Afrobeat/Jewish Jam Band Zion80 Unleash WARRIORS EP & Ready John Zorn's Masada Book III: The Book Beriah (Chant/Tzadik Records)

Jon Madof is a New York-based guitarist, composer, producer, and founder of fittingly-described "Afrobeat-Latin-Jewish-Jam band" Zion80. Madof has previously formed a number of similarly-minded genre-eschewing bands including, but not limited to: Blivet, Rashanim, Ruthless Cosmopolitans with the emcee Eden Pearlstein, Nigun In Clave with Zion80 percussionist Marlon Sobol, and a number of solo projects attributed to "Jon Madof." Zion80's current line-up includes Madof on guitar, trumpet player Frank London, tenor saxophonist Greg Wall, baritone sax players Jessica Lurie & Zach Mayer, keyboardist Brian Marsella, guitarist Yoshie Fruchter, bass player Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, percussionist Marlon Sobol, and drummer Yuval Lion. Since forming in 2012, Zion80 has released two albums—one, Zion80 (2012) credited to "Jon Madof"—three EP's, and are currently, gearing up to unleash and album entitled John Zorn's Masada Book III: The Book Beriah on Tzadik Records this April. Zion80's latest, WARRIORS EP was 100% funded through a 2016-17 crowd-funded PledgeMusic campaign. It was released on Chant Records, a label imprint founded by Jon Madof and Zion80 bassist Shanir Blumenkranz.


Zion80's WARRIORS EP was recorded with master engineer James Dellatacoma at New Jersey-based Orange Music Studio, which is owned and operated by legendary producer and bass player Bill Laswell; "WARRIORS finds the band delving deeper into their singular mix of deep Afrobeat grooves, mystical Jewish melodies, and improvisational madness." Laswell has worked with everyone from Fab 5 Freddy to Sting and has produced albums for everyone from Herbie Hancock to Iggy Pop. Their first full-fledged in-studio release as Zion80, WARRIORS EP is an eclectic mix of styles and worldly sounds, which to my ear, evokes tones of Afrobeat, Paul Simon Graceland-esque Worldbeat/Tribal music, Jazz, Reggae, and even Hip-Hop. WARRIORS focuses primarily, on bandleader and guitarist Jon Madof's original compositions and features two Traditional Jewish covers the band has played live for years. Zion80's WARRIORS EP is currently available to stream or download on Bandcamp, through Chant Records, with physical CD and LP copies available directly from Zion80 on tour. Zion80's next full-length album, John Zorn's Masada Book III: The Book Beriah will be released this upcoming April on Zorn's Tzadik Records.