Best Cover Band
February 9, 2014
Secret Chiefs 3 perform Masada
Duende, Oakland
I am a complete sucker for the Masada Book Two (Three) and other projects of its ilk: seeding creativity with small, catalytic instructions, taking risks with scale and monumentality. But in the end, playing Zorn compositions requires so much stone cold skill, that I often feel like I’m in a late 19th century surgical theater when I attend. It’s hard to hide my concern for the patient while everyone is being transported by the procedure. SC3 surprised me by not just operating but being operated upon by those compositions. They did this in the middle of another tour above a kitchen making heavenly plates of paella. It was infectious. Listen to it.