John Zorn Music

"Yod" is the last studio recording released by John Zorn's Masada (Zorn- alto sax, composer, Dave Douglas- trumpet, Greg Cohen- bass, Joey Baron- drums), an ensemble playing songs from a book Zorn wrote of melodies using the traditional Jewish scales and performed in a fashion largely reminiscent of the classic Ornette Coleman quartet. The performances rely on the strength of interaction between the musicians and powerful performances are often turned out, this album is no exception.

One thing that becomes readily notably is how overt the klezmer influence is-- whereas it was more a sound or feel in the past records, tracks like "Hashmal", "Tevel" and "Zevul" sound very much like traditional klezner pieces. Even the overt jazz sound oriented by the performance arrangement seems somewhat minimized. With this aspect so greatly influenced, one that has receded is the Carl Stalling influence on the performances-- Zorn's love of cartoon music is widely known, and this project has often exhibited freer, cartoony improvs. Here, only the brief (and unessential "Kilayim") walks in that domain. But really, its neither of these sounds that are of great interest on this record.

Instead, there's a darkness that pervades some of the works, an urgency that comes forth on pieces like the explosive "Ruach", the mounrful "Yechida" and the extended "Abrakala". "Ruach" opens the record with a screech and a fierceness that often pervades Zorn's work before settling into a groove. But it maintains a power to the performance that is uncommon even in Masada. "Yechida" is a soft, mournful piece, opening with a trumpet cadence gently responded to by Zorn before a march beat comes in an Zorn wails away bluesy and really cuts loose even of his own style. Simply amazing. But "Abrakala" may be the most compelling of these-- it takes several minutes to go anywhere, with a slow theme statement and a darkness to the performance as all four subtley express a tension that never gets released-- you wait for the explosion, but it never comes.

All told, there's better Masada pieces, but this one has quite a bit of merit to it. I find that as a whole this one is largely not that rewarding, but there's a couple key pieces that are fantastic. Don't start here, but come back to it when you've become familiar with the band's work, its quite rewarding in its own right.

Masada 8 is my favorite out of the series (I do have all ten - and all the live ones too for that matter) but this is a close second. Masada 7 and 9 are also very good. Buy it today - you won't be sorry. The performances by all are on fire!!!

This is, simply, yet another great Masada CD. The band are showing no sign of flagging. They're in fact becoming prolific enough that it's getting hard to differentiate between releases; each disc -- other than the abbreviated, cheap number four -- has equal parts of freeish raucousness, and playful, living jazz inspired by Jewish traditions, played by four superb jazzmen and lasting for around an hour; this disc is no exception. My favorite remains Masada seven, which somehow hooked me deeper than the rest, but... Anyhow, if you're considering adding number ten to your collection, I assure you, there's no reason not to. If you've never heard Masada, this is as good a disc to start from as any.

In the 1980s, John Zorn recorded a number of projects as tributes to some of his favorite musicians-- "Voodoo" as part of the Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet, his Ennio Morricone tribute "The Big Gundown", aggressive takes on Ornette Coleman on "Spy vs. Spy" and the News for Lulu project. Consisting of Zorn on alto sax, George Lewis on trombone, and Bill Frisell on guitar, this unusual trio tackles hardbop compositions. "More News for Lulu" is a pair of live concerts from Paris and Basel (Switzerland).

What is imemdiately noticable is the extraordinary use of space between these three-- without the benefit of drums or bass, this unusual trio makes implies rhythm and beats with open space, be it melody-countermelody from the horns or Frisell's nimble accompaniment of them. It is, however, this that makes the record somewhat inaccessible-- the playing stays pretty far inside but the sound is unusual.

My only complaint, and reflected by my rating of these recordings, is the sound quality, particularly on the Paris show where Frisell is mixed way too low. This recording is in serious need of some remastering. This would also increase its availability, which is extraordinarily limited.

In any event though, this is more than worth seeking out. Highly recommended.

Even for John Zorn, this one manages remarkable diversity-- essentially, I've likened "Taboo & Exile" to Naked City, only with moods held. Rather than jumping from one mood to the next to the next to the next in the course of a two and a half minute song, Zorn sustains feels and moods for the entire length of a piece. The result of Zorn's compositions, when combined with the stunning array of talented musicians contributing, is amazing. Somehow, this may be the best place to start looking at Zorn's work-- it certainly encompasses his many interests, but because ideas are allowed to develop, it presents them in an easier to digest fashion.

While the album is set up to provide a story (or perhaps to serve as a soundtrack without a movie?), I'm going to discuss the pieces instead with respect to the ensembles that play them-- there are several groups that perform on the various tracks.

The Masada String Trio (Mark Feldman on violin, Erik Friedlander on cello, and Greg Cohen on bass) are very prevelent in this music, either performing by themselves or with others. This is really always a good thing, as these three gentlemen are masters of their instrument and have a virtually psychic bond. The pieces they perform on alone ("Mayim" and "Makkot") both sound like they could have been lifted from the Masada songbook-- they've both got that sort of Eastern European meets jazz played by chamber musicians feel that the string trio has. "Mayim" is somewhat unique in that the improv section contains a rather drastic and powerful arco attack by Feldman and Friedlander that is among the best they've recorded, and "Makkot" features some of the trademark pizzicato work the trio does so well.

The trio also appears on two songs with keyboardist Jamie Saft and percussionist Cyro Baptista. The album's opener, "In the Temple of Hadjirim", uses the trio and organ as a drone over percussion whilst a simple melody is stated on piano. The effect of this near-ambient statement is startling, especially given the expectation of Zorn as a noisemaker (the good news is, the second track on the record gets us to our expectations, see "Sacrifist", below). The breezy "Zeraim", a great little tune by the same ensemble, conforms more to the string trio's sound, but is enhanced nicely by soft percussion and piano line, its actually one of the nicest pieces on "Taboo & Exile", really superb.

Another group we see a couple of times on this one consists of guitarists Fred Frith and Marc Ribot, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Dave Lombardo. As one would expect with a former Slayer drummer and two muscular guitarists, the two tracks they feature on ("Sacrifist" and "Chaalapalassi") are more rock-oriented, but actually more in the vein of King Crimson-esque improvs. One piece is droning metal, the other is a bubbling improv that eventually boils into a structured improv over the course of ten and a half minutes. The same group, minus Ribot, but with Zorn's sax, plays a much more structured Zorn wailing over rock rhythm section piece that could have fit in easily among the Naked City material.

The final group appearing on more than one track is Cyro Baptista and drummer Joey Baron, playing the circular, funky, percussion piece "Oryojang" in two parts-- this one for me actually screams for a lead which it lacks. Its a great piece with a nice groove, but I'd love to hear a guitar or horn over it. Then again, I suspect mood was the point, rather than coherency.

A couple more tracks associate together not by the musicians that play on them, but by their style. "Bulls-eye" is a punky, surfish piece, with a shouted lead vocal and Beach Boysesque harmony lines courtesy of Mike Patton, punky surf guitar from Robert Quine (lead) and Marc Ribot (rhythm), and anchored by Chris Wood and Sim Cain. This is actually another favorite of mine of this record, its a lot of fun and punk energy. The other surf piece, "A Tiki For Blue", featuring Ribot on guitar, Saft on organ, Greg Cohen on bass, and Robert Rodriguez on percussion, has a cooled out, laid back, churning feel. Another great piece, Ribot really was born to play Zorn's music.

The only other piece, "Oracle", features a wordless, half sung vocal by Miho Halori, featuring Saft, Friedlander and Baptista as accompaniment, it has the feeling of a wind-down and is almost trancelike in its arrangement.

I realize this review told you very little about the quality of the music, but rest assure, the material is all incredible. Its diversity and stellar performance is what leads one to this impression-- like Naked City, every time you think you know what to expect on the record, Zorn throws another curve ball at you. One thing about John Zorn that lets him do this is that he really excels at moving between styles, and he brings with him an array of musicians that really is without compare.

If you're unfamiliar with John Zorn's work, this or "Naked City" is a good place to start. If you know Zorn and don't have this, you should get it if either Naked City or the Masada work is of interest to you. Highly recommended.

John Zorn is a guy I've been known to slag off from time to time as a bit of a dabbler, a dilletante, a charlatan, a shaman, a jack of all trades and master of none - you name it. But there's no denying that the little ultra-independent musical world he's set up for himself is something to be admired, and occasionally the musical results are also stunning. For my two cents, "Taboo and Exile" is one of his best.

Firstly, it features almost everything in his ouvre - avant-garde classical, klezmer, lounge, free jazz, noise, hardcore/grind and much more - but more importantly the selection of material is choice. Unlike other Zorn albums, the disparity of styles doesn't work against it, the jarring differences smoothing over into what actually sounds like a proper, thematic album; and also, the tracks are allowed a certain length of time to develop the material, unlike some of Zorn's 30-second blasts that litter a few of his lesser albums (that schtick was pretty cool in '91, but wore its welcome out long ago, I say).

So anyway, you get free-jazz squawks, hardcore blasts, percussive workouts and chamber pieces all complemented by the ace musicianship of folks like Bob Quine, Fred Frith, Marc Ribot, Dave Lombardo, Cyro Baptista and others, and all wrapped up in the ultra-fancy packaging you've come to expect from Tzadik. Mr. Zorn has been on a bit of a winning streak the last few years with his releases, and "Taboo & Exile" is definitely an excellent place to start.

This is a truly eclectic collection of Zorn compositions with different combos of musicians who've often worked with him providing a cornucopia of sounds. Some of the players are Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Joey Baron, Marc Ribot, Mark Feldman, Greg Cohen, Robert Quine, Mike Patton, and Eric Friedlander, to mention only those with whom I was already familiar. The stark contrasts between the combos and the compositions may bother some listeners who are fans of only a limited segment of Zorn's oevre, but to me, this is a wonderful sampler that belongs in the collections of true Zorn fans of which I am most certainly one.

John Zorn often has a tendency to produce rather scatalogical works with little rhyme or reason to their (lack of) flow. Taboo and Exile reflects this to some extent, but it sound less like a saxophonist suffering from ADD and rather has a pleasant continuity amongst its varied compositions. Being the second in the "New Romance Series," this release has a certain flare about it, occasionally capturing the same tenderness of Antonio Carlos Jobim ("In the Temple of Hadjarim," "Zeraim"). Other tracks are more in the math-rock vein of Ruins or perhaps Naked City, while others are more in the string-quartet approach of the Masada catalogue or Kristallnacht. Zorn himself only performs on one piece, while the lineup revolves on each track otherwise. All of these things considered, Taboo and Exile works surprisingly well as an album rather than a disparate collection of moodswings. Perhaps the best Zorn release I've heard in the last few years, with the exception of the live Masada releases.

This is the second volume in John Zorn's Music Romance series. The first album, _Music for Children_, was a diverse work expressing the dark aspects of childhood. Naked-City-style pieces, music box themes, eerie chamber music, wind machines, and more were featured, all musically exploring the album themes. Despite the musical diversity, it fit together quite nicely. _Taboo & Exile_ seems to have a theme presented by the packaging that may or may not be reflected in the music, I have no idea at this point. Beneath the dark album jacket is a bizarrely sexualized photo of a little Japanese girl, even though if you stop and think about it it's not actually sexual in any way in and of itself. So it's a rather striking way of distinguishing between innocence and maturity-adulthood-experience. Actually, reading that Jazziz review Amazon gives us on this page informed me about the "image of Saveur St. Cyr's temple skull tied to a small chair with whip" and I will have to look into that. In any case I haven't made any connection between the package and the music yet. Musically, the album is exotic, darkly sensual, and sad (hmmm). Some of the songs highlight a sense of contrast. For example, "Zeraim" is a remarkable Mediterranean-esque piece for piano, percussion, and strings. Here Zorn shows an ability to hide great complexity and rhythmic variation in melodies that remain pleasant and catchy. "In the Temple of Hadjarim", with mellow free piano and primitivist percussion, is like the integration of intersubjectively foreign Jazz concepts, East meets West. There is "The Possessed" also, a slow, assaultive which conveys great aggression despite its often-minimalist, rapid melodic fragments. The build-up on this one is very intense, and it is the only song Zorn himself plays on, and he contributes some vicious sax. On "Sacrifist", Lombardo's thrash-metal speed comes in handy for an urgent percussion backdrop for the roaring, monster guitars of Fred Frith and Marc Ribot and thick bass feedback from Bill Laswell. This song is quite noisy and frightening yet completely enslaves your attention because it is AWESOME. "Thaalapalassi", with the same lineup as "Sacrifist", is an eerie, primal buildup from pointillism to beastly screeching. It then retreats into the Hellish realm from which it came. Another reviewer on this page described it as "ambient heavy metal" and I wholeheartedly agree with that. "Makkot" and "Mayim" are scored for Eric Friedlander on cello, Mark Feldman on violin, and Greg Cohen on bass -- they are very twisty Masada-esque pieces and they are very good. "Oracle" is a strange, mellow track with a Cyro Baptista percussion loop being run under plucked cello, feather-light organ, and childlike Japanese vocals from Miho Hatori. "Koryojang", a hypnotic percussion duet between Cyro Baptista and Joey Baron, appears twice -- once in its full six-minute form and once as a short reprise with the added tag "end credits" for the final track. End credits for WHAT, I have no idea. From these descriptions (assuming they are coherent), you would be right in thinking this album is very diverse. However, it hangs together _very_ well, much like _Music for Children_ did. But maybe it's more of a metaphysical link than a musical one. "Bulls-Eye", with Mike Patton screaming over a catchy rock groove, doesn't seem to fit but I still like it. Oh, and for anyone who has _Music for Children_ and thinks "Cycles du Nord" was the worst thing ever, you will be happy to know there are no sound sculptures or other whack avant-garde compositions on this album. (Hey, I actually *like* "Cycles du Nord", but anyway you cut it, it IS a song made of wind.) Okay, bad enough that this review is all one paragraph, it probably doesn't even make SENSE. But really, For Zorn newbies and the hardcore fan, this is beautiful, excellent stuff. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This album is a bit of an enigma-- John ZOrn and Yamantaka Eye in duet typically perform with a fire and energy quite uncommonly found-- this record instead is largely an ambient album, with atmosphere and noise synthesis far outweighing energy.

This isn't to say there's not quite a bit of interesting music on here, opener "Eep Man", featuring lounge sax and Eye's punctuated screams is certainly catching, and "Propoltion" is fantastic, but mostly its Eye chanting ("Test Tube"), moaning ("Thank You For Not Thinking", "Pulp Wars"), babbling ("Damascus") or whimpering ("Yoga Dollar") over samples and ambient sounds. And then there's the infamous "Bad Hawkwind"-- 18 minutes of sampled and looped Eye screaming that seems kind of amusing at first but starts grating.

Its not a bad album, but its not particularly good either-- if you're interested in exploring the partnership of these two, check out the live set thats part of the Zorn 50th birthday concert series.

25 minutes of really good Eye and Zorn. The 18 minute Bad Hawkwind however is just plain bad. 18 minutes of hardly changing white noise. I like stuff like Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music and the first two Earth CDs, that noise is interesting, the song Bad Hawkwind is just plain boring. The rest of the CD is great, if you don't mind buying the CD for about 25 minutes of music.

Well, I learned a new Japanese word today. Went fishing with a student and, as we bounced along in his uncle's van over a gravel track, they talked about the road being "dekoboko." Dekoboko Hajime, Zorn's alias here, thus translates into something like BUMPY START. Cute. Anyhow, yeah, er, I don't actually dig this disc so much. "Bad Hawkwind," Eye's screams looped over and over, lasts for something like 18 minutes, and just really isn't at all interesting -- it sounds sort of like wind whistling through a hole in your inner ear. The other cuts on the disc are okay, and some, like "Yoga Dollar," are pretty unique -- much more textural than I'd've expected from these two, and if I recall they actually have a sitar on it... But I NEVER play this disc all the way through. Buy it used, maybe, or after you have all that OTHER essential Zorn stuff already in your collection, y'know?

A collaboration between Zorn and eYe from Boredoms fame. This album is more focused on eYe's noodlings rather than Zorn's crafty sax work. Masada this is not as anyone familar with the Boredoms can imagine. Lots of screaming and mumbling from eYe with one of my personal highlights being the 18 min. scream on Bad Hawkwind. This track will soon become a favorite of any neighbor within range.

A must have for any Boredoms fan.

I hate having to write a review like this,especially when I'm a fan of Zorn's other work and groups like Boredoms/Ruins/Melt Banana.Inevitably you will find useless reviews here where close minded people go on and on about how THIS IS THE WORST ALBUM EVER!!THIS IS NOT MUSIC!IT"S JUST NOISE!!!

Funny how these people can tolerate actual"noise"artists like Merzbow,Masonna,etc.and think Melt Banana is"NOT MUSIC!!!!"

Anyway,the point is,this album should have been much better than what these guys gave us.Zorn is a legendary avant sax player/composer and Eye Yamataka cut one hell of a path through the world of audio art with Boredoms.

This is nothing but two guys,probably on limited time schedules,messing around with instruments and toys and recording EVERYTHING without a second thought.There are some interesting ideas on here,but they are rushed.The whole thing sounds like a big joke.Bad Hawkwind,as other reviews have noted,is garbage.18 minutes of virtually unchanging looped screams by Eye.Letting Eye scream in different ways and THEN splicing the results together with some dynamic shifts would have been a better idea.

Initially I thought this album would be just Zorn on sax and Eye on vocals,the two improvising as they did on a few tracks from Zorn's legendary Naked City album Heretic.

A whole album of Zorn and Eye improvising,screeching sax and screeching vocals would have been much better and a more acceptable artistic product than this wast of tape.

Preview the tracks yourself and decide,otherwise,I say,don't waste your money.Buy any of the early Naked City albums instead.

I've got about 30 Zorn CDs--News For Lulu is on my must-have essential Zorn list. It's a very hard bopping jazz trio. Not a lot of improvised noise going on here, but really incredible musicianship and excellent playing.

The live version is likewise incredible. Very unusual mix of instrumentation as well--guitar, Zorn's alto sax, trombone. But man, does it work! Very listenable, and very different from anything else I've heard from Zorn.

Three excellent musicians on the top of their playing, freely interprete compostions of boppers Sonny Clark, Freddie Redd, Kenny Dorham and Hank Mobley, always with an incredible sense of trio improvisation.

John Zorn, Bill Frisell, and a trombone player! No disrespect to George Lewis, I'm just not familiar with his work. But all three musicians distinguish themselves on the exciting CD. Anyone looking for a contemporary take on Bop and Soul Jazz from the top players in the game today need look no further. Import contains three stellar live tracks. Some of John Zorn's most accessible playing, but still maintains his unique flavor and sparkle. A real must have for Zorn fans, but also for fans of Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, or Kenny Dorham, whose works are all interpeted here.

One of the things I've noted over the years is a seeming lack of desire amongst people to hear music with a personal identity-- think about the old "downtown"/"uptown" jazz divide that was a big deal in the Jazz press years ago-- John Zorn, et.al. explore, push boundaries, and find new ways of expression, Wynton Marsalis and his cohorts make jazz into a self-reflective art, ignoring later innovations, later musics, and just performing in old styles, sometimes just playing old songs. And mind you, this isn't just limited to jazz-- Beethoven sells better than any modern composer as orchestra after orchestra re-records his pieces letter perfect (no slight against Beethoven, I'm rather fond of him) while modern composers struggle to sell a thousand records, and in rock music, the Rolling Stones manage to sell out tour after tour playing hits from 30-40 years ago without having made a coherent and legitimate music statement in longer than I have been alive.

As such, when I approached "News for Lulu", it was with much trepidation. John Zorn does bebop, everyone loves it. I've heard since I first started listening to Zorn that I should check this out, its fantastic, and whatnot. Of course, it's also out of print, and unlike Zorn's other bebop excursion (The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet), it sells for a small fortune. The truth is that I'm not one for looking backward, and all my favorite musicians pushed in new directions their entire careers and didn't look back even at their own catalog and influences, and when they did, it was like Zorn's "Naked City", looking backward to get forward.

The truth is, I shouldn't've worried so much about "News for Lulu"-- it deserves the praise it gets. This isn't a bebop project really, John Zorn (blowing alto exclusively by this point in his career) is joined by trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell in this trio, dedicated to exploring the compositions of Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, and Freddie Redd. The songs are great-- these are some relatively obscure hard bop composers, and Zorn doesn't even pick the more well known pieces by them. The music itself is stunning-- without a conventional rhythm section, there's a need for forced inventiveness, with horns often taking the roll of bass, Frisell covering endless ground comping behind the horns, and space being used to imply the sort of rhythmic structures that would typically be stated by a drummer. It very much is a record as much about what's not there as what is.

Straight from the opener, "KD's Motion", you know what you're getting into-- all three play fantastically, twisting around each other, and exercising great subtlety. And certainly the voices of all three players shine pretty brightly throughout, with each taking spotlight now and again. Personal favorites include the loose "Lotus Blossom" featuring opposing lines that meet now and again to form coherent statements, the dueling solos on "Ole" and the bluesy and super "Sonny's Crib"-- Lewis wails, Zorn digs in, and Frisell is just a monster.

So yes, it's Zorn plays hard bop, but it's really so much more than that. My only complaint is that this recording really could use some remastering-- the sound isn't as thin as the live recording, but the production bears a lack of preparation for CD. Nonethelss, this is essential Zorn, it's really a shame its not more readily available. Highly recommended.

One of the things I've noted over the years is a seeming lack of desire amongst people to hear music with a personal identity-- think about the old "downtown"/"uptown" jazz divide that was a big deal in the Jazz press years ago-- John Zorn, et.al. explore, push boundaries, and find new ways of expression, Wynton Marsalis and his cohorts make jazz into a self-reflective art, ignoring later innovations, later musics, and just performing in old styles, sometimes just playing old songs. And mind you, this isn't just limited to jazz-- Beethoven sells better than any modern composer as orchestra after orchestra re-records his pieces letter perfect (no slight against Beethoven, I'm rather fond of him) while modern composers struggle to sell a thousand records, and in rock music, the Rolling Stones manage to sell out tour after tour playing hits from 30-40 years ago without having made a coherent and legitimate music statement in longer than I have been alive.

As such, when I approached "News for Lulu", it was with much trepidation. John Zorn does bebop, everyone loves it. I've heard since I first started listening to Zorn that I should check this out, its fantastic, and whatnot. Of course, it's also out of print, and unlike Zorn's other bebop excursion (The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet), it sells for a small fortune. The truth is that I'm not one for looking backward, and all my favorite musicians pushed in new directions their entire careers and didn't look back even at their own catalog and influences, and when they did, it was like Zorn's "Naked City", looking backward to get forward.

The truth is, I shouldn't've worried so much about "News for Lulu"-- it deserves the praise it gets. This isn't a bebop project really, John Zorn (blowing alto exclusively by this point in his career) is joined by trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell in this trio, dedicated to exploring the compositions of Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, and Freddie Redd. The songs are great-- these are some relatively obscure hard bop composers, and Zorn doesn't even pick the more well known pieces by them. The music itself is stunning-- without a conventional rhythm section, there's a need for forced inventiveness, with horns often taking the roll of bass, Frisell covering endless ground comping behind the horns, and space being used to imply the sort of rhythmic structures that would typically be stated by a drummer. It very much is a record as much about what's not there as what is.

Straight from the opener, "KD's Motion", you know what you're getting into-- all three play fantastically, twisting around each other, and exercising great subtlety. And certainly the voices of all three players shine pretty brightly throughout, with each taking spotlight now and again. Personal favorites include the loose "Lotus Blossom" featuring opposing lines that meet now and again to form coherent statements, the dueling solos on "Ole" and the bluesy and super "Sonny's Crib"-- Lewis wails, Zorn digs in, and Frisell is just a monster.

So yes, it's Zorn plays hard bop, but it's really so much more than that. My only complaint is that this recording really could use some remastering-- the sound isn't as thin as the live recording, but the production bears a lack of preparation for CD. Nonethelss, this is essential Zorn, it's really a shame its not more readily available. Highly recommended.

I've got about 30 Zorn CDs--News For Lulu is on my must-have essential Zorn list. It's a very hard bopping jazz trio. Not a lot of improvised noise going on here, but really incredible musicianship and excellent playing.

The live version is likewise incredible. Very unusual mix of instrumentation as well--guitar, Zorn's alto sax, trombone. But man, does it work! Very listenable, and very different from anything else I've heard from Zorn.

Three excellent musicians on the top of their playing, freely interprete compostions of boppers Sonny Clark, Freddie Redd, Kenny Dorham and Hank Mobley, always with an incredible sense of trio improvisation.

John Zorn, Bill Frisell, and a trombone player! No disrespect to George Lewis, I'm just not familiar with his work. But all three musicians distinguish themselves on the exciting CD. Anyone looking for a contemporary take on Bop and Soul Jazz from the top players in the game today need look no further. Import contains three stellar live tracks. Some of John Zorn's most accessible playing, but still maintains his unique flavor and sparkle. A real must have for Zorn fans, but also for fans of Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, or Kenny Dorham, whose works are all interpeted here.

One of the things I've noted over the years is a seeming lack of desire amongst people to hear music with a personal identity-- think about the old "downtown"/"uptown" jazz divide that was a big deal in the Jazz press years ago-- John Zorn, et.al. explore, push boundaries, and find new ways of expression, Wynton Marsalis and his cohorts make jazz into a self-reflective art, ignoring later innovations, later musics, and just performing in old styles, sometimes just playing old songs. And mind you, this isn't just limited to jazz-- Beethoven sells better than any modern composer as orchestra after orchestra re-records his pieces letter perfect (no slight against Beethoven, I'm rather fond of him) while modern composers struggle to sell a thousand records, and in rock music, the Rolling Stones manage to sell out tour after tour playing hits from 30-40 years ago without having made a coherent and legitimate music statement in longer than I have been alive.

As such, when I approached "News for Lulu", it was with much trepidation. John Zorn does bebop, everyone loves it. I've heard since I first started listening to Zorn that I should check this out, its fantastic, and whatnot. Of course, it's also out of print, and unlike Zorn's other bebop excursion (The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet), it sells for a small fortune. The truth is that I'm not one for looking backward, and all my favorite musicians pushed in new directions their entire careers and didn't look back even at their own catalog and influences, and when they did, it was like Zorn's "Naked City", looking backward to get forward.

The truth is, I shouldn't've worried so much about "News for Lulu"-- it deserves the praise it gets. This isn't a bebop project really, John Zorn (blowing alto exclusively by this point in his career) is joined by trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell in this trio, dedicated to exploring the compositions of Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, and Freddie Redd. The songs are great-- these are some relatively obscure hard bop composers, and Zorn doesn't even pick the more well known pieces by them. The music itself is stunning-- without a conventional rhythm section, there's a need for forced inventiveness, with horns often taking the roll of bass, Frisell covering endless ground comping behind the horns, and space being used to imply the sort of rhythmic structures that would typically be stated by a drummer. It very much is a record as much about what's not there as what is.

Straight from the opener, "KD's Motion", you know what you're getting into-- all three play fantastically, twisting around each other, and exercising great subtlety. And certainly the voices of all three players shine pretty brightly throughout, with each taking spotlight now and again. Personal favorites include the loose "Lotus Blossom" featuring opposing lines that meet now and again to form coherent statements, the dueling solos on "Ole" and the bluesy and super "Sonny's Crib"-- Lewis wails, Zorn digs in, and Frisell is just a monster.

So yes, it's Zorn plays hard bop, but it's really so much more than that. My only complaint is that this recording really could use some remastering-- the sound isn't as thin as the live recording, but the production bears a lack of preparation for CD. Nonethelss, this is essential Zorn, it's really a shame its not more readily available. Highly recommended.

One of the things I've noted over the years is a seeming lack of desire amongst people to hear music with a personal identity-- think about the old "downtown"/"uptown" jazz divide that was a big deal in the Jazz press years ago-- John Zorn, et.al. explore, push boundaries, and find new ways of expression, Wynton Marsalis and his cohorts make jazz into a self-reflective art, ignoring later innovations, later musics, and just performing in old styles, sometimes just playing old songs. And mind you, this isn't just limited to jazz-- Beethoven sells better than any modern composer as orchestra after orchestra re-records his pieces letter perfect (no slight against Beethoven, I'm rather fond of him) while modern composers struggle to sell a thousand records, and in rock music, the Rolling Stones manage to sell out tour after tour playing hits from 30-40 years ago without having made a coherent and legitimate music statement in longer than I have been alive.

As such, when I approached "News for Lulu", it was with much trepidation. John Zorn does bebop, everyone loves it. I've heard since I first started listening to Zorn that I should check this out, its fantastic, and whatnot. Of course, it's also out of print, and unlike Zorn's other bebop excursion (The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet), it sells for a small fortune. The truth is that I'm not one for looking backward, and all my favorite musicians pushed in new directions their entire careers and didn't look back even at their own catalog and influences, and when they did, it was like Zorn's "Naked City", looking backward to get forward.

The truth is, I shouldn't've worried so much about "News for Lulu"-- it deserves the praise it gets. This isn't a bebop project really, John Zorn (blowing alto exclusively by this point in his career) is joined by trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell in this trio, dedicated to exploring the compositions of Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, and Freddie Redd. The songs are great-- these are some relatively obscure hard bop composers, and Zorn doesn't even pick the more well known pieces by them. The music itself is stunning-- without a conventional rhythm section, there's a need for forced inventiveness, with horns often taking the roll of bass, Frisell covering endless ground comping behind the horns, and space being used to imply the sort of rhythmic structures that would typically be stated by a drummer. It very much is a record as much about what's not there as what is.

Straight from the opener, "KD's Motion", you know what you're getting into-- all three play fantastically, twisting around each other, and exercising great subtlety. And certainly the voices of all three players shine pretty brightly throughout, with each taking spotlight now and again. Personal favorites include the loose "Lotus Blossom" featuring opposing lines that meet now and again to form coherent statements, the dueling solos on "Ole" and the bluesy and super "Sonny's Crib"-- Lewis wails, Zorn digs in, and Frisell is just a monster.

So yes, it's Zorn plays hard bop, but it's really so much more than that. My only complaint is that this recording really could use some remastering-- the sound isn't as thin as the live recording, but the production bears a lack of preparation for CD. Nonethelss, this is essential Zorn, it's really a shame its not more readily available. Highly recommended.

John Zorn's game pieces are generally dense, difficult to understand, and make little sense without seeing them live-- essentially, they are rules for improvisation and interaction between musicians, often cued in various forms.

"Pool" is conceptually pretty straightforward, a five piece band plays in different ensembles, ranging from solos to the entire group, in this case Polly Bradfield (violin), Mark Miller (percussion/vibes), Charles Noyes (percussion), Bob Ostertag (electronics) and John ZOrn (reeds,game calls). Lesli Dalaba serves as prompter for this one, which I'm guessing means she cues who plays together. Except there must be something mroe to it, because its largely a low key affair-- the level of noise never gets to drastic, and everyone's playing is pretty restrained and relaxed, and it goes on for about 50 minutes. Very occasionally there's something really interesting (for example, the second track opens with a larger ensemble playing, in which we get to hear Zorn's game call playing in full flight).

Truth to be told this one I largely don't get. A lot of space in the music that I suspect would be easier to process in a live performance, but this one I just don't get at all.

agnes martin, minimalist, worked primarily in pencil and paint on canvas, creating a body of work rich in subtlety, her washed color squares, often crosshatched grids, offer an illusory shimmer. again, as in earlier recordings inspired by works of joseph cornell and marcel duchamp, zorn replicates in musical tones another artist's, martin's, work, in this case adding a focal point to ambience.

or from a different listening perspective, i first listened to this recording during a rainstorm. usually i enjoy listening to a rainstorm for its own music, but i found redbird to be a complimentary piece.

other listening perspectives: playing duras by zorn after the redbird recording, the build up to anthony coleman's piano is stunningly beautiful. or include on your cd carousel just about any cd by olivier messiaen, i have a feeling that with redbird john zorn also may had been thinking of messiaen's birds.

I just heard Redbird on the radio. In fact only a part of it. But found it sufficiently beguiling that I am ordering it right now. On such brief acquiantance there is little I can say about it other than to state that it does NOT sound like Morton Feldman... well perhaps in an extremely superfical way it does, but that is about the extent of it. It's unfair to both composers to make this a significant point of catagorization.

"Redbird" is atypical for Zorn, a composer whose name is virtually synonymous with warp-speed collage and bizarre juxtaposition. Even in his postmodernist art music, his ideas tend to assault your ears in rapid succession. This is, without a doubt, the single most minimal release of Zorn's career. Each piece, "Dark River" and "Redbird" are built from the smallest of fragments and allowed to sustain in the listeners ear for a considerably amount of time.

The first piece, "Dark River," is scored for four bass drums, played with very soft mallets - soft to the point that the listener cannot discern individual attacks. These are not rock 'n roll bass drums, but symphonic bass drums, full of incredible resonance. The effect is something like thunder in the distance. Jim Pugliese, a frequent Zorn collaborator, turns out a very transparent performance. As the music washes over you, it's easy to forget the musician behind the sounds, as they are so effectively evocative. The piece lasts for almost nine minutes and offers little in the way of timbral variety, but that's not really the point. When you have a rich, warm texture, sometimes it's great to just experience it in total serenity without distraction.

The second piece, "Redbird," is clearly Zorn's tribute to Morton Feldman. He does so not only in duration, but also in style and in instrumentation. It's not a "minimalist" work per se. It doesn't really have anything to do with the minimalist (or process music) of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and it seeks to do something else entirely. That said, I suppose one could say that the work is built from a minimum of elements.

Those familiar with Feldman's music will immediately think of "Durations", as the instrumentation is almost the same, with the addition of harp and wood block. The basic harmonic motive is different though. Feldman seemed to favor block chords in odd configurations, designed to produce a lot of minor seconds, which he would then stagger between the musicians to produce a kaleidoscopic effect. Instead, Zorn uses slightly more conventional chords that appear mostly in unison. This is a significant difference and probably my main criticism of the piece. If Feldman had composed these same pitches, he would have had a more interesting rhythmic scheme. I think the perceptually simple rhythmic scheme that Zorn uses makes "Redbird" seem longer than it really is.

Even if the number of pitches is extremely small, there is plenty going on, if you know what to listen for. The repeated chords show up in different configurations, and in different instruments. I'm assuming there's something cyclical happening, but I haven't tried to map it all out. In a way, I think that's beside the point anyway. Zorn needs a compositional system to arrive at something that works. But we, as listeners, need only sit back and let the music wash over us. You could listen on a more technical level, but the real power comes from the mood it creates - mystery, with a veiled optimism.

These two works are quite long, for what we usually expect from Zorn, and with the amount of restraint used on this CD, some fans may find it difficult and unrewarding. I'm sure most Zorn fans know better than to approach a new CD with any sort of "expectations", but this may be more than they anticipate. I find it a very rewarding album, but I can also see how some may not enjoy it. Hopefully I've given sufficient description that you can decide if it sounds interesting or not. Listen to the 30-second sample. Then imagine that times 80 and you've got a reasonable idea of what to expect.

"Redbird" finds John Zorn exploring minimalism as a method to reflect on the art of Agnes Martin. The album consists of two tracks-- "Dark River", a nine minute percussion piece, and "Redbird", a 41 minute small ensemble performance. It should be noted that the title track draws consistent criticism for being compared to a work by Morton Feldman. I'm unfamiliar with Feldman's work, so I can't really reflect on this. I also am largely unfamiliar with the work of Agnes Martin (other than to say she is a minimalist painter), so I cannot readily indicate how this music reflects her work, but nonetheless, my thoughts on the music itself.

"Dark River" is intriguing-- Jim Pugliese performs on bass drums-- the only instrument heard here, but the mix is so quiet and laden with echoes that the drumming is just beyond the ability to be heard. For nine minutes, there's this indistinct throbbing in the background-- one is reminded of Brian Eno's original reason for developing ambient music-- he was in a hospital bed and the radio was on loud enough so he could tell it was on but quietly enough so he could never make anything out. This is really what "Dark River" is like-- it demands your attention, but invariably it's too indistinct to make much a statement.

"Redbird" is a bit more engaging in a traditional sense-- performed by a quartet of Carol Emanuel (harp), Jill Jaffee (viola), Erik Friedlander (cello) and Pugliese (credited this time with percussion), this is essentially a single motif repeated with very slight variations over the course of the 41 minutes. Again, Eno comes to mind for me, this time in the form of "Discreet Music". Like "Discreet Music", the same thing being played for an extended period of time proves to be remarkably engaging.

My familiarity with Zorn's minimalist work is as-yet not complete, so I have little to compare this to in his catalog, but I found this record very engaging and well worth the listen. It's not easy stuff to digest, but it is a good piece. Recommended.

When I first heard of this album, I thought it sounded interesting enough and so came to this site, as I am want to do when I hear of interesting things, to see what somebody else thought. To my dismay, all I found were people comparing this music to the music of somebody else, without, I thought, really saying anything about what was going on HERE. So, I decided it was my job, nay, my DUTY to go out and see for myself and report back with a simple, honest opinion about whether or not Zorn is or isn't ripping somebody else off. And this is what I found...
The first piece on here, Dark River, is interesting enough, nine minutes or so of low drums. It takes awhile to get into and I'd say it's hard to follow even if you do, but it is a nice ambience I guess in Brian Eno's definition of ambient music as music you can pay attention to or ignore just as easilly. I think I need to spend more time with it.
Redbird is a truly fascinating piece. As said other places, it is very minimal, very ambient, and does not feel as if it changes a whole lot. As a piece of music I'm really not even sure if it's all that good. What I can say about it is that it sets a certain tone. The strings pick out high notes and create a nice melody (if you can call it that), but it is also quite unsettling and disjointed. This piece works because of the attention it requires, or perhaps lack thereof. You put it on and kind of forget about it, but then it creeps back into your consciousness through the corners until you realize you are immersed in it, faollowing its every minor undulation, and then it regresses. It's really quite spellbinding, the way it pulls you in and lets you go and pulls you back in, without ever really changing at all.
I find this piece most interesting not really because of the music itself, but the questions which arise during a careful listen. Is this really music? I suppose that it is, having a beginning and an end and certain things that it does in between. But it doesn't really go anywhere, does it? No, admittedly not really, but in listening to it YOU go somewhere. It's less of a musical piece than a tone poem, at turns soothing and unsettling without really changing at all. It forces the listener to confront the power of sound, and question why certain sounds evoke the emotional responses they do.
This certainly is not something I listen to all the time, but it is interesting to put it on once in awhile and meditate upon it, see where my mind goes...

Perhaps the most challenging and bizarre recording in John Zorn's vast catalog, "Songs for the Hermetic Theater" consists of four compositions loosely termed by Zorn as "chamber music".

Two of the pieces-- "American Magus" and "The Nerve Key"-- are similar in form, albeit one is termed "electronic music" and one is termed "computer music". Both consist of bursts of static and electronic sounds that are apparently run through a pitch shifter. My best guess as to the difference between the two is that one is probably using analog electronics and the other a computer. "American Magus" is actually quite engaging-- while it's a bit repetitive and not particularly exciting-- hey, I listen to a lot of ambient music, I'm used to this sort of reppitition. "The Nerve Key", however, is extremely difficult-- it exists in a frequency range that can be somewhat irritating (think "Kristaalnacht") and as such, lacks the level of engaging purpose that "American Magus" has.

The other two tracks are a bit (and really just a bit) more conventional. Sandwiched in between the two electronic pieces, "In the Very Eye of Night" is, in fact, one of my favorite compositions by Zorn. Opening with a simply fantastic quote from Maya Deren about time, the sexes and her films, it moves into an intriguing mix of throbbing bas and nearly inaudible instruments. The strength of the piece is that it lives just at the edge of your ability to hear. As it continues, it builds in intensity substantially, adding a high pitched whine to the throbbing bass. All in all, it's a patient, powerful, and admittedly not easy-to-listen-to piece, but I find highly rewarding. Closing track "Beuysblock" is an intriguing one-- generally, violin (performed by Jennifer Choi) or piano (by Zorn) exist in the backdrop to an assortment of noises, by and large percussive or scraping. This has the effect of being both soothing or jarring, but certainly the piece keeps your interest.

Truthfully, it's a mixed bag-- a lot of people really dislike this album, but I find its rather staggering variety and intriguing concepts to be well worth the listen. Zorn's got a lot of better material out there, but for the most adventerous, this is a good listen.

I'm a zorn collector - I have nearly every album he has put out and this one is THE worst in the bunch. Most are very good, Filmworks, Masada, Naked City, all have amazingly high moments and are monumental in different ways. This album was sooo disappointing. Noisey stuff - it's been done soooo many times before - this album is just a bore. Why put out garbage like this??? I even liked the duets with Zorn and Eye that not even the hard core Zorn fans usually listen too - but this album is one of the worst in my collection... Try something else. Tim Berne perhaps...

I picked this one up on a whim, and was at first, pretty dissapointed. But of course, a few listens later, i appreciated it a bit more.

Initially, the only track that i really got anything from was the last one, "Beuysblock" - its basically 16 minutes of smooth, slow-moving violins and piano, over which the sounds of many everyday, household objects are heard, but it for me created a really interesting mood. I was surprised at how nice some of these sounds felt to my ears (like a pencil writing, dried leaves, scissors, ect.); paired with the strings... really soothing. It makes me really wish Pink Floyd had followed through with their planned "Household Objects" album back in '75. Not ALL 'soothing' though, theres a few points where your listening to things like rusted metal being scraped, and so on...

"American Magus" & "The Nerve Key", as others have said, are virtually the same thing. Both sound like various types of static, and weird electronic bleeps moving up and down rapidly. Its interesting, for sure (really curious as to how the hell these peices were actually performed), but two tracks spanning 9 and 14 minutes seems pretty unessassary to me.

"In The Very Eye of Night" is another track that creates an interesting mood. After filmmaker/dancer Maya Derin's spoken introduction, the sounds of low rumbling bass, crickets, and dripping water give the listener the feeling of isolation, outside at night, perhaps in a cave of some kind. The bass intensifies, but unfortunatley my interest doesnt intensify with it. Not as ear-catching as the other tracks.

I've got around 30 Zorn CDs, but sold this one on eBay (thanks, whomever you were!). Gotta say, I wanted to like this one--the cover art and liner notes made it sound like other Zorn albums that I love. Unfortunately, um, no.

I'd have to put this in the listen-proof category. Not that it's grindcore or anything--just that the sounds are very unstructured and unpleasant. It's like an electronic-avant garde student effort, where the student is trying hard to make folks leave the room. Much like I did, when I was a student. But I woudn't want to listen to me either.

Listening to this album this afternoon I was suddenly struck by the tragedy that occured when Stanley Kubrick died having never done a film with John Zorn. Kubrick was a filmmaker who had a certain knack for utilizing music to unsettle the viewer, to push their buttons to the fullest, and, well, nobody pushes buttons like Zorn.
But.
Songs From the Hermetic Theatre is a curious album. Consisting of four tracks, I can say that in the handful of times I have listened to this album in the last couple of days, I have still yet to make it all the way through two of the tracks.
"American Magus" and "Nerve Key" rank among the most confrontational music i have let to hear from Zorn, and that's kind of sad to me, considering these are Zorn's first forays into electronic music. One track claims to be "Electronic music," the other "computer music" but as far as I can tell so far, both are nothing but static, computer gibberish, the odd scaled bleep or bloop, each practically indistinguishable from the other, and both 10 minutes long or more. If Autechre is the sound of computers making love (as I usually like to think of it), then this is the sound of a computer doing extreme violence to itself... or another computer... or the listener... or maybe it is the background static of our lives in the informational age. Then again, it could just be John Zorn masturbating, which is possible. Granted, I again admit that I have't been able to get through them yet, and I don't plan on giving up, but these are the first impressions.
However, the other two tracks on the album are amazing and warrant purchase all by themselves. "In the Very Eye of Night" is an unsettling ambient piece, mostly low drums which are guaranteed to rattle an eardum or two, and drops of water. The feeling is of being in a cave, or maybe a womb (the beginning commentary by the feminist filmmaker would support this claim). And Bueysbox is an astounding collage of the sounds of our life. Working mostly with found sounds, Zorn creates a tapestry of modern living, accentuated by the melancholy wailing of violins and a tinkling piano. It is an aural oddessy, a commentary on hollow modern consumer existence, truly challenging yet sadly soothing. These two tracks are among the best I've heard from Zorn, and should be checked out by any interested parties.

_The Book of Heads_ is a collection of etudes for solo guitar that John Zorn wrote for Eugene Chadburne, an experimental musician somewhat in the vein of Derek Bailey, doing avant-jazz and free-improvisation with esoteric techniques by the ream. The actual recording here has guitarist Marc Ribot, and i like him so much he's actually the main reason i got this, although i do enjoy John Zorn's work of course. i remember working one night and having "Mochin" on the _Bar Kokhba_ cd on repeat for something like four hours... Then there's that amazing stuff on the _Taboo & Exile_ cd, and piles of improvised material. Ribot is amazing, i can't explain it. now just so there's no mistake, this collection is much more...erm, of an intellectual exercise than an emotional one. Despite some unfavorable reviews from others, this is a marvelous album, dripping variety and Ribot's exquisite guitar playing, who deploys an eclectic range of techniques. maybe people just want something different, rather than short little pieces each based around just a few ideas. i don't see why someone not interested in weird, avant-garde solo guitar would not like this and listen to it many times, however. Anyway, i think Ribot's playing is amazing and anything he does is worth owning, and he has a special connection with Zorn's music and brings the composer's imagination to life with craft and spirit. i understand he put a lot of work into studying these pieces. There is some really bizarre, INTENSE stuff here, like the sixth etude where Ribot makes the guitar sound like a contrainer being broken open and its contents spilling out with a wet splat, some things are just creepy sounding like no.14, or there's no.33 where he puts on a detailed cartoon-music soundscape single-handedly. then there's no.25 which sounds like some kind of disgusting torture scene. this is just guitar mind you, but it's evocative in its own way and it's fun to listen to it. technically i do not understand how most of the album is made, and for almost its entirety, it is one tiny revelation after another. quite nice and you should consider checking it out.

This is one interesting piece of work from Zorn, and especially so for those interested in the guitar field, it's a real challenge and an important landmark. Ribot does a good work on it, but I wonder if not the very Mr. Chadbourne himself should have performed this piece that was written back in 1978 for him. If such a performance ever come to be released it would most likely strike a 5.

"The Book of Heads" was composed by John Zorn in 1978 for guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, a set of 35 etudes for solo guitar that was designed to push the guitarist to extremes, utilizing extended techniques-- both those associated with classical guitar, those innovated by Chadbourne and his contemporaries, and those Zorn came up with on his own. The material sat, unrecorded, until 1995 when Zorn, no longer working regularly with Chadbourne, called upon guitarist Marc Ribot to perform them.

Ribot, a guitarist of enormous talent, began his long association with Zorn eight years prior to this as a contributor to Zorn's soundtrack work and as a member of the ensemble on the superb "Kristaalnacht", but this was really the first feature for Ribot on a Zorn record. The liner notes indicate that six months of preparation were underway before this was recorded.

Ribot tackles the pieces with extraordinary virtuosity and flair-- the sheer range of technique on display here is stunning. I play a bit of guitar myself, but cannot readily identify how some of the sounds are produced (at one point it sounds like he's sawing the neck of the guitar). But ultimately, it feels more like a technique display more than anything else.

One thing I will note-- I've seen Ribot perform pieces from this record live, and in those cases, I've found them intriguing. I suspect that the visual aspect of seeing the technique involved assists in the notion of understanding the innovation behind it, although I will state that while I found the pieces more engaging, I still felt they lacked purpose. But much of Zorn's early work (the Game Pieces for example) lend themselves far better to live rather than studio performances.

On the other hand, there are folks who swear by this record. It certainly is interesting, but I just can't get into it.

Warning: this CD may cause "spontaneous overflows of powerful feeling." Composed in 1978 for Eugene Chadbourne, and recorded in one day (!) in 1995, these 35 etudes stretch any definition of guitar-playing one might have. Marc Ribot was certainly the musician John Zorn needed to express his ideas of what the guitar should sound like--Ribot has the sensitivity in ear and fingertip to bring the nuances of Zorn's composition to realization. After listening to this CD, one needs no more proof of Zorn's excellence as a composer, nor of Ribot's virtuosity as a guitarist.