John Zorn Music

Brooklyn natives, Animal, sound like a concoction of the best parts of avant noise, free jazz, and hard prog, and on their first full length, the guitar and drums duo cover a great deal of territory. The songs go from bombastic fits of noise to melodic bittersweet riffing, which contrasts well within their music. Comparisons to Hella and Don Caballero are expected, but thankfully, Animal has a savvy eye towards redefining expectations, and on this record they wax nostalgic on the energy and style that once went hand in hand with the sound and feel of a duo.

Animal's strength lies in their longer songs, and the majority of the album is shared between five of the eight songs. Being able to vary the sounds in a more natural way while involving so many different styles in just one song is a risk, but Animal seem to seamlessly go from part to part without invoking the negative impression of shoddy improvisation. Amidst abundant loops and poly-rhythmic interplay, the guitarist aurally clones then aborts himself, allowing the songs and parts to grow and shrink with the intensity of the music. With the majority of the songs on this album sounding relatively similar, the duration of the songs drag a little, and with the vibe remaining unchanged, the songs suffer. The shorter songs, while providing interesting preludes to later songs, do not escape the similar devices heard elsewhere on the album, leaving them anticlimactic and questionable. The toned down feel of the recording leaves more to be desired, lacking the power and heaviness that an album, and band, like this would endlessly profit from.

While the album has its flaws, they are not wholly detrimental to the experience of the songs, instead they make you want to hear more, and see how they, as a band, develop beyond this record. More importantly, Animal embodies the intimacy and excitement that seems to be lost in most instrumental duos, and while not rehashing the past, the music reminisces without seeming contrived. - Foxy Digitalis Review (Andrew Sadowski)

Necronomicon, performed by the Crowley Quartet-- Jennifer Choi and Jesse Mills on violin, Richard O'Neill on viola, and Fred Sherry on cello, is, per Zorn's own words, composed for the musicians. It consists of five movements and builds in a natural pattern. The opening movement, "Conjurations", begins right away in an aggressive mode, building tension over its entire length and providing a vehicle for Choi's virtuoso performance. This pushes until the second movement, which opens as release to the tension of the first. Here, the explosiveness and violence of the first movement falls away to a soft solo voice (primarily violin) over a subtle building chaos. But the building never amounts to much, and the movement dribbles into the third, "Thought Forms". The third movement introduces a circular solo arco part over pizzicato background, harsh to the point of percussive, then eventually swells to a head with an aggressive arco performance before switching into a mixed pizzicato/arco aggressive section.

As the fourth movement opens, we're moved into a soft, almost relaxed, very conventional (well, for Zorn at least) section, but below the long tones and slow development, a hint of tension, accentuated by a brief pizzicato section, lies. The fifth movement is the storm after the calm, similar in form and aggression to both "Conjurations" and the percussive pizzicato sections of "Thought Forms", but lacking the feeling of tension. Instead, this eventually moves into a brutal arco section, followed by a release, but ends in chaos.

Overall, "Necronomicon" is a thoroughly enjoyable and strong statement, and an excellent and rewarding listen. It presents a unity and relentlessness that is hard to capture together-- with such aggressive performance, the danger of falling over the edge into disorganization is great, but Zorn's work holds steady.

The second piece, "Sortilege", to my ears, has a more typical Zorn feel. He essentially composed a bass clarinet duet for two virtuosos, Mike Lowensterm and Tim Smith (both of whom I'm quite unfamiliar with I'm afraid). The piece itself alternates between long tones and sort of interlocking sections-- the two parts entwine, compliment, and work together. "Sortilege" also has the benefit of being more immediately accessable than "Necronomicon"-- indeed when I first purchased this, the string quartet made little sense to me (as was the case until I saw it performed live), but the bass clarinet duet grabbed me. While it is largely an exercise in superior playing and appears to have been written wholly for that purpose, it is really a great piece.

This disc has two recent chamber works by John Zorn: _Necronomicon_ for string quartet, and _Sortilege_ for two bass clarinets.

John Zorn's most recent string quartet _Necronomicon_ presented here, and it is a schizophrenically meditative and brutally frightening. It alternates fast and slow movements. The first, third, and fifth movements are rife with shrieking, dramatic gestures and crunching polytonalities, jarring rhythms, and weblike melodic arrangements. The second and fourth movements are slow and carry a hushed warmth and focus for grasping concepts arcane. It is a mysterious and indelible piece.

"Sortilege" is a duet for two bass clarinets. It is an erratic, ever-changing, and considerably more "pleasant" than the quartet, albeit not particularly tonal. While primarily a virtuoso piece, it has its share of affecting expressions.

"Necronomicon" is John Zorn's fifth recorded string quartet, written in 2003. It is probably his most traditional piece for string quartet, even if he goes to great lengths not to title it as such. But all the traditions are there: with the five movement structure, I cannot help but think Bartók's 4th and 5th quartets (and, by listening to it and becoming more familiar, Ligeti's 2nd as well, which is also in five movements), especially with the symmetrical arch structure, with the fast third movement surrounded by two slow movements, which are framed by two outer faster movements. There is just a fair amount of his typical "scratchy-scratch" string writing, mostly found in the outer movements. There is also not as much "jump cutting material" as in some of his other quartets, especially "Cat o' Nine Tails" and "Dead Man"; in fact, the material is more akin to Zorn's "Kol Nidre": single subjects, well developed. The fourth movement has almost a melody with simple chordal accompaniment, almost alien for Zorn's writing it seems like.

The other piece is "Sortiége", scored for two bass clarinets. This is more like the Zorn of yorn, with the skittish angular figures and the jump-cutting of one kind of material to another and another in a matter of seconds. Definitely not something for amateurs to try at home.

Once the enfant terrible of the modern jazz and classical scene in the early 1980's and 1990's, John Zorn is either mellowing with age or following in the footsteps of his forefathers. There was a time when John Zorn was THE genre bashing composer to look to for innovation (from his Naked City thrash jazz punk band to earlier "game-piece" based classical compositions, like Cobra) he now seems to have taken heed of his spiritual forefathers artistic paths. By reaching inward for inspiration rather than attempting to shock the masses, Zorn may have discovered his most personal music.

Zorn's interest in Jewish mysticism is nothing new. His various Hassidic based Masada ensembles have been his main focus for the last ten years. They have also become his most accessible and enjoyable projects. This interest has become a primary focus for his recent chamber music writing as well. Everything from solo violin pieces to full orchestral scores have been written and recorded based on such arcane interests.

And so this brings us to "Magick." Consisting of only two pieces, it is an enjoyable (if short) excursion into definitive late 20th century classical music. The string quartet piece: "Necronomicon" is stellar, filled with the sort of post-Bartok and Webern stop-start jagged rhythms, trills and glisses that define the modernist aesthetic in post-romantic serialized music. The bass clarinet duet "Sortilege," described as the "most difficult piece written for the instrument" is a challenging and sonically engaging work.

While the pieces themselves are enormously captivating, I can't help but wonder what Zorn's current traditional chamber music would sound like if these pieces were written in an earlier phase when he was still sowing the seeds of discontent. Many a classical composer has traveled this path before. Stravinsky, Bartok, Shostakovich, Schoenberg and Webern all went through early experimental phases in the beginning of their careers before settling into a more conservative, neo-classical phase later on. It seems that Zorn isn't quite old enough to be at that point yet, so who knows what the future holds. These works offer some of the finest sounds in the contemporary classical world and we can rejoice in their release. But one sometimes wonders whether adventurousness is being sacrificed for the sake of tradition.

. . . but you'd be better off getting Abaton by Sylvie Courvoisier, the pianist on this disc. The difference? Abaton contains one whole disc of Courvoisier's glorious compositions plus a disc of improvisations by her trio (Marc Feldman, who also plays here, and Erik Friedlander). Also, the inclusion of Friedlander on Abaton makes for a richer sonic palette. And you get two discs for the price of one and a half.

Make no mistake, this is wonderful music, for what it is. Courvoisier rolls out some serious piano chops, and Feldman plays with as much energy and sheer technique as I've ever heard from him. Some of the places these two get to are simply astounding.

But despite some jaw-dropping pyrotechnics, this music seems somewhat indulgent, more admirable than listenable, more virtuoso than friendly. Then again, maybe it's not meant to be listenable and friendly. Indeed, there's an admirable intractability--a kind of DEAL WITH IT irreducibility--about this music that I'm sure comes from its Jewishness and that in a sense renders it beyond analysis and critique. And I applaud the artists for going for and achieving this vibe.

In any case, this is music surely worth hearing. Four-and-a-half stars.

I agree that Courvoisier's ABATON is a terrific album too-- & addition of Friedlander definitely changes the mood & 'palette.' However, with the Klezmer links here, the duet
interplay is perhaps a bit more 'accessible' and, well, lovely. SC shows a melodic side often only sketchy on other recordings-- not that I don't love her percussive work
too (her recordings with 'Mephista' are wonderful that way).
This shows a different side-- & also interesting to hear both
players as interpreters of JZ's subtle Masada work. No question he has expanded the 'klezmer' tradition, & this another fascinating chapter-- but also I think perfectly listenable in its own right to anyone who likes chamber jazz, or duet chamber music in general.

The most recent (and the last perhaps) of the Masada Anniversary series, "Masada Recital" is a chamber performance of Masada pieces by pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman operating in duet. The two musicians have developed a strong rapport that comes through on these records and the clever and delicate arrangements support a varied and abstract album.

Courvoisier is credited as arranger, and I'm guessing also selected the pieces-- she has largely taken a handful of Masada tunes that allow her to exhibit a sense of melancholy-- the recording bleeds a sort of neoclassical moodiness that belies its origins in the Masada project; the klezmer sound is extremely repressed on these. I actually find the feel of the recording closer instead to that of Beethoven's piano sonatas filtered through a minimalist arrangement and performed with a downtown sensibility. Space ends up being as important to the sound of the recording as any instrument is, and lines are unison, disjoint, and sometimes alternate between the two. Courvoisier limits herself not just to the keyboard, but the interior and body of the piano, strumming the strings, tapping them by hand, and even banging on the body of the instrument, whereas Feldman, so often obscured in presenting Masada pieces as part of the string trio, shows a dazzling array of both technique and patience-- the pieces come to him, he never forces the music.

Ten of the twelve pieces have previously been recorded (three from "Bar Kokhba", two from "The Circle Maker" and "Masada 3", and one each from Masada albums 1, 4, and 9) with two new ones-- the music works best as a collection, so I'm hesitent to describe individual moments on it, but I can't help but mention "Abidan", which is played primarily inside the piano and pizzicato and really well illustrates the power of Courvoisier and Feldman's use of space, and "Mahlah", which is really a good summation for the album-- a dark and moody rumination featuring sensitive playing and a deep understanding of both the material and each other from both musicians.

I stop at four stars because when I've seen them live, Courvoisier and Feldman reach a rapport that far outstrips this one, and in listening to this I largely evaluate it against the live performances, but its still a fine recording and well worth the investment. Recommended.

This record is an hour long improvised performance by John Zorn on alto sax and Milford Graves on drums and vocal. If you are familiar with either artist, you probably know what to expect-- remarkable density of performance, completely unique. Zorn plays in his idiom, the usual array of melodic lines, screeches, squeals, flutters, growls, and groans, Graves lays beneath him a strong polyrhythmic structure of consistent wit and inventiveness.

What's perhaps most remarkable is that for something that is (I believe) totally uncomposed, the two manage a strong level of interaction and organization-- the music is intense, fiery, and powerful, Graves seems to push and inspire Zorn to new heights, and remarkably, his debt to the '60s "New Thing" movement is pretty apparent. Given how personalized Zorn's playing is, this strikes me as highly unusual, but in many ways, the usual structures he defers to as an improviser are somewhat receeded for a sort Shepp/Sanders-esque fire music excursion. Conversely, Graves often comes up to meet Zorn's idioms, his rhythms becoming more in line with Zorn's concept. This level of interaction is most apparent on "Calling in Proceed", where Graves vocalizes in a high tenor and a yodel reminiscent of Leon Thomas in between Zorn providing a superb demonstration of the breadth of his technique in what proves to be one of the most passionate and exciting cuts on the record.

Overall, this is a really nice recording, with some superb playing and interaction from the two master musicians on it. If you're a fan of aggressive improvisation, this is a great record to check out.

On this CD, Milford Graves plays percussion and John Zorn plays saxophone. All of the songs are live and improvised. The album was recorded at Tonic in New York City in September 2003, during a month-long celebration of Zorn's music. This album is fast, crazy, and fused together in a strange and beautiful way. There's no other album that sounds like this.

Milford Graves is an intricate drummer with a spiritual sensibility. He begins a few tracks by singing a spontaneous hymn. His percussion is based on a wide range of world music styles, blended together into a free-form technique that seems to cover about three or four ethnic sources at once.

Zorn, on the other hand, is a court jester with a noise-maker in his hands. He'll play with Graves sometimes, and against him at other times. He loves to play along with a deep, jazzy sound --- and then cut to squeals and shrieks to break the rhythm apart.

It's a breathtaking performance. Of course, it's not for everyone. To many people, this kind of high-speed improvisation just sounds like a wall of useless noise. But to me, it's an energetic, warm, unique performance.

This group of musicains are always coming up with unique work on their own, but as a group they really break into something special. Great concept by Zorn and preformances by the band, really exciting stuff!

John Zorn, previous to this release, and his Masada days, was quite keen on the whole "noise" thing. Back in the eighties, he lead a band called "Naked City" which released five dynamic, explosive albums, most of which contained songs under a minute long. These cuts were made up of high-pitched alto sax wailing, screaming guitar riffs, and powerhouse drumming. Especially for the 80s, this was very progressive, unique music. When the band broke up in the early 90s, Zorn began composing more serious music, and began his incredible "Film Series", a continuously growing collection of his film scores.

When Moonchild came out, it was a surprise to most John Zorn fans, but it signaled a return to what used to be his absolute speciality. Zorn has been quoted explaining the significance of metal/hardcore music, and how he will die trying to understand how those musicians experss themselves. "Moonchild" is an incredible, dynamic exploration of this type of expression.

"Moonchild" is comprised of a drums, bass (with lots of effects), and voice trio. The vocalist is none other than Mike Patton, one of the absolute most talented singers of the present era. His post-modern compositions, incredible octave range, and hauntingly strange sounds that he can make with his voice, make him one of the most unique artists of today. His performance on this release is absolutely outstanding - full of fury, weirdness, and pure emotion. There is lots of screaming (musical screaming, that is) as well as coughing, low-pitched chanting, and nonsensical rambling. Mike Patton deserves many acolades for this performance, as he impressively sets a strange, ambient mood for the listener to enjoy.

The other musicians enhance the experience even further. Much of the music was improvisational, so to see these two working at it with such spine and formality was an incredible surprise to me. But the music simply worked - it perfectly complients the insanity held behind Patton's vocals.

This is the kind of album which is just crying to be heard - hear it any way you can, but if you ever have the chance to sit in a dimly-lit room with your eyes closed, simply listening to this album, I can guarantee you that you will walk out of that experience with a smile on your face and a great feeling of gratification, as if you had just experienced a contemporary art masterpiece. And that is truly what this album is - a contemporary masterpiece. But hey - what did you expect from John Zorn? He takes all of his music, especially his noise/metal/hardcore music, VERY seriously. He doesn't just copy what other similar musicians do - he continues to innovate and make music which simply is so unique that it holds the door open for NOBODY ELSE when it is released.

This may not be the perfect introduction to John Zorn's music for newcomers, but then again, what is? His music has spanned from "thrash jazz" to chamber orchestral pieces. If you want to hear the new face of metal from John Zorn, however, this is the album to check out. HIGHLY recommended!

if you've been a fan of zorn's stuff for a while now, and have had this creeping feeling as of late that he seems to be releasing everything but recordings of his own farts, this record isn't going to do anything to boost your confidence.

another release that talks about how highly artistic it is, yet seems to have very little soul. very little that makes you want to come back for more. what's on here is interesting - and sometimes quite good - but honestly there aren't many 'sparks' to be found here. in ten years nobody's going to list this as a zorn classic, that's for sure.

i love zorn, and really like some of the far out stuff he's done in the past - be it in the realm of jazz, ambient, chamber, etc. but i'm starting to get the feeling that he's creating albums to fulfill some type of experimental checklist in his mind rather than follow his musical intuition. and in the process he's recently put out more than his share of "interesting but not captivating" albums. here's another one. i'm becoming very skeptical of tzadik releases as a result, which is unfortunate.

this is of cursory interest by zorn standards, heavy metal standards, experimental standards, and so on. you're much better off exploring his better works - there are a lot of them.

I am sorry , i want to like this album allot more than i actually do . First off , it just sounds like a cheap , uninspired Fantomas re-tread . Mike Patton is my favorite musician , and John Zorn is someone i have appreciated for years . Which is why i am giving this album two stars instead of one . Although , i do enjoy the title track " moonchild " immensely . If the rest of the album operated on that wave-length , instead of trying to be the less talented little brother of Fantomas , then i would have enjoyed this album allot more .

Overall this album sounds to me like typical mid 1990's death metal (eg Pungent Stench's "Been Caught Buttering"). The only significant difference is that the lead vocalist, Mike Patton, often sounds like a carbon copy of Phil Minton or a cross between a traditional death metal vocalist and Phil Minton. I guess listeners who are unfamiliar with Minton's vocal techniques will be impressed - if this is the case with you I'd recommend this CD wholeheartedly for the vocals alone which are really well done and often quite comical in the best metal and Minton traditions!

As Zorn states in the liner notes " ..it captures both music, musician and composer in the white hot moment of discovery". In other words, I guess, it was an experiment with a large element of improvisation: for me much of the improvisation is unexciting and lacking in dynamic nuance, even for the metal genre. (Is this also partly the result of substandard recording and mixing?) Plus the musical language is so derivative, abounding with metal guitar and metal drumming and metal vocal cliches. (Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a formulaic language if something interesting is being said).

Trevor Dunn is a deliciously creative bass player and there are moments on this album where he really shines. The same can't be said for poor old Joey Baron, my favorite drummer in the world, due to the subservient role he plays both compositionally and in the (deliberately?) muddy sound mix of his drums.

The Cd packaging by Heung-Heung Chin is beautiful and compensates a bit for the mediocre music. I only wish John Zorn had been a bit more experimental with musical form or at least imposed more defined and interesting structure against which the improvising players could have worked.

Zorn is at his best when he bends the rules for chamber music. Although some of his explorations in this genre can be heard by the more infamous composers of the 20th century, Zorn stands apart by coming up with non-musical ideas and then expressing them through music. The latest example of this talent is Frammenti del Sappho, in which he uses female voices to explore some ideas about feminine spirituality. It's a beautiful, unforgettable piece of music. The remainder of the disc as almost as good.

Composer John Zorn has been writing "classical" scores since his earliest days, although those fans who know him only from his post-modern jump cutting projects like Naked City and his early game pieces like Cobra may not be entirely familiar with his more "traditional" oriented work. Zorn's influences span time and genre and he is no stranger to the classics. These three new compositions find Zorn bouncing between time periods and stylistic genres only to come full circle to embrace his own singular sound.

Although each of the pieces here qualify as a miniature, none is less than nine minutes long. The first is a variation on a famous Debussy chamber piece, updated with subtle electronics and added instrumentation. Delicate flute passages are interspersed with chiming harpsichord, understated strings and washes of crackling electronics. At once ethereal and sublime, the next minute grating and harsh, it is classic Zorn, but arranged for the Concert Hall. The second is an all-female vocal motet, borrowing from Greek scales and ancient music. It is truly one of the most subdued and beautiful pieces the maestro has ever lent his pen to. More akin to the vocal work of Meredith Monk, it is a truly unique piece in Zorn's catalog. The final composition is more typical of Zorn's recent forays into the genre, a string trio with conceptual foundations in witchcraft, it is a modern semi-atonal exploration of sound dynamics.

Listening to the album as a whole, one is struck with Zorn's innate dependence on his rootlessness in regards to stylistic clarity and limitations. Although the pieces never sound at odds with each other, they do encompass the sort of democratic worldview that could only be the by-product of a 20th century mind. Perhaps our finest contemporary example of the potential for the continued relevance of concert music in a new century, Zorn has a profoundly important job ahead of him. "Mysterium" is one more weapon in his arsenal.

"Mysterium" is a collection of three compositions by John Zorn, performed with very different instrumentations but all exploring feminine elements and themes.

"Orphee", examining the Orpheus and Euridyce myth, is scored for sextet extending the Debussy "Sonata" model of flute, viola and harp with harpsichord, celeste and live electronics. The resulting piece is evocative-- trading pyrotechnics for haunting tension and moving the theme between the flute (aggressively and ably played by Tara O'Connor, whose performance is the highlight here) and viola.

"Frammenti del Sappho", inspired by the works of Sappho, is performed by female choir (five voices) composed using older forms (the white keys on the piano) to lend an old world sound to it. For those with the notion that Zorn is all about frantic energy, this one should dispel that. More than anything else, this has a bizarre sense of calm and patience to it, and while the voices do reach agressively at times, it is a slowly developing and relaxed piece that bears more fruit upon repeated listens.

"Walpurgisnacht", a string trio in three movements, closes the piece. Inspired by Webern's "Streichtrio" (although that piece was two movements) and notions as the Witches' Sabbath, it is in very much the opposite of "Frammenti del Sappho". Fierce and yet delicate, it finds Zorn taking full advantage of the talents of his performers (Jennifer Choi on violin, Richard O'Neill on violad Fred Sherry on cello). The piece can be a bit overwhelming, like most of Zorn's string trio/quartet work, but it is exciting and powerful and well worth repeated listens.

All in all, this is a nice recording, the three pieces are evocative and exciting. It's not quite as powerful as, say, "Magick", but its well worth the investment. Recommended.

Note: This album is from The Complete Studio Recordings.

Although Naked City has more to their discography, and worth checking out (get it with the other albums in the complete studio recordings), their debut, is worth owning even if you don't want the rest of their discography (kind of easy to understand if you ask me). Easily the most fun John Zorn album I have ever heard, the band tackles different styles with ease and can easily move around each with even greater ease. And when Naked City is soft, unleashed, leashed, mysterious (you'd think that from the Chinatown theme song), fun, jazzy, you name it!!! If it happens to not have something you like, life gives you lemons sometimes.

This album is consistent, fun, and all varied with the many moods of music. This album goes by pretty fast for me, since there is always something that catches you. Out of all I've heard of the band playing, the debut is their best playing, ever. John Zorn's blasts of saxophones are focused and add the all of the chaos, beauty, style, suaveness, who knows?! He hardly is the focus, as every player on here, in a phrase, is the ______. Fred Firth and Joey Baron are insane on the rhythm, doing everything they can to the best of their abilities, resulting in some excellent music. Wayne Horovitz plays crazy cool piano, how does he get that tone in the beginning of The Sicilian Clan? Bill Frisel is a monster guitarist, playing licks, sweet walls of dissonant melodies, soulful playing, and monster noises to back up Zorn, and more! Perhaps a bit cliched when describing the people, but I am not really a very creative person, despite my love for creativity in general (hey, the same thing is boring, alright?!).

There is plenty of songs on here to satisfy your musical thirst, regarding if you like the genres being played here. The hardcore pieces are tight, well focused, and don't feel any dated. and Eye is one insane vocalist, that scream on Demon Sanctuary is priceless. The theme songs on here deliver the goods, so if you like the theme song, you will mostly like that. I even like the Ornette Coleman cover better than the original! Campy tunes like Batman and James Bond? How could you argue with that? And there's more!

Though it would be harrowing to listen to for anybody who doesn't like this kind of music (yes, all of you idiots who are reading this, get out of here, stop trolling, and get a life), it's worth getting, this is essential. And in my eyes overall, it's the best Naked City release, period. If you know you are into this kind of stuff, then it's an essential purchase. And if you are new to John Zorn, this isn't a bad starting place. If you don' tlike it, don't feel bad at all. Ignore all the music snobs.

10/10

Naked City are primarily an avant-jazz thrash-metal band, however, their radical music fuses stylistic boundaries. This legendary debut album from Naked City includes beautiful renditions of "The Sicilian Clan" (Ennio Morricone), "Lonely Woman" (Ornette Coleman), "I Want To Live!" (Johnny Mandell), "The James Bond Theme" (John Barry), "Contempt" (Georges Delerue). Naked City were also known for performing an extensive array of cover songs throughout their live performances worldwide.

Although I didn't know it at the time, if Naked City hadn't have happened there's a good chance the likes of Mr Bungle, Secret Chiefs et al would never have existed. Its hard to believe that this album was made in the late 80s considering how crazy it is. Even if it was released today it would still sound fresh and exciting.

At times placid with stirring piano and smooth sax work, at other times crazy beyond belief like a cross between free jazz and grindcore, Naked City is a phenomenol album. While it takes a few listens to sink in, those of you open minded to even consider getting it in the first place will find that it grows on you surprisingly quickly. Zorn's saxaphone is brilliant throughout the entire thing. On The Silican Clan he sounds soulful and tasteful whereas on all the vocal tracks with Yamatsuka Eyes he sounds like he's having an epileptic fit. I've heard avant garde saxaphone work before and I have to admit I'm not always impressed, largely because it often sounds like noise that anyone could do. But Zorn's work on this album is so intense and on the ball with the music that it's hard not to have admiration for it. It is of course balanced out with 'typical' sax work, proving that the man is far from a one trick pony.

The music itself is all over the place. Sometimes melodic and almost peaceful, at other times upbeat and catchy, then noisy and aggressive, sometimes within the same 30 seconds, it's completely schitzophrenic and so unbelievably eclectic that one has to wondor what on earth possessed him to create such a thing. The whole band are clearly tuned into his vision though as they move in an out of moods and tempos with him at the drop of a hat. It's not easy to imagine how much practice they must have had to become so tight together.

This is simply an incredible record. If you're prepared for a challenge that's worth the effort then buy Naked City.

For an Artist such as "John Zorn", who has run such a impressive range of genres that his music touches upon: (Free Jazz, Film Music, Improvisation, Rock, Metal, compositional, Jazz, lounge, cabaret, thrash, semi-ambient, post-classical ...etc), and music that wildly jump-cuts through these styles, and offers up such a huge plethora of diverse sounds, his music can seem bewilderingly and often overwhelming to the initiated. And liking one album, doesn't necessarily mean that you'll like another. One album can sound so radically different for another and feature such an unpredictable approach to music, that its hard to really recommend his music, to anyone expect those that like to be challenged by music or are musically adventurous. And with such a large catalogue of albums to choose from, such as the eccentric reinterpretation/re-imaging of film scores "John Zorn Plays the music of Ennio Morricone", through to the impressionistic musical approach and stretches of modern compositional live-music jazz of the strangely dark mood music of "Spillane". And that's not even mentioning the experimental and violent sounding passages of the Jazz/ambient/Noise fusion that is a fetishist's wet-dream, in the largely disturbing "Torture Garden". Which sit uncomfortably alongside the dark harmonics, and minimalistally arranged string quartet, and pronounced, sombre late-century classical music of "Cartoon S&M".

It would then be fair to argue that, although a lot of Zorn's albums could be considered essential, not all (even possibly only a few), could be recommended to the majority of listeners of his work. What works for one listener, won't necessarily work for another. So it's hard to single out one of Zorn's albums that would be a good recommendation for most listeners. But if such an album of his exists, then most people would agree that his astonishing "Naked City" album, would be as damn close to being considered his most universally liked/appreciated work. Nobody's saying it's his best album (although many, may well...believe it is), but it's an album that most, that have listened to Zorn's work, will agree is a brilliant starting point for his work. Judging by the controversial image on the album cover of a man lying dead after a fatal shooting, this is wildly disorientating album of tracks that run the gauntlet of : hardcore, rock, skewered country, sleazy jazz, thrash, Punk, Lounge, experimental, free improvisation & avant-garde & metal, and tracks regularly switch and morph into different styles and moods and musical shapes (and sometimes during the course of a track). The imagination and arrangements that have gone into creating this album is by and large, quite staggering. It's not an easy listen by any stretch of the imagination, and only those that like their music adventurous need apply. Because if you were to take this CD into a normal group environment, and play this for your friends, then unless they share the same open-ended approach to music that you do, then it's fair to say that both you (and your Cd) will be asked to leave.

The music shifts from moody film-noir pieces one minute, that conjures up images of seedy back alleys and shady characters....(think a musical take on "Sin City") luring you in with it's sombre mood, but then the next track is a relentlessly pounding passage of agitated saxophone wailing thrash-jazz, that references the more extreme end of Ornette Coleman & John Coltrane's work. With the passionate and energetically exuberant wig-out of tracks such as these. And it's a shock to the system the first couple of times you hear it, but its undeniably thrilling and very much like...flying on the seat of your pants via music. The performances here are without doubt exceptional and although the album sounds like nothing even remotely sounding like approaching structured, it is actually a carefully composed and arranged album, that has regular moments of improvisational sounds and Free-arrangements. It's an album that tackles abstract movie themes one minute, and then shrugs them off to dive into modern creative noise rock the next. Then its almost as if it wants to tackle straight ahead jazz (with a slightly sinister feel), then it take the intense of aggressive feel of metal, and imbue it with the mechanical and cold feeling of Industrial music, before switching back to a completely brutal and blistering take on Free-Jazz. It's a staggering album, possibly one that threatens to overwhelm the listener, as it's a rapid-fire cross-section of musical styles, genres and fusion-orientated approaches that both impress and overwhelm in equal measures. But once you made the commitment to the album, the perseverance begins to pay off, and what was at first a incredibly complex and unfocused album of random musical styles thrown together, with no consideration of what went before it, soon becomes a wonderfully idiosyncratic album. It's a album that shows, how when the correct pieces (and performers) fall into place, how truly breathtaking music, can be created, and how a band that perform music in such extremes, can arguably deliver something so original and breathtaking, that you essential box yourself into a corner. Any further continuation of this theme would merely be an additional companion, and never likely to scale the heights (and more importantly deliver the impact) of the first release, and likely to be a case of `Diminishing returns'. And to do something any more radically different from this would essentially be a completely different product, and couldn't truly be associated with this album.

If you like your music to follow conventional structures and ideas, then the screaming saxophone, leftfield Jazz, and mind-bending organ pounding hard-hitting drums, mixed with, chugging trash guitar metal, will be a deal-breaker, and swiftly prompt the return of the cd. But for those that have a fair idea of what to expect (that it is wildly varied challenging music), it'll over the course of several listens astound and surprise on many levels. The fact that the band would go on to other explore aspects of music, rather than retread existing material, (and then later disband) is a crying shame, but Naked City arguably remains one of the most relentlessly innovate and progressively creative (as well as technically brilliant) albums of John Zorn prolific career.

John Zorn hails from New York and has been one of the most interesting and exciting figures in contemporary music for years. He appears to be of limitless talent, acquiring quite a reputation for his wild eclecticism. That eclecticism is wildly abundant on this fine, fine album, as Zorn and Company rage thru the music of Ornette Coleman, Henry Mancini, Ennio Morricone, John Barry, and of course Mr. Zorn himself. They blaze through jazz, swing, blues, free jazz, noise, rock, thrash, and surf- often in the same song. This is great music for today's attention-span addled human. In fact, I think this would actually be a great album for youngsters with an interest in jazz to listen to. It is fast moving, often changing, and definitely never boring. I haven't listened to this CD for awhile (until today), and I forgot how enthralling it is.
`Naked City' was my first John Zorn album and it remains my favorite (along with his Occult masterpiece I.A.O.). This wonderful disc starts out with `Batman'; Zorn's uptempo envisioning of what Batman's theme should sound like- and it totally kicks ass. This is followed by Morricone's `The Sicilian Clan'. Zorn's saxophone sounds great on this track (and I usually HATE the saxophone). Next up is `You Will Be Shot', a nifty Zorn original that changes just about every ten seconds; touching on rock, noise/thrash, and blues/swing. I could go on and on; fruitlessly attempting to describe track after track. That however is beginning to seem increasingly pointless as I listen to this spectacular album. It sounds so cliché, but one must truly listen to this album for themselves to have any kind of understanding for how much ass it kicks.
One of the things that Mr. Zorn seems to have a knack for, is assembling the right band for the right project (much in the same way Miles Davis did). The band that he put together for `Naked City' was absolutely perfect, and up to the task of tackling these diverse, high energy arrangements. Bill Frisell on guitar, Wayne Horvitz on keys, Fred Firth on bass, and Joey Baron on skins were the perfect partners in crime for this wicked creation. I would've loved to catch this amazing band live.
This is a hell of an album. I own LOTS of music, and this is by far one of the most diverse releases I have. Not many bands could pull off the ridiculous changes present here. On paper, this should be a mess. However thanks to John Zorn's vision and skill (and that of his band mates) this works wonderfully- way better than it should. If you are interested in Zorn and have yet to delve into his intimidating and massive catalogue, this is a great place to start. If you are a fan of Zorn, you undoubtedly have this excellent and timeless release.