Talk:John Zorn

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[edit] Colbert

Is it really all that important to have?

To be totally honest, it was the first I'd heard of Zorn; being that it's probably the most widespread exposure his name has gotten, I'd say it has its place in the article. ccromwell 22:57, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cobra

I said in an edit summary that cobra linked to the snake - it doesn't, it links to a disambiguation page, but either way, a link there isn't much use, which is why I took it out. If we were to have a link to a page specifically about the pieces, it would probably be Cobra (Zorn) or maybe Cobra (piece of music) (though there could also be Cobra (album). --Camembert

I'm not an expert on the whole Cobra experiment, but I believe it was the set of rules that periodically give rise to pieces of music when a bunch of like-minded musicians get together. So maybe Cobra (Zorn) would be most appropriate, because it's not a piece of music or an album, and I'm not sure that there is a way to describe what it is. It's almost a genre unto itself, maybe a sub-genre of game-music... Mrjohn 10:58, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I added a new article, Cobra (Zorn). See its Talk page for further comments.

RosinDebow 04:01, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Confusing phrase

In the last paragraph:

use of formal of blocks

Uh...I'd fix it, but I have no idea what the author intended here. I don't want to destroy what he or she was trying to say just to fix a grammatical snafu. --Jemiller226 19:29, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, fixed. Hyacinth 21:05, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I have expanded on the idea of 'blocks' with an broader outline of JZs compositional approach - the use of cues, rules and strategies to provide a bit more detail. DISEman 13:19, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Duck call?

Is it really necessary for Zorn to be listed as a "duck call" player before being a saxophonist? How much duck call work has he actually done? Or is this just Zorn-ian irony that i am missing?

Glad to see someone else thinks the same way. I'm changing it to saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. He did play duck calls on a lot of the early (late 70's/early 80's) improv and game sessions, but since then he has recorded on clarinet, electric piano, and wind machine.

Please Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages. Thanks! Hyacinth 20:19, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

I've read a description of Zorn as a 'reed explorer,' which seems to refer to his use of duck calls as an outgrowth of saxophone playing. (In an interview, he said that a local hunting store thought he was a serious 'outdoor sportsman' because he came in and bought so many different duck calls.) The instrument compliments his love for hardcore and cartoon music, since it makes a silly, loud sound. So, he WAS a duck-call player, but he has moved on. The early experiments matter, but not enough to list duck calls as his instrument of choice.67.171.221.2 07:37, 2 April 2007 (UTC)Scott Maykrantz

[edit] Uncredited quotation of this page

Check out this article at Jazz Police, it has taken whole sections of this page without crediting Wikipedia. Mrjohn 10:58, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Ok, now they have 202.152.227.4 02:33, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Also uncredited is the All About Jazz biography which is a straight cut and paste job of an earlier version of this article DISEman 09:57, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Magick

Clearly, Zorn has a strong affinity for Crowley's A.:A.: as evidenced by his placing the seal of Babalon on the back of several albums. Perhaps this is mostly in the A.:A.:'s spirit of connecting creativity, ecstacy, ritual, and esotericism, but I would love to read more about this. Anyone have a good link? Aaron B. Daniels 14:15, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard or read anything about Zorn's "affinity" for Crowley. I would hardly say that it is clear. Without a reputable source, it cannot be added to the article. ---Charles 14:58, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] College Graduate or College Drop-out? - Zorn Influences

I've updated a bit of the JZ biography to include other notable labels that his major pre-Tzadik recordings appeared on (it seemed a bit biased to only credit Nonesuch) and give a bit more background on his influences and major compositional influences/directions. Given that JZ writes in the liner notes of First Recordings 1973 that he discovered Albert Ayer & Anthony Braxton in 1972 I'll assume that he was turned on to free jazz at college, I've also noted the influences of Cage, Varese, Artaud and Bartok as happening but I suspect he would have already been quite hip to Carl Stalling, Frank Zappa and Sci-Fi film music prior to college - all references that JZ noted in the 1995 liner notes to First Recordings.

I note the biography section it says JZ 'dropped-out' of Webster College (now University) yet on the Webster College link it states that he is a notable graduate - can you 'drop-out' after you graduate or is the 'drop-out' just a bit of artistic license? JZ himself states that he spent only two years there so unless he was an advanced student I might edit the Webster page. Not sure who to check with here (unless someone get a copy of his diploma, in which case correct me) DISEman 14:53, 5 January 2007

  • Regarding Zorn's college years, every biography I've read, whether it's on the web or in books, states that Zorn dropped out of the college. In fact, in the original release of the album Spillane, if I recall correctly, he goes on a little rant about some of the professors there in the liner notes, and it sounded like he wasn't happy there. I'd check for sure about that part, but I don't have the album with me at the moment. Either way though, I think it's safe to say that he did drop out of the college. Seems like Webster wants to be associated with a big name like Zorn, even if he didn't graduate from there. -echidnae 17:15, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] We got a B

The Zorn article got rated as a B-class (Now I know how JZ felt at Webster). I've added some sections (to appeal to the researchers) and will try to fill them out as time permits. Wonder what happened to that great JZ pic? (not my add). Wasn't it Lou Reed that said "Critics! You slave all year and get a B+ from Robert Christgau in the Village Voice. %@#$%@ critics!".DISEman 03:28, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Morricone Quote

If anyone can find the reference for the Morricone quote it would be greatly appreciated. If it took them till 2007 to award Morricone an Oscar how long before JZ gets one?DISEman 12:54, 13 April 2007 (UTC) S'OK I worked out where it came from DISEman 02:16, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Popular Culture

Is Stephen Colbert's opinion really important ? I don't even know who is that Colbert-Guy, the fact that he has some tv-show does not make his talks more relevant. Rather the contrary, actually. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.199.60.232 (talk) 17:25, August 27, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Breakthrough recordings

It might be a silly question but, does the "Godard" album refers to the french film director or to someone else ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.199.60.232 (talk) 17:31, August 27, 2007 (UTC)

Yes "Godard" is a tribute to Jean-Luc (and his jump-cut techniques) as indicated by the photo on the cover of Godard/Spillane DISEman 09:18, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Game pieces

I just added a new article "game pieces". If this does not occur automatically at some point, I would propose that the mentionings of this concept in the text is made into the usual hypertext reference. Best, Carl Bergstroem-Nielen (talk) 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)