John Zorn

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John Zorn
Origin New York City, USA
Years active 1973 to present
Genres Free Jazz, Improvised, modern classical music
Labels Tzadik

John Zorn (born September 2, 1953 in NYC, USA) is an avant-garde Jewish American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Zorn was born in New York City, and as a child played piano, guitar and flute. He studied at Webster College (now Webster University) in St. Louis, Missouri, where he discovered free jazz. Dropping out of college and moving to Manhattan, Zorn gave concerts in his small apartment, playing a variety of reeds, duck calls, tapes, etc. He eventually became a major participant in the fertile "Downtown" experimental music scene.

In the mid 1980s he signed to the Elektra-Nonesuch label. Since then, Zorn has been quite prolific, usually putting out several new records each year.

In 2006, Zorn was named a MacArthur Fellow. [1]

Every once in a while, you can catch him live at Tonic club in NYC where he hosts jazz jams and marathon regularly.

[edit] Arts

His breakthrough recording was perhaps 1985's The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone, wherein Zorn offered a number of often radical arrangements of Morricone's famed songs from various movies. The Big Gundown was endorsed by Morricone, and incorporated elements of traditional Japanese music, soul jazz, and other diverse musical genres.

Zorn owns the Tzadik record label and has worked with a large number of experimental musicians, particularly in improvised music. He is inspired by other artists and different musical styles. He has a special attraction to underground artists and musical styles that are extremely loud, wild, or creative. He is perhaps best known for his work with Masada, with Joey Baron (drums), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Greg Cohen (bass); Masada is an Ornette Coleman-influenced band playing compositions based on Jewish scales. The Masada songs are part of the songbook with several different arrangements. These include the Masada String Trio, Bar Kohkba, and Electric Masada. He has also played with Painkiller (a mix of grindcore and free jazz in which he is joined by Mick Harris of Napalm Death) and Naked City (an often aggressive mix of jazz, rock and thrash metal). He has also worked with musicians such as Bill Frisell, Gary Lucas, Wayne Horvitz, Derek Bailey, Cyro Baptista, Trevor Dunn, Mark Feldman, Fred Frith, Erik Friedlander, Keiji Haino, Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay, Mike Patton, John Medeski, Ikue Mori, Robert Quine, Marc Ribot, Jamie Saft, Kenny Wolleson, and the Violent Femmes. He has written music for television and film, which has been collected in the ongoing Filmworks series of records on his label, Tzadik. Some of these are jazz-based, others are classical.

Zorn has also written several "game pieces", in which performers are allowed to improvise while following certain structural rules. These works are in the main named after sports, and include Pool, Archery, and Lacrosse, as well as Cobra. He is also often noted for his postmodern, sometimes extreme, use of formal blocks, units which he combines and contrasts in various ways. Zorn discusses his history and the musical philosophy behind his early works in the book Talking Music (ISBN 0-306-80893-5) by William Duckworth.

Most recently, he has become the principal force behind the opening of The Stone, an avant-garde performance space in New York's Alphabet City which supports itself solely on donations, giving all door revenues directly to the performers. Zorn holds the title of artistic director.

Zorn has lived and worked extensively in Japan and performs and records under the name Dekoboko Hajime, collaborating with and producing for numerous artists including Merzbow, Otomo Yoshihide, Melt Banana and of frequent collaborator Yamatsuka Eye. Many of these artists have now released albums on Tzadik and some regularly travel to New York where Zorn is based.

Zorn appeared in Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel's 1990 documentary film on Fred Frith, Step Across the Border.

[edit] Selected Discography

[edit] Solo Albums

  • The Classic Guide to Strategy: Volume 1 (1981)
  • Yankees (1983)
  • Locus Solus (1983, 1997)
  • Ganryu Island (1984, 1998)
  • The Classic Guide to Strategy: Volume 2 (1985)
  • Spillane (1987)
  • The Big Gundown (1986)
  • Spy vs Spy (1989)
  • Elegy (1991)
  • First Recordings 1973 (1995)
  • Kristallnacht (1995)
  • Bar Kokhba (1996) 2CD
  • The Classic Guide to Strategy (1996, Collecting the out of print Volumes 1 and 2)
  • Duras: Duchamp (1997)
  • Angelus Novus (1998)
  • Aporias (1998)
  • The Bribe (1998)
  • Godard/Spillane (1999)
  • The String Quartets (1999)
  • The Big Gundown: 15th Anniversary Special Edition (2000, Remastered with six extra songs)
  • Xu Feng (2000)
  • Cartoon S/M (2000) 2CD
  • Madness, Love and Mysticism (2001)
  • Songs from the Hermetic Theater (2001)
  • Chimeras (2003)
  • Magick (2004)
  • Moonchild: Songs Without Words (2006) featuring Mike Patton (vocals), Trevor Dunn (bass), Joey Baron (drums)
  • Astronome (2006) featuring Mike Patton (vocals), Trevor Dunn (bass), Joey Baron (drums)

[edit] with Naked City

  • Naked City (1989)
  • Torture Garden (1989, Collects 33 songs from Grand Guignol and 9 from Naked City)
  • Grand Guignol (1991)
  • Heretic (1992)
  • Radio (1993)
  • Absinthe (1993)
  • Black Box (1996, Collects Torture Garden & Leng Tch'e albums) 2CD
  • Naked City Live, Vol. 1: Knitting Factory 1989 (2002)

[edit] with Cobra

  • Live at the Knitting Factory (1992)
  • Tokyo Operations '94 (1994)
  • John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 2 (2002)

[edit] with Masada (John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron)

  • Alef (1994)
  • Beit (1994)
  • Gimel (1994)
  • Dalet (1994) EP
  • Hei (1995)
  • Vav (1995)
  • Zayin (1996)
  • Heit (1996)
  • Tet (1997)
  • Yod (1997)
  • Live in Taipei 1995 (1998)
  • Live in Jerusalem 1994 (1999) 2CD
  • Live In Middleheim 1999 (1999)
  • Live in Sevilla 2000 (2000)
  • Live at Tonic 2001 (2001)
  • First Live 1993 (2002)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Seven (2004)
  • Sanhedrin (2005) 2CD

[edit] with Masada String Trio

  • The Circle Maker (1998, Disc 1 by Masada String Trio, Disc 2 by Bar Kokhba Sextet) 2CD
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume One (2004)
  • Azazel: Book Of Angels Vol. 2 (2005)

[edit] with Bar Kokhba Sextet

  • The Circle Maker (1998, Disc 1 by Masada String Trio, Disc 2 by Bar Kokhba Sextet) 2CD
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Eleven (2005)

[edit] with Electric Masada

  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Four (2004)
  • At the Mountains of Madness (2005) 2CD

[edit] with Painkiller

  • Guts of a Virgin (1991) EP
  • Buried Secrets (1992) EP
  • Rituals: Live in Japan (1993)
  • Execution Ground (1994)
  • Collected Works (1997, Includes Guts of a Virgin, Buried Secrets, Execution Ground, Live in Osaka and bonus material) 4CD
  • Guts of a Virgin/Buried Secrets (1998, Collection of first two EP's)
  • Talisman: Live in Nagoya (2002)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Twelve (2005, guest vocals by Mike Patton)

[edit] with Hemophiliac

  • Hemophiliac (2002)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Six (2004)

[edit] The Parachute Years Set

  • Lacrosse (1977, 1997, 2000) 2CD
  • Pool (1980, 1997, 2000)
  • Hockey (1980, 1997, 2002)
  • Archery (1981, 1997, 2001) 3CD

[edit] Filmworks Series

  • Filmworks I (1997)
  • Filmworks II: Music for an Untitled Film by Walter Hill (1996)
  • Filmworks III: 1990-1995 (1997)
  • Filmworks IV: S&M (1997)
  • Filmworks V: Tears of Ecstasy (1996)
  • Filmworks VI: 1996 (1996)
  • Filmworks VII: Cynical Hysterie Hour (1997)
  • Filmworks VIII: 1997 (1998)
  • Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-D (2000)
  • Filmworks X: In The Mirror of Maya Deren (2001)
  • Filmworks XI: Under the Wing (2002)
  • Filmworks XII: Three Documentaries (2002)
  • Filmworks XIII: Invitation to a Suicide (2002)
  • Filmworks XIV: Hiding and Seeking (2003)
  • Filmworks XV: Protocols of Zion (2005)
  • Filmworks XVI: Workingman's Death (2005)
  • Filmworks XVII: Notes on Marie Menken/Ray Bandar: A Life with Skulls (2006)
  • Filmworks XVIII: The Treatment (2006)

[edit] Music Romance Series

  • Music for Children (Volume One, 1998)
  • Taboo & Exile (Volume Two, 1999)
  • The Gift (Volume Three, 2001)
  • I.A.O. (Volume Four, 2002)

[edit] Masada Anniversary Series

  • Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 1: Masada Guitars (2003)
  • Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 2: Voices in the Wilderness (2003)
  • Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 3: The Unknown Masada (2003)
  • Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 4: Masada Recital (2004)
  • Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 5: Masada Rock (2005)

[edit] 50th Birthday Celebration Series

  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume One (by Masada String Trio, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Two (by Milford Graves/John Zorn, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Three (by Locus Solus, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Four (by Electric Masada, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Five (by Fred Frith/John Zorn, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Six (by Hemophiliac, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Seven (by Masada, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Eight (by Wadada Leo Smith/Susie Ibarra/John Zorn, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Nine: The Classic Guide to Strategy Volume Three (by John Zorn, 2004)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Ten (by Yamataka Eye/John Zorn, 2005)
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Eleven (by Bar Kokhba Sextet, 2005) 3CD
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Twelve (by Painkiller, 2005)

[edit] Album Collaborations

  • School (by Eugene Chadbourne/John Zorn, 1978)
  • News for Lulu (Bill Frisell, John Zorn, George Lewis, 1994)
  • Art of Memory (by John Zorn/Fred Frith, 1994 - reissued in 1999)
  • Zohar (by The Mystic Fugu Orchestra, 1995)
  • Downtown Lullaby (by John Zorn/Wayne Horvitz/Elliot Sharp/Bobby Previte, 1998)
  • The Stone: Issue One (by John Zorn/Dave Douglas/Mike Patton/Bill Laswell/Rob Burger/Ben Perowsky, 2006)

[edit] Albums Featured

[edit] Filmography

  • A Bookshelf On Top Of The Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn (2004)
  • Masada Live at Tonic 1999 (2004)
  • Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise (2005)

[edit] External links

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