John Zorn
Drawing on his experience in a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular and improvised music, John Zorn has created an influential body of work that defies academic categories. He learned alchemical synthesis from Harry Smith, structural ontology with Richard Foreman, how to make art out of garbage with Jack Smith, cathartic expression at Sluggs and hermetic intuition from Joseph Cornell. Early inspirations include American innovators Ives, Varese, Cage, Carter and Partch, the European tradition of Berg, Stravinsky, Boulez and Kagel, soundtrack composers Herrmann, Morricone and Stalling as well as avant-garde theater, film, art and literature
Drawing on his experience in a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular and improvised music, John Zorn has created an influential body of work that defies academic categories. He learned alchemical synthesis from Harry Smith, structural ontology with Richard Foreman, how to make art out of garbage with Jack Smith, cathartic expression at Sluggs and hermetic intuition from Joseph Cornell. Early inspirations include American innovators Ives, Varese, Cage, Carter and Partch, the European tradition of Berg, Stravinsky, Boulez and Kagel, soundtrack composers Herrmann, Morricone and Stalling as well as avant-garde theater, film, art and literature
Valentine's Day
An exciting new world of instrumental rock featuring three generations of Downtown superstars—Marc Ribot (Ceramic Dog, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Melvins, Fantômas) and Tyshawn Sorey (Steve Coleman, Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer). Written in 2010, these 12 instrumental miniatures combine atonal lyricism with rock intensity—Schoenberg meets Beefheart’s Magic Band. Originally released as duos in 2011 on the now legendary Enigmata CD (one of the most vexing CDs in Zorn’s cat…
The testament of Solomon
For their fourth release, Zorn’s most intimate and spiritual 21st century ensemble returns with a melodic and open book of tunes reminiscent of the Book of Angels. Drawing inspiration from the Biblical Song of Solomon and originally intended as a companion piece to Zorn’s vocal masterpiece Shir Hashirim, the music is regal, sensual and romantic—a magical blend of classical, jazz and folk music. There has never been a group like the Gnostic Trio, and The Testament of Solomon is a unique CD in the…
Sonic rivers
Tzadik introduces its new Spectrum series with a very special and exciting new group featuring three of the most creative wind players in new music. Friends and colleagues since the ’70s, these three musicians share a vision of improvisation and composition that is unique, virtuosic and cooperative. Performing compositions and collective improvisations, they sculpt sound and silence with masterly assurance. Surprising yet completely inevitable, this is an essential document of improvisational mu…
Alastor: The Book of Angels vol. 21
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* The latest in John Zorn‘s second Masada songbook, the highly melodic and dynamic Book of Angels, the 10 songs on Alastor come courtesy of master composer and violist / multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang. Though Kang generally skews towards classical, chamber, and ambient, his take on Zorn’s hand-picked selections is a surprising and gorgeous collision of styles.
“Hakem” opens with synthesized accents and a strong Indian and Persian inflection—elements that re…
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 2
Drawing upon traditions as varied as Messiaen, Xenakis, Ligeti, Bach, Tournemire, Ives, Korla Pandit and The Phantom of the Opera, Zorn’s organ improvisations are transcendent, inspiring, ecstatic experiences, offering a direct line to the workings of his rich compositional imagination. Performed at St. Paul’s Chapel at a time when the organ was undergoing extensive reconstruction, the limited number of stops available to him focused his imagination to new heights, resulting in Zor…
Psychomagia
"Psychomagia" is the new album by the fabulous quartet of Abraxas, the acclaimed tribal rock arrangements for the Book of Angels series. Here they perform a complex new suite of music written expressly for them by Downtown alchemist John Zorn. Drawing inspiration from the magical writings of Giordano Bruno and Alejandro Jodorowski and others, Zorn has written a bold collection of compositions that challenge the musicians to the breaking point. With a program ranging from some of the most …
@
Screeches, Scratches, Knocks, Bangs, Explosions and Howls in the Night! “@” is a fabulous studio recording of two Downtown masters. Both long-time supporters of extreme music and proponents of free improvisation, John and Thurston share a deep musical connection and come together here to create their first work together. A varied and powerful program of duo improvisations, “@” presents the community of NY’s Downtown scene at its collaborative best.
Hermetic Organ
Breathtaking solo organ improvisations recording!! This is the first volume documenting Zorn's breathtaking solo organ improvisations. Although organ was Zorn's first instrument (he often credits Lon Chaney in the silent classic Phantom of the Opera as a primal influence), in 2011 Zorn surprised even his hardcore fans by initiating a new series of solo organ concerts in churches around the world. Premiering at the historic Christ Church in Philadelphia, the word on these concerts spread li…
O\'o
The exotic follow up to "Dreamers." Featuring the same dynamic band of masters from Zorn's inner circle, this presents 12 more lyrical & adventurous instrumentals combining world music, surf, exotica, soundtracks, easy listening, minimalism & more into a fabulous & exciting new music.
Filmworks XXIII: El General
Eleven cues recorded for a striking documentary focusing on the life of controversial Mexican dictator Plutarco Elias Calles who was called everything from a nun-burner to the father of modern Mexico. Beautiful and dramatic, the music is scored for guitar, marimba, accordion/piano and bass and subtly draws upon Mexican, Spanish, minimalist and soundtrack traditions. Zorn's fifth film score in as many months is a pure delight. Moody and exotic music for a creative and revealing film dealing with …
Masada Anniversary Edition, Vol. 4: Masada Recital
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Masada 10th Anniversary Edition Vol. 4. Performed by: Mark Feldman (violin), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano). Virtuosic fireworks and heartfelt lyricism from two of the most amazing musicians in new music. Performing a dozen compositions from the vast Masada repertory, including the world premiere of a piece never before performed, Masada Recital is another new interpretation of the now classic book of compositions expanding on the Jewish tradition.
The Crucible
The legendary Moonchild trio returns for another intense journey into the worlds of magic, alchemy and witchcraft. Following one of Zorn's true masterpieces Six Litanies For Heliogabalus, this fourth volume streamlines and simplifies the music with new melodic elements, bringing Zorn's sax and the lyricism of Masada into the power and structural complexity of the patented Moonchild sound. With Patton using his prodigious voice to sing melodies in addition to his preverbal screams and howls, The …
Elegy
Recording of a file-card composition, performed on flute, viola, guitar, turntables, sound effects, percussion & voice. "Creates a mysterious world of erotic perversion, drawing inspiration from the writings of Jean Genet, and features an unusual collection of some of SF's most interesting musicians: David Abel, Barbara Chaffe, Mike Patton, David Shea, David Slusser, Trey Spruance & William Winant.
Locus Solus
Reissue of the Rift 1983 DBL LP. Locus Solus was made up of small groups of Zorn's closest contemporaries at the time: Christian Marclay, Peter Blegvad, Arto Lindsay, Anton Fier, Wayne Horvitz, Ikue Mori, M.E. Miller. Subtitled "In search of improvised song form," this is supremely disorienting sonic chatter, but still quite listenable; watching this one waft though your speaker cones can't help but give you a feeling of superiority towards the human race's numerous inferior forms.
Filmworks 1986 - 1990
This original installment of the FilmWorks Series presents three scores ranging from punk-rockabilly (featuring the nasty guitars of Bob Quine, Marc Ribot and Arto Lindsay); a jazzy Bernard Herrmann fantasy; to a quirky classical/improv/world music amalgam for Raul Ruiz's bizarre film The Golden Boat. Out of print for several years these classic recordings are made available here with the original cover art intact. This is the place where it all began.
Cobra
Above all, COBRA is a musical experience. Words cannot convey. Listen, just listen, and you're liable to find yourself lost in the magic of the game, and the music. Cobra is an unpublished but recorded and frequently performed musical composition by John Zorn that was conceived as a loosely structured system, or game piece, for a group of musical improvisors and a prompter.Zorn completed Cobra on October 9, 1984. The composition consists of a set of cues notated on cards, and rules corresponding…