Film Works VIII: 1997
The first half ofFilm Works VIIIis devoted to the soundtrack forThe Port of Last Resort, a documentary about Jewish refugees escaping Germany in the '30s and emigrating to Shanghai. Much of the music in this section reflects the work on Zorn's Masada discs, except thatpipavirtuoso Min Xiao-Fen injects a Chinese undercurrent into the klezmer-tinged jazz. The second half reverberates with an introspective, noncarnivalesque, all-percussion score for the movieLatin Boys Go to Hell. While this might seem like an odd cinematic combination, the cross-pollination onFilm Works VIIIultimately produces a successful hybrid collection of world and film music.--Michael Woodring