John Zorn, Acoustic Masada live (Toronto day 1)

I timed my arrival in Toronto so that I could check out crazed saxophonist John Zorn's Acoustic Masada at the Downtown Jazz Festival, and last night I was repeatedly thanking myself.

(Toronto Life has a good brief explanation of what the project, and this most recent appearance, is about.)

Franciska and I both agreed—listening to John Zorn records would probably drive both of us crazy, but watching him live is better than watching just about any rock band that we can think of. It's all about surprising musicality, wit, and intensity. It's enough to make me wish I lived in New York so I could take in this sort of gig on a regular basis.

From where we were sitting ("orchestra left") we had a better view of trumpeter Dave Douglas than we did of Zorn, but that was just fine... he was amazing, as were Greg Cohen and Joey Baron on stand-up bass and drums.

Zorn!