John Zorn is an American composer and saxophone player. He owns his own record company (called Tzadik), so he's free to do whatever he wants. He's used this freedom to write and record dozens of strange and beautiful albums. By the end of the 1990s, he was releasing at least six per year.
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. These influences can lead to a single song, an album, or a series of albums. His interest in cartoon music, for example, has led him to compose a string quartet of cartoon themes, cartoon music for solo piano, and the soundtrack for an animated TV show.
His other interests include Jewish music, improvisation, film soundtracks, and musical hybrids (combining more than one style in the same song). In some cases, he'll write a tribute to a specific artist, trying to capture the spirit of their work in a single song. Some of his work is very aggressive and abstract — he likes to use noise as an element in composing.
It's hard to keep up with Zorn. He puts out a lot of music, but he doesn't do many interviews. There are no books about him.
info over zijn projecten:
Masada
Zorn's four-piece jazz band (trumpet, saxophone, drums, bass) recorded ten albums in the studio, followed by a series of live albums. The songs are based on Jewish musical themes, with a loose structure that encourages each player to improvise.
Naked City
Naked City is a five-piece rock/jazz band. They can play anything. Some of their songs cover multiple musical styles, played in sequence or simultaneously. Although Naked City can play delicate, subtle music when Zorn wants them to, they specialize in brief, aggressive, abstract songs.
Soundtracks
Zorn has written music for low-budget films, documentaries, TV commercials, and cartoons. All of this music is collected in the Filmworks series. By the end of 2002, he was up to volume #13.
Game Pieces
What is a game piece? It's structured improvisation. Zorn: "The content of the piece is improvised according to complex instructions. The rules establish structures without dictating outcomes, much as the rules of baseball determine the conduct of the game but not its final score."
The trouble is, Zorn doesn't tell the listeners what the rules are. This makes the music very confusing. Listening to a game piece is like listening to controlled chaos.
Chamber Music
Occasionally, Zorn will work with a small orchestra or string quartet. In some cases, he uses this opportunity to work out his cartoon music obsession. But more often, he writes an abstract symphony, using blocks of sound and chunks of discreet instrumental breaks to build a long, complex piece. This is some of his most challenging music.
Painkiller and Other Bands
Zorn has two major, high-profile bands — Naked City and Masada. Each of these bands has been around for over ten years, with an impressive list of albums. But Zorn has formed other, minor bands. The most important of these is Painkiller, a jazz-noise trio formed in 1991 with Mick Harris and Bill Laswell.
The other bands are one-shots: He makes an album with two or three people and, instead of calling it a John Zorn album, he gives it a band name. This includes News for Lulu, the Mystic Fugu Orchestra and the Sonny Clark Memorial Quintet.
Solo Albums
This category includes everything else — new arrangements of music by other composers, collections based on a theme, collections with no obvious theme, and tributes to Godard, Mickey Spillane, and Jean Genet. There's also an album inspired by The Devil himself, and an album that is just plain amazing.
Although his solo albums are listed under his own name, every Zorn album is a group effort. In the tradition of jazz and classical music, Zorn is credited as the composer and producer of each album, not the guy playing the instruments. In his liner notes, he goes to great lengths to credit and thank every musician for their dedication and their unique contributions.
Ik ben bekend met naked city, painkiller en Masada, en van vooral die laatste een groot liefhebber geworden. Ben van plan om me nu een beetje te gaan verdiepen in 's mans kamermuziek. Iemand (Fusion?) tips met welke cd te beginnen? Ik zat te denken aan deze:
) en Masada, de rest boeit me niet zo heel veel cq. ken ik niet zo goed.
