Jenny Scheinman - Shalagaster (2004)

Tzadik: TZ 7709
http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=7709
http://www.tzadik.com/volume.php?VolumeID=109

* Jenny Scheinman: violin
* Myra Melford: piano, harmonium
* Russ Johnson: trumpet
* Trevor Dunn: bass
* Kenny Wollesen: drums

http://www.jennyscheinman.com/
http://www.myramelford.com/
http://www.russjohnsonmusic.com/
http://www.trevordunn.net/
http://www.wollesonic.com/

Recorded by Sascha Von Oertzen at Systems 11,
Brooklyn, NY, on June 25 & 26, 2003.

Reviews
~~~~~~~

By Thom Jurek
http://www.allmusic.com/album/shalagaster-mw0000331122

Violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman has done it again on Shalagaster, her
sophomore effort for John Zorn's Tzadik label. With a quintet which includes
pianist Myra Melford, drummer Kenny Wollesen, bassist Trevor Dunn, and
trumpeter Ross Johnson, Scheinman wrote ten of the 11 tunes here, which range
from klezmer-influenced classical music as it encounters jazz in the modern
world -- "Wiseacre" -- to muted, loopy, tango bliss-outs ("Tango for Luna"), to
the strange country-song-influenced and arcane "New View of the Horse," to the
shimmering glissandi of jazz harmony and arrangement in "American Dipper."
Melford's pianism adds depth and dimension to this set; she cavorts with
Scheinman's compositions, yet never attempts to trademark them with her own
notable style. She sings them with comps, fills, or direct harmonic
confrontations. On "Nigun," Scheinman's violin creates the place of erased
history as she drones through Melford's contrapuntal drone and melody that
seems to come from the heart of Jewish antiquity. But this is not "out"
music. It is warm, true sounding, and brilliant in its scope. The arrangements
are lovely, even moving; and Ms. Scheinman's compositions carry within them the
mystery, history, heartbreak, and humor of the American experience as lived
through one at the margins of culture, race, ideology, style, and
spirituality.

--

By Mark Corroto
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/shalagaster-jenny-scheinman-tzadik-review-by-mark-corroto.php

By Celeste Sunderland
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/shalagaster-jenny-scheinman-tzadik-review-by-celeste-sunderland.php

By Aaron Steinberg
http://jazztimes.com/articles/15156-shalagaster-jenny-scheinman