John ZornAnmeldelser

excellent, if dense, collection of interviews and essays with many important non-mainstream musicians

Naked City
recorded 1989
released 1990
ONE DISC: twenty-six tracks, 55 minutes

This is the first Naked City album. I'd say it's the best one, but then I'm biased — this is the first Zorn album I bought, back in 1996.

If They Might Be Giants hired the best jazz players in New York to make a heavy metal album, it would sound like this. (The major difference is the sense of humor. Zorn's sense of humor is more subtle than TMBGs.)
From The Wire:

Zorn debuted Naked City on Nonesuch in 1989. He denied that it was a supergroup, citing The Golden Palominos as an example of why supergroups never really work. But as ad hoc groupings of musicians go this pretty much brought together the cream of the 80s NYC downtown set. Naked City marks out the group's territory: jump-cutting micro-collages of hardcore, Country, sleazy jazz, covers of John Barry and Ornette Coleman, brief abstract tussles — a whole city crammed into two or three minute bursts.

The album's poles are its finest moments and somehow sum up all that the group seemed to do best: a 'suite' of ultra-brief thrashes which still manage to jump genres two or three times in the space of a couple of bars, and a gorgeous rendering of Jerry Goldsmith's untouched theme from Chinatown, which emerges magically from a haze of free improvisation.

The cover is a famous photograph by Weegee. Some record stores carry the album with the back of the CD booklet as the cover: an illustration of a Japanese girl with a snake slithering through her face. Apparently, this is considered less disturbing than the photo of a man laying on the sidewalk with a bullet wound in his face.



Zorn: The music I wrote for Naked City is the kind of music that gets better the more it is played. I wanted to improve the quality of my live performances and using the same musicians served precisely this end.

The Naked City project (which, compared to the completely improvised ones, is based on composition) was to see how many kinds of music can be made with the same ensemble, to write very different things for the same group.

Nineteen of the 26 songs were written by Zorn. The others were written by John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mandel, Ornette Colman, Georges Delerue, and Jerry Goldsmith.

CD TZADIK (TZ 7318[US])

1998.
The Port Of Last Resort. (ZORN)

1. Teqiah.

(3:07)
2. Shanghai.

(2:35)
3. Emunim.

(3:32)
4. Ruan. (guitar version)

(4:37)
5. Ebionim.

(3:00)
6. Ahavah.

(3:42)
7. Ruan. (pipa version)

(3:37)
8. Livant.

(1:54)
9. Or Ne'erav.

(6:58)
10. Shanim.

(2:03)
11. Ruan. (solo piano)

(3:42)
Latin Boys Go To Hell. (ZORN)

12. Deseo.

(2:28)
13. Mentiras.

(2:15)
14. Ansiedad.

(2:55)
15. Locura.

(2:47)
16. Sangre.

(1:02)
17. Olvido.

(2:21)
18. Engano.

(2:25)
19. Traicion.

(2:25)
20. Ilusion.

(2:43)
21. Lagrimas.

(4:14)
The Port Of Last Resort (1-11):
Greg COHEN:

bass
Anthony COLEMAN:

piano
Mark FELDMAN:

violin
Erik FRIEDLANDER:

cello
Marc RIBOT:

guitars
Min XIAO-FEN:

pipa
Latin Boys Go To Hell (12-21):
Cyro BAPTISTA:

percussion
Kenny WOLLESEN:

drums
vibes
percussion
1-11: recorded at Avatar Studio, New York City on November 9, 1997. 12-21: recorded at Creative Audio, New York City on July 22, 1997. Produced by John ZORN.
The Port of Last Resort: The Port of Last Resort is a remarkable documentaryabout the Jewish refugees who emigrated to Shanghai from Nazi Germany in the 1930's. Musically this was a prfect chance to call up Min Xiao-Fen, who I had met earlier in the year. One of the world's greatest virtuosos on the pipa, I had th pleasure of hearing her solo concert and immediately hooked her up with Derek Bailey for a CD of duo improvisations on AVANT. Relatively new to improvisation, with a little encouragement she took to it at once and continues to perform with Derek around the world and with me at my regular improv evenings. As a special guest with the members of the Bar Kokhba project, her sensual tone adds just the touch conveying the curious crossrods of the Chinese and Jewish cultures that took place at this special time and in this special place. It is an honor to have her play this music. SHANGHAI, OR NE'ERAV and RUAN were written especially for the film. ENUNIM and AHAVAH developed during rehearsals for Makigami Koichi's Japanese production of Richard Foreman's The Mind King, and were played by the great William Winant on percussion and myself on harmonium. The other four compositions. were drawn from the over 200 tunes that compromise the Masada book, chosen here to portray the range of moods and emotions felt by the ex-patriots in their safe but unfamiliar haven so far from home. Inappropriate for the regular Masada quartet, these pieces have never been heard before and receive delicate and passionate performances by five of my very favorite musicians. These guys are amazing and can play anything you put in front of them. Although they come from veyr different backgrounds, their commitment to a common goal is intense, and the interplay is often telepathic. The beautiful sounds of their instrumetns are captured with depth and sensitivity by Jim Anderson, who has recorded all of the Masada CD's and many of my recent projects. Jim and Kaz are a real team and I thank them both for all they've donne to make my projects sound as good as they do. This recording is one of my best.
Latin Boys Go to Hell: The story behind the making of this music is a long, twisted and painful one. After seeing the film, my feeling was that someone else would probably do a much better job of scoring it than I, so I suggested to Ela (a friend of over 20 years) that she should give a call to Marc Ribot, who was immersed in Latin music with his Postisos project. Ela seemed determined to have me do the job and would not be swayed. I began to rethink the project. A week later, inspired by the idea of doing an all-percussion score, I called Ela with my new approuch. Of course by this time she had been doing some thinking as well and had decided that Ribot was in fact a great idea, so why not include him in the band. Percussion alone seemed completely inappropriate to her. Back and forth it went on a variety of subjects until finally, exasperated and frustrated, I bowed out of the whole thing. Over a month went by and I thought to give a call in to Ela to see what she finally opted for and how the project was proceeding. Not at all, it turned out - Ribot hadn't been contacted and no one had been hired. I told Ela that if she still wanted me to do the music, that I would deliver the percussion score on one condition: that no one contact me until it was completely recorded. She agreed and seemed to love the results. Cyro has always been a blast to work with and Kenny knocked us both out with his dynamic vibraphone playing. What incredible musicians these guys are - and how well they work together. Once we got into the studio this was a fucking party - complete with a Korean buffet of chapchae, pajun, mandoo gui, yang bulgogi, wang kalbi, jae yook gui and the like. Needless to say, the score was barely used in the final cut, Ela opting instead for a potpourri of lame rock and generic disco. I asked for my credit to be changed.

CHECK SHELVES

Product Details

* Audio CD (August 20, 1996)
* Original Release Date: August 20, 1996
* Number of Discs: 2
* Label: Tzadik
* Catalog Number: 7108
* ASIN: B000003YTK
* Average Customer Review: based on 8 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,897 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #43,168 in Music

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Disc: 1 Windows Media RealOne Player
1. Gevurah Listen Listen
2. Nezikin Listen Listen
3. Mahshav Listen Listen
4. Rokhev Listen Listen
5. Abidan Listen Listen
6. Sheloshim Listen
7. Hath-Arob Listen
8. Paran Listen
9. Mahlah Listen
10. Socoh Listen
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Disc: 2 Windows Media RealOne Player
1. Tannaim Listen Listen
2. Nefesh Listen Listen
3. Abidan Listen Listen
4. Mo'ed Listen Listen
5. Maskil Listen Listen
6. Mishpatim Listen
7. Sansanah Listen
8. Shear-Jashub Listen
9. Mahshav Listen
10. Sheloshim Listen
See all 12 tracks on this disc
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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
Beauty and Variety, February 1, 2000
Reviewer: "horshack" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
I never was a "hardcore" Zorn fan. I liked Naked City, I like the Masada albums, I like the Filmworks series, but I was never crazy for everything Zorn put out, nor have I heard everything Zorn's put out. However, the two things that struck me about this album were its beauty (the shimmering, quiet, spacious elegance it displays) and its variety. I know Zorn is in some situations synonymous with variety, but, as opposed to such albums as Locus Solus, the variety here is not so farflung and extreme that it alienates people not into all of the styles represented. The variety here is less stylistic, and more related to the different instrumental combinations. Plus, this was the album that finally convinced me that Marc Ribot is the Man. At any rate, for hardcore Zorn fans there may be better albums, but for me, this was THE best overall Zorn album I've yet heard. The Circle Maker was good too, but since it was pretty much the same group, the textural and instrumental variety was somewhat narrower, and over two disks, I found that a little tiring. But Bar Kokhba made me happy the whole way through, and still does. I would highly recommend this.

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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Just get it, April 22, 1999
Reviewer: W. P. Gardner (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I agree, this is a very fine record. However, if you buy this and assume all John Zorn's other records are sort of like this, you're in for a big surprise. This is John Zorn you can play with your mom around. Listen to the samples that amazon.com has to get an idea what is on the other records. I am a BIG John Zorn fan but some of his work has left some of my friends cold. There are some Zorn records I listen to a lot and some I don't: I listen to Bar Kokhba a lot, also The Circle Maker (which is very similar) and the Masada records (which are wilder and crazier). I ALSO listen to the Naked City record over and over(the first one with the Weegee cover) but let's just say if you never liked punk music, you should hold off a little bit from that one. Spillane's another good place to start.

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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
As good as its reputation., August 15, 2005
Reviewer: Michael Stack (Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
"Bar Kokhba" is one of John Zorn's most tirelessly praised and revered albums-- look no further than the reviews here, all of them give the recording five stars. Likewise, every commercial review sings its praises-- "[t]he album consistently impresses" (All Music Guide), "a double album of painfully beautiful music" (omnology.com), "simply excellent music" (Lord Chimp's review here on amazon).... the praise goes on and on. The album is discussed as the kind of Zorn you could play for your friends and family, I even saw one review mention this as dinner music. Zorn? Dinner music? So what's the truth? Is this piece all those things? "Painfully beautiful"? Arresting and engaging? Human and living? A total masterpiece?

You know, it pretty much is. There's few albums that stretch over two hours as this one does that can really hold my interest, but this does so effortlessly. "Bar Kokhba", for those unfamiliar, is effectively billed as chamber ensembles play the Masada songbook. For those unfamiliar, the Masada book is a series of melodies written by Zorn using the "Jewish scales"-- this lends that Middle East meets Eastern European vibe that you get from traditional Jewish musics. Originally performed by a quartet modelled after Ornette Coleman's famed quarter on his Atlantic recordings (alto sax, trumpet, bass and drums), "Bar Kokbha" was the first recording to explore the music in different lights. Featuring violinest Mark Feldman, cellist Erik Friedlander, bassists Greg Cohen and Mark Dresser, guitarist Marc Ribot, pianist/organists Anthony Coleman and John Medeski, clarinetists David Krakauer and Chris Speed, drummer Kenny Wolleson and trumpeter Dave Douglas in various formations, the music is performed with a depth and sensitivity. Alternatingly aggressive (the Masada String Trio on "Sheloshim") and passive (piano and organ duet "Mo'ab"), delicate (downtempo Speed and Medeski duet "Abidan") and explosive (Coleman/Dresser/Wolleson piano trio "Nefesh"), patient (bubbling solo guitar piece "Mochin") and schizophrenic (Cecil Taylorish Medeski solo piano piece "Hath-Arob"), the music never ceases to engage the listener fully.

Still, as wonderful as this recording is, it's not the kind of thing everyone's going to "get" It's still a Zorn piece, and for every easily digestable piece ("Mashav"), there's one that's not so easy to deal with ("Paran"). Both of these are duets between Krakauer and Coleman, but while the former features melancholy clarinet over delicate piano, the latter features swirling, avant-garde organ and dug-in bass clarinet. But it's really this duality that makes the album so successful.

One more note-- the production on this is fairly unique-- it's almost as though Zorn wanted a human feeling to this-- clicking clarinet keys, fingers muting strings, and breathing all are readily apparent, and this serves only to enhance the recording. All in all, an essential entry in Zorn's catalog. Try a straight Masada piece first if you're new to the music (I'd recommend "50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7", a recent live recording for an introduction), but this may be a good second place to look. Highly recommended.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
i am a beas.t are yuo, May 9, 2004
Reviewer: Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This is quite a set. _Bar Kokhba_ is two hours of small chamber-jazz ensembles playing pieces from John Zorn's Masada songbook. The music stems from traditional Jewish melodies, which are addictive and lovely, but Zorn revisions them as very jazzy and deviously contrapuntal. The instruments used are violin, cello, bass, drums, clarinet, trumpet, piano, organ, and guitar. Certain combinations appear more frequently than others, for instance the Feldman-Friedlander-Cohen string trio and piano trios led by Anthony Coleman or John Medeski. There are also a few piano solo pieces, with one in particular, "Hath-Arob", where Medeski attacks with a 'free' atonal clatter, while still sounding kinda Jewish. Marc Ribot is notably impressive on guitar. No matter what he plays, on this disc or anything else, it is always so compelling. His 13-minute solo piece, "Mochin", is probably the high point of disc 2. This is simply excellent music that will impress many. It would be wise to purchase it.

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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Too expensive, truly extortionate price :), December 16, 2003
Reviewer: GB Absalon "DNK" (Poland, it seems to me) - See all my reviews
It's not Zorn you may know from Naked city or albums with Mike Patton, it's (partly) not even Zorn you know from awe-inspiring 'Masada' LPs. It's much more 'legible' piece. But a masterpiece, for me. Some of these songs were included in various Masada albums, but there are some new, anyway. As for the album, it IS dark, it IS expressive, it IS evocative, it IS highly-priced too (:-) ), but worth buying (though sound production could be better, as it sometimes lets a little distortion pop up in one's speakers). It's sometimes lyrical, but all the sime extremely dark, minor.

John Zorn: Chimeras (2003)
Inspired by Arnold Schoenberg's “Pierrot Lunaire,â€? Zorn concocts this wonderful creation with the same instrumentation that Schoenberg used with the addition of percussion. Zorn writes each movement to avoid a specific designated pitch to create one of his most beautifully haunting works, leaving the listener with an icy hand ferociously gripping their heartstrings.

John Zorn: COBRA (2002)
Probably Zorn's most famous game piece, and for ample reason. In a performance of “COBRA,â€? the prompter/conductor holds up various cards that indicate what the performers should do, and the rest is wonderful COBRA confusion. Rather than tell everyone in the audience what is going on, Zorn, like an ancient Kung Fu master, keeps the secret rules of the game an oral tradition to those who perform it. Just the audio portion, but one can still hear the razor-like jump cuts from one thing to the next. Experimental game music at its finest, and, once again, it could only happen at Tzadik.

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Venue Cuando Center
City New York
State NY
Set 1 Part 1 ("Botswana")
Part 2 ("The Mouth of the Nile")
Part 3 (Unnamed)
Comment Sound Unity Festival