Nine; Paniots 9 (2009)

Mating open-form jazz improvisation with klezmer music, John Zorn's band Masada has made some of the most rousing and individual recordings of the '90s — Nine, featuring the exceptional trumpeter Dave Douglas, is another winner. Proving there's nothing new under the sun, though, is the rereleased Paniots 9, a wildly inventive ethnic-music-meets-free-jazz excursion first recorded in 1963. Maneri's uninhibited sax and clarinet work on Greek- and Jewish-inspired musical themes triumphs over this revelatory recording's lo-fi sound. Both: B