Ché-SHIZU

Ché-SHIZU: A Journey

by Mark Corroto
August 15, 2018

If you ever wondered why John Zorn lived in Japan for much of the 1980s, the answer is: for the music. These were the days before eBay and Discogs, when hunting for a recording by Keiji Haino required a trip to Tokyo or Osaka. Zorn, of course, brought much of what he heard back to the States, recording Haino, Yamatsuka Eye, Ruins, Ikue Mori, and Otomo Yoshihide for his Tzadik label and incorporating the Japanese aesthetic into his compositions.