John Zorn Music

John Zorn and Yamataka Eye's "Nani Nani II" is in many ways a continuation of their previous album. Again, its primarily an ambient affair, but with a bit more variety and fire to it.

Essentially, this is one long piece, working well as a coherent statement-- it moves through a number of moods, from Zorn screeching over electronic noise ("F***xotica", "Uffof") to delicate, open performances where simple balances fill space nicely ("Hilo Himo", "Espimo") to some almost straightforward work (the appropriately named ambient piece, "Bartime with Eno", "4ab"). The album really covers a lot of territory and remains engaging throughout.

Having stated this, I've listened to it no more than a handful of times since I got it-- its significantly better than "Nani Nani", but I still don't come back to it.

This is an awsomly fun document of EYE-San and Zorn-San improvising together. Although there are track listings, they merly serve as land-marks. The music on this disc is one continuis peice. Its got wirring electronics, child-like vocals, a whirring fan motor, an organ, and Zorns TradeMark sax peels. This record says alot about the current state of improvised music, and how its changed since the days of Derek Bailey & Han Bennek. Dig it, babe.

Nani Nani, their first collaboration nigh ten years back, was intermittantly amusing, but ultimately dissapointing. It was the sounds of two geniuses mastrubating, which, honestly, sounds like just about anybody doing the same.

But I bought it anyway, and kept it, becuase I love these guys! And this disc goes a greater distance towards showing their respective talents. The working philosophy seems to be the same as their prior disc- it was all recorded on the same day, and I doubt there was a lot of forethought, but the results are so much more interesting. Zorn actually plays his instruments- Eye is actually using some instruments (last time it was toys).

The Boredoms post '95 forays into increasingly tribal and ambient music have their root originate with Eye, and it is this eye that shows up for this session. This album is largely about mood and ambience rather than screaming and clowning around.

There is noise, beauty, a screeching sax/synth track, alien chanting and all around goodness. If you are a fan of either of these men, be not afraid, this disc delivers.

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.

So looking at the track listing, I had assumed this was essentially a reissue of Environment for Sextet. The liner notes (and the Amazon description) make mention of this being a different (apparently the desired) edit and different it is. Somehow it seems to be missing something in the sense of immediacy that the previous issue has.

This isn't to say that it's not an intriguing recording, but that perhaps the erroneously released edit seemed to have more of a sense of immediacy and energy to it. Further, it doesn't include my favorite cut from Environment for Sextet ("Improvviso III [Duet]"). Having said all this, for what this recording is, a document of a bygone era, it's certainly an intriguing value. These musicians (Polly Bradfield- violin, Andrea Centazzo- percussion, Eugene Chadbourne- guitars, Tom Cora- cello, Toshinori Kondo- trumpet and John Zorn- reeds) have been extensively documented later in their careers, but their formative years tend to be sketchy at best. With Zorn's Game Pieces being the biggest thing in print by these guys and those providing a slanted view, it's nice to hear a different context from them. I'd refer you to my review of Environment for Sextet for my thoughts on the period and the value of this music. If you're a collector of any of these guys, this one may be essential because of its rarity.

"Rituals: Live in Japan" is a live album by Painkiller-- a free improv grindcore project consisting of John Zorn (alto sax and vocals), Bill Laswell (bass) and Mick Harris (drummer, formerly for Napalm Death). These two sets, recorded in September of 1991 in Tokyo, also feature guest Haino Keiji on guitar and vocals on several tracks. "Rituals" is getting exceedingly hard to find, having only been briefly in print on the Japanese Toy Factory label, so if you're at all intereted in this and see it for an at all reasonable price, you should grab a copy of it immediately. Another show recorded three years later has been released on Tzadik ("Talisman: Live in Nagoya"), but this one is still out of print.

So given the difficulty in finding "Rituals", the first question up is goign to be about value. Let me state it this way-- if you enjoyed "Guts of a Virgin" and "Buried Secrets", this one will probably be right up your alley. The two sets spanning about 71 minutes of pretty much frantic hardcore, be they Naked City style miniatures ("First Blood") or more groove oriented, grindcore performances ("Snake Eyes"). I was a bit taken aback by how many vocal pieces are here, something that seemed more decorative on the studio record. The addition of Haino Keiji on occasion adds an additional layer of noise to preceedings-- Haino is no shy in his performance, adding a slather of distortion on top of everything else. Given the genre selection, it may be somewhat surprising that I generally found the performance was at its best when the band gave themselves an opportunity to stretch out (second set opener "Prophecy", check Zorn's quote of Ornette Coleman's "Dancing in Your Head" that Laswell echoes back a couple minutes later) and even when it abandoned the frantic hardcore sounds for more developed ideas.

Having said this, something holds me back from really loving this record-- I think it might be a mastering/production problem-- I'm generally inclined to want my Painkiller loud and aggressive and in your face-- just on the hairy edge of the red zone all the time. This one is mastered significantly less than that and it creates a sense of space between the listening experience and what was no doubt and explosive performance. For a good example of what I mean in terms of really up front production/mastering, check out the Painkiller (albeit with Hamid Drake on drums in lieu of Mick Harris and Mike Patton guesting) entry into Zorn's 50th Birthday Celebration (#12) series. That record is loud and aggressive and in your face and feels like the ball of energy the performance is, this one feels like watching a movie of someone listening to an album.

I'd like to echo the previous reviewer's comments that while this is a good performance, the sound quality is horrendous. The engineer was clearly not up to the task of mixing this music. It's not that the sound lacks an in-your-face aggression (it does), but the balance and spatialization is incredibly poor. You hear mostly drums, totally flat - no reverberations. It's like Mick Harris was playing in a sound booth instead of a live venue. I'm guessing the drums were close miked and then fed straight into the mixing board. The bass is almost non-existant. Instead of going directly into the board, it seems to be miked from the room! Wow. The sax occupies a higher band of frequencies, so it can peak out from under the drums without too much competition, although the effect is like someone screaming at the top of their lungs from 50 yards away. By the second set, the mix is a *little* better. You can begin to hear the bass and the drums, while sounding totally flat, are toned down a bit.

I guess I can see why Zorn didn't rerelease this particular recording on Tzadik back when he was reissuing all the Painkiller stuff. There's just no saving this. Like the previous reviewer, I can only recommend this to Zornophiles who basically have everything else. I'm glad I was able to find a copy (dirt cheap, no less!), but the pleasure I derive from it is entirely due to its scarcity. It's aurally unsatisfying. What a shame - there was clearly some awesome music going on.

After familiarizing myself with Magick and this CD, I find them nice companion pieces. The reviewer above did a great job of describing the work in detail, and I agree with the review for the most part, although Rituals struck me as slightly more effective than Magick. Rituals is more minimalist and turns the chaotic structure to eleven with the female vocalist given the lead role. It could easily be the soundtrack to the 1920's swedish film, (Haxan Witchcraft Throught the Ages.) When Zorn's knowlege of Ritual Magick (he studied with Kenneth Anger) is taken into account, this makes this a good one to turn the lights out and let the music soak into the soul. For some, it may not be a comfortable place to go, but for others it is uncomfortable bliss.

I had high hopes for this one, particularly after Zorn's previous composition, "Magick", but overall, I found "Rituals" to be a bit of a letdown.

Five movements totalling about 26.5 minutes, for solo voice (expertly handled by Heather Gardner) and 10 piece ensemble, featuring several of the standard Zorn pool, including Stephen Drury on any number of keyboards, the incomparable Jennifer Choi on violin, and Fred Sherry on cello.

Generally, the ensemble plays in smaller groups-- two to three at a time, sometimes with vocal. More often than not. The voice seems to be often in opposition with the strings whilst being in union with the various reeds on the piece. Most interesting are moments of duet between the voice and wind machine (particularly the first two movements) and those of organ and percussion (the fourth movement).

Actually, the fourth movement as a whole is the one which most grabbed me, mind you, its very dissimilar to most of Zorn's work, almost minimalist, droning and percussion and eventual strings for the first half, then into the most stirring interaction on the piece, with horns, strings, piano, etc. all trading off small parts, accenting and accompanying each other.

But overall, the piece doesn't say much to me, it has its moments, but it lacks the cohesion of theme of something like "Amor Fou" and the pure relentlessness of "Magick". Perhaps more interesting is that it seems nearly wholly focused on the vocalist (except the fourth movement), and unlike most of Zorn's pieces, doesn't seem to cater to the talents and capabilities of the musicians as he usually does.

I question whether, like most of Zorn's work, its going to one day set in and I'm going to end up having to throw out this review and write a new one, but after a couple dozen listens, this is where I am so far.