Uri Caine - Moloch: Book Of Angels, Vol. 6

2006 release

Six is a balanced number. There is no tipping it into the ether. Therefore, Uri Caine's volume in John Zorn's second Masada book, Moloch is the perfect sixth. It is a series of 19 short solo piano pieces from just under two minutes to just over six. They range from jazz, classical and near stride pieces -- sometime in the same selection, as in "Segef" -- to mysterious pieces with Jewish folk melodies inserted into their spines: "Kebriel," "Cassiel" and "Sabriel" all come to mind. In addition to Zorn's compositions, Caine's sense of playfulness and drama is everywhere present. He is a jazz and roots music pianist almost non pareil. One question is whether this record is as outside and manic, say, as Koby Israelite's brilliant volume four, Orobas, is. No, it's not. It's a bit more mysterious, a lot more elliptical and conventionally "melodic," whatever that means. Israelite's Orobas was as stunning an interpretation of Zorn's Masada work as there is. 
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek