Hadasha live at The Roundy

Cork Music Collective presents: Hadasha 9pm, 26th July, Upstairs at The Roundy Tonight’s CMC Presents gig in the Roundy was Hadasha, playing from John Zorn’s work, Masada. Hadasha are a relatively new group, having played together only once before this. However, that must have been some gig as half the crowd here tonight was made up of audience members from that earlier gig. Two gigs and already they have groupies – not bad! The start was simple enough – a 3-note bass riff under wandering guitar, which changed imperceptibly to be a simple guitar riff under the bass. It took a little time for it to ripple through the crowd that the gig had started but by the time the kaleidoscope of sound, which was the second number, took off, so did the gig and the crowd was hooked. And a liquid sax solo leads into rocking kosher funk. Masada or The Masada Book is a group of over 200 songs, which started as a group written for the soundtrack of the film Thieve’s Quartet. To quote Zorn himself, and to give you some sort of handle on what was being played here tonight, “The idea with Masada is to produce a sort of radical Jewish music, a new Jewish music which is not the traditional one in a different arrangement, but music for the Jews of today.” The result is what this reviewer can only describe as a snake charmer at a Jewish wedding. Work with me here. It’s swirling, hypnotic, throbbing, languid… These are snake charmers with rhythm, with a backbeat you can dance to, albeit a swirling, swaying dance, but you will applaud at the end. Hell, if you’re anything like last night’s crowd, you’ll be a’whoopin’ and a’hollerin’ too. Like any good wedding, this gig starts off sedate and gets noisier and stroppier as it progresses but unlike a good wedding, it retains a structure and coherency. It’s different, I’ll grant them that. It’s also good. Really good. They will be playing the Tiki Lounge and the Jazz Festival in the not too dim and distant future. Check these guys out! Hadasha: Gary Baus (saxaphone) Andrea Bonino (guitar) Matteo Salafrica (bass) Tomas Gall (drums)