Steven Bernstein – Diaspora Suite (Tzadik, 2008)
The vast gulf between what Sex Mob and Radical Jewish Culture sound like when spoken as phrases don’t really reflect the music. While Bernstein led Sex Mob, and they were quite gritty, the hard bop and free jazz influences were apparent.
The label, Tzadik, working with Bernstein, has created a trio of recordings that collect various Semitic scales, melodies and general Jew ephemera while combining each with a junky jazz feel that more easily recalls coffee shops than schul.
It’s hard to gauge the interests gentiles may have in this series. The line-up here does include guitarist Nels Cline, which should draw a few uninitiated listeners. Despite this recording’s obvious market, the entirety of the affair is well structured and played.
Every track is seemingly (I’ve been remiss in studying the Torah lately) named for the disparate Tribes of Israel. And perhaps that’s the only distinction that these tracks need. “Yis May Chu” is present in a funk-rock manner and is probably the most recognizable melody on here to those who attend temple on Friday’s.
Beyond that though, these songs are structured in a fashion that increases the Semitic influence as each ensues. To begin the album, a guitar squeal flowers into the melody adding a ghostly texture to the traditional sounding progression and moving improvisational solos.
The improvisational aspect to this, and every Bernstein outing, pushes each track forward as the listener knowingly awaits whatever freedom the players can muster. That alone should be an incentive to listeners, but if not, just wait and Bernstein will probably be involved in another project not involving these particular religious or cultural aspects.
