karamanji Azdro, Judeo-Kurdish trad. 2:53
9. Aji Tu Yorma?
   (Where Are You My Lover?) Dagestan, Judeo-Azeri trad. 4:27
10. Tanst, Tanst Yidelekh
    (Dance Little Yid) Yiddish trad. 3:02
11. Gut Morgn
    (Good Morning) Yiddish trad. 2:22
12. Ayumati Te'Orer Ha-Yesheinim
    (The Holy Prescence Awakens the Sleepers) Jewish-Yeminite Manakha trad. 2:47
13. La Rosa Enflorece
    (The Rose in Bloom) Anonymous, Balkan Sephardic trad. 4:29

Reviews

Fingerstyle guitarist Tim Sparks continues to explore the underlying connections in world music on this beautifully played and recorded CD of Jewish music from around the world - his second recording for John Zorn's Tzadik label. On Tanz, Sparks is joined by bassist Greg Cohen and percussionist Cyro Baptista for music that is adventurous and rich with melodies and odd meters. Sparks' studies in world music allow him to trace Jewish musical influences through the cultures of Brazil, Mexico, Yemen, the Balkans, Africa, and Spain, and the result is reflected in his mastery of these difficult musical forms. - Gary Joyner, Acoustic Guitar, August 2001

Links:

Rootsworld
Alternate Music Press
One Final Note

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