With her fantastic voice, Sofía Rei has often added color to John Zorn’s singing projects, such as the a-cappella quartet Mycale. Now she interprets songs from his album The Book Beri’ah Vol. 1 – Keter, together with her partner J.C. Maillard, on the exceptional saz-bass. From lyrical ballads to energetic grooves: the duo shaped the compositions themselves. Rei wrote the texts about love, loneliness, her childhood during the Argetine dictatorship and the spirit of Frida Kahlo.
Composer John Zorn has been working on his Masada series for 25 years. Now and then he adds a chapter, each time full of melodic songs that refer to the Jewish tradition. He initially wrote them for the musicians around him. Musicians from the New York downtown scene such as Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot. Later, well-known names such as Pat Metheny and Medeski, Martin & Wood were added. With The Book Beri’ah he has reached the final chapter of the series.
The European maestros Hermia, Darrifourcq and Ceccaldi freely deal with different styles and cultures, in a special line-up: tenor sax, cello and drums. Valentin Ceccaldi is the great cello promise of Europe. He is active in both classical orchestras and jazz ensembles. He knows drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq from the Parisian Tricollectif, who previously collaborated with improvisers such as Emile Parisien, Joëlle Léandre and Marc Ducret. Saxophonist Manuel Hermia incorporates sounds from all over the world in his playing, always with that recognizable primal scream of free jazz.
“Insanely tight compositions. Ceccaldi and Darrifourcq formed the backbone, with a play that combines churned chamber music and contemporary composition with influences such as Tom Cora, Univers Zero and punk energy. Repeated motifs are gradually brought to the boil or varied, so that Hermia ends up in a seat and tenor and soprano sax can drape his long lines over that surface. A masterful band “(Enola.be)
Sofia Rei vocals, J.C. Maillard saz
Manuel Hermia sax, Valentin Ceccaldi cello, Sylvain Darrifourcq drums
