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Jazz Articles about John Zorn
Me So Zorny
by Patrick Burnette
Pat got a four-LP set from John Zorn's Tzadik label and thought an episode catching up with recent events in the Zorniverse might be a good idea. Mike thought the title of this episode was a good idea. Brace yourselves. All four albums feature Zorn the composer, while only one features Zorn the alto saxophonist and only one features a demonically possessed Muppet on vocals. Pop matters reveals that Mike still doesn't like Joanna Newsom and still has mixed feelings ...
Continue ReadingJohn Zorn and The Downtown Scene (1983 - 1995)
by Russell Perry
Never far from the pulse of jazz innovation, New York in the 1980s incubated what has become known as the “downtown scene." Radically multi-stylistic, the resulting music was unabashedly eclectic, celebrating influences from bebop to punk rock to cartoon music and eventually klezmer and Balkan music “From the shrill, colorful legacy of noise music and new wave, integrating and further developing these sounds, at the end of the eighties a dynamic experimental music scene arose on Manhattan's Lower East Side--the ...
Continue ReadingJohn Zorn: Nove Cantici per Francesco d'Assisi
by Don Phipps
Those who admire Spanish guitar music will greatly appreciate the beautiful airy set of compositions on Nove cantici per Francesco D'Assisi by John Zorn. Zorn, best known for his challenging, cerebral and complex avant-garde offerings, conjures up a set of pastoral tunes composed as part of a residency at New York's Frick Museum. The tunes feature the delicate interplay of a trio of guitarists, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and Gyan Riley. Some may be surprised that Zorn could ...
Continue ReadingJohn Zorn: Tractatus Musico-Philosophicus
by Don Phipps
John Zorn begins his 38-minute musical treatise, Tractatus Musico-Philosophicus with a bitten reed while racing up and down the keys of his saxophone. What remains is some of the most interesting music in modern jazz—a wonderful treatise on the absurdity of life. Zorn wrote and plays all the instruments on this fascinating album--and the soundscapes he creates run the gamut from harsh confusion to mellow contemplation. Zorn's collage of sound creates a bold and awakening listening experience. At ...
Continue ReadingJohn Zorn: Nove Cantici per Francesco d'Assisi
by Mario Calvitti
John Zorn ci ha abituati da tempo a una produzione tanto quantitativamente copiosa quanto qualitativamente molto alta. Ultimamente ha diradato molto la frequenza delle pubblicazioni per la sua etichetta Tzadik, mantenendo però sempre un alto livello di qualità, e questo recente album ispirato alla figura di San Francesco d'Assisi rappresenta sicuramente uno dei suoi lavori migliori in assoluto. Non siamo però in presenza di un altro Masada Guitars, anch'esso caratterizzato dalla presenza di tre chitarristi, con uno in comune (Frisell), ...
Continue ReadingJazz on the Moon
by Ludovico Granvassu
On 20 July 1969, while Herbie Mann was over the figurative moon, because his Memphis Underground was the best selling jazz album in the country, the man was landing on the actual moon (apologies for the gender insensitivity here but otherwise the pun won't work...). What a day! 50 years later we celebrate the latter milestone with two hours of jazz inspired by the moon and the desire to break big divides. Happy listening!
Continue ReadingOjai Music Festival 2019
by Josef Woodard
Ojai Music FestivalLibbey Bowl, and other venues Ojai, California June 6-9, 2019 In the storied and still-evolving story of the Ojai Music Festival, one of America's most important contemporary music-minded festivals, the roots system run deep into mid-century Modernism and late 20th century post-Modernist impulses and up to the current, pluralistic musical minute. The idyllic hideaway town of Ojai—an hour and a world away from Los Angeles—drew Krishnamurti here as a pilgrimage site-maker and ...
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