John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, conductor,

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, classical,

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

, surf,

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

, and world music.Milkowski, B.
"John Zorn: One Future, Two Views"
(interview) in ''

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'', March 2000, pp. 28–35,118–121; accessed July 24, 2010. In 2013, ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' described Zorn as "one of our most important composers" and in 2020 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' noted that " ltough Zorn has operated almost entirely outside the mainstream, he's gradually asserted himself as one of the most influential musicians of our time".Steamer, H.
‘He Made the World Bigger’: Inside John Zorn's Jazz-Metal Multiverse
''Rolling Stone'', June 22, 2020. Zorn entered New York City's

downtown music Downtown music is a subdivision of American music, closely related to experimental music, which developed in downtown Manhattan in the 1960s. History The scene the term describes began in 1960, when Yoko Ono, one of the early Fluxus artists, o ...

scene in the mid-1970s, collaborating with improvising artists while developing new methods of composing experimental music. Over the next decade he performed throughout Europe and Japan and recorded on

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

US and European labels. In 1986 he received acclaim with the release of his radical reworking of the film scores of

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

, ''

The Big Gundown ''The Big Gundown'' ( it, La resa dei conti, lit=The Settling of Scores) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian. Plot Possessing a reputation for bringing criminals to justice, r ...

'', followed by ''Spillane'', an album featuring his collage-like experimental compositions. ''

Spy vs Spy ''Spy vs. Spy'' is a wordless comic strip published in '' Mad'' magazine. It features two agents involved in stereotypical and comical espionage activities. One is dressed in white, and the other in black, but they are otherwise identical, and ...

'' (1989) and '' Naked City'' (1990) both demonstrated Zorn's ability to merge and blend musical styles in new and challenging formats. Zorn spent time in Japan in the late 1980s and early '90s but returned to

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

Manhattan to establish the

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

record label in 1995.Burma, M.
John Zorn Interview
Browbeat, Issue 1, 1993 Tzadik enabled Zorn to establish independence, maintain creative control, and ensure the availability of his growing catalog of recordings. He prolifically recorded and released new material for the label, issuing several new albums each year, along with recordings by many other artists.Gordon, T., (2008),
John Zorn: Autonomy and the Avant-Garde
'; accessed November 15, 2013. Zorn performs on saxophone with Naked City,

Painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

, and

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...

, conducts Moonchild, Simulacrum, and several Masada-related ensembles or encourages musicians toward their own interpretations of his work. He has composed concert music for classical ensembles and orchestras, and produced music for opera, sound installations, film and documentary. Tours of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have been extensive, usually at festivals with musicians and ensembles that perform his repertoire.

Early life and career

Early life

John Zorn was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to a Jewish family, attended the

United Nations International School The United Nations International School (UNIS) is a private international school in New York City, established in 1947. Many members of the United Nations staff arriving with young families found unexpected difficulties with New York's school sys ...

, and studied piano, guitar and flute from an early age.At 60, 'Challenges Are Opportunities' For John Zorn
NPR.org, September 3, 2013. Zorn's family had diverse musical tastes: his mother, Vera (née Studenski; 1918–1999), listened to classical and world music; his father, Henry Zorn (1913–1992), was interested in

, French

chansons A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...

, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

; and his older brother collected

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

and 1950s

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

records.Bourgin, S. M. (ed.),(1996) ''Contemporary Musicians, Vol. 15
Zorn, John
' accessed May 26, 2008 Zorn spent his teenage years exploring classical music, film music, "listening to

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

and playing bass in a surf band." He explored the

and

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elemen ...

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

and

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

as well as cartoon soundtracks and film scores. Zorn taught himself

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

by transcribing scores and studied composition under

Leonardo Balada Leonardo Balada Ibáñez (born September 22, 1933) is a Catalan American classical composer, who is noted for his operas and orchestral works. Life Balada was born in Barcelona, Spain. After studying piano at the Conservatori Superior de Mús ...

. Zorn began playing saxophone after discovering

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

's album ''

For Alto ''For Alto'' is a jazz double- LP by composer/multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, recorded in 1969 and released on Delmark Records in 1971. Braxton performs the pieces on this album entirely on alto saxophone, with no additional musicians, instrumenta ...

'' (1969) when he was studying composition at Webster College (now

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

) in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, where he attended classes taught by

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

.Milkowski, B. (1998) John Zorn interview in ''Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries'' New York: Watson-Guptill Publications While at Webster, he incorporated elements of

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

and

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and the cartoon scores of

Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

into his first recordings. Leaving Webster after three semesters, Zorn lived on the West Coast before returning to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

where he gave concerts in his apartment and other small NY venues, playing saxophone and a variety of reeds,

duck call A duck call may be either the sound-imitation process used in waterfowl hunting, by which a hunter lures waterfowl, or the actual tool which the person uses to do so. Early duck call tools were basic woodwind instruments, while later innovations ...

s, tapes, and other instruments.Pareles, J.
Concert: Sounds of Staley And Zorn
''NY Times'', December 4, 1983 Zorn immersed himself in the underground art scene, assisting filmmaker Jack Smith with his performances and attending plays by

Richard Foreman Richard Foreman (born June 10, 1937 in New York City) is an American avant-garde playwright and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Achievements and awards Foreman has written, directed and designed over fifty of his own plays, b ...

Early compositions and recordings

Zorn's early major compositions included many game pieces described as "complex systems harnessing improvisers in flexible compositional formats". Duckworth, W. (1999) ''Talking Music'', Da Capo Press () pp. 444–476 These compositions "involved strict rules, role playing, prompters with flashcards, all in the name of melding structure and improvisation in a seamless fashion". Zorn's early game pieces had sporting titles like ''

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

'' (1976), ''

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

'' (1978), ''

Pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

'' (1979), and ''

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

'' (1979), which he recorded and first released on

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

's Parachute label.Roussel, P. (2013
John Zorn Discography
accessed November 1, 2013 His most enduring game piece is ''Cobra'', composed in 1984 and first recorded in 1987 and in subsequent versions in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, and revisited in performance many times. In the early 1980s, Zorn was heavily engaged in improvisation as both a solo performer and with other like-minded artists. Zorn's first solo saxophone recordings were originally released in two volumes as ''

The Classic Guide to Strategy The Classic Guide to Strategy is a compilation album by John Zorn featuring his two early solo records ''The Classic Guide to Strategy Volume One'' (1983), ''(tracks 1-2)'' and the ''Classic Guide to Strategy Volume Two'' (1986),< ...

'' in 1983 and 1986 on the Lumina label. Zorn's early small group improvisations are documented on ''

Locus Solus ''Locus Solus'' is a 1914 French novel by Raymond Roussel. Plot summary John Ashbery summarizes ''Locus Solus'' thus in his introduction to Michel Foucault's ''Death and the Labyrinth'': "A prominent scientist and inventor, Martial Canterel, ...

'' (1983) which featured Zorn with various combinations of other improvisers including

Christian Marclay Christian Marclay (born January 11, 1955) is a visual artist and composer. He holds both American and Swiss nationality. Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film. A pioneer of using gramophone records ...

Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation ''No New York''. In ...

Wayne Horvitz Wayne Horvitz (born 1955) is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He ...

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...

, and

Anton Fier Anton Fier (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthe Marie Fier and Anton J. Fier Jr., a former Marine and electrician. ...

. '' Ganryu Island'' featured a series of duets by Zorn with

Michihiro Sato Michihiro Sato (wikt:佐藤, 佐藤wikt:通弘, 通弘, ''Satō Michihiro''; surname Sato; name sometimes listed as Sato Michihiro; (born 1957), is a prominent Japanese player of the ''Tsugaru-jamisen''. Born in Machida, Tokyo, Japan, his mother ...

shamisen The , also known as the or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...

, which received limited release on the Yukon label in 1984. Zorn has subsequently reissued these early recordings. John Zorn Münster 1990

Breakthrough recordings

Zorn's breakthrough recording was 1985's widely acclaimed ''

'' released on

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

, where Zorn offered radical

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

's music for film. The album was endorsed by Morricone himself, who said: "This is a record that has fresh, good and intelligent ideas. It is realization on a high level, a work done by a maestro with great science-fantasy and creativity ... Many people have done versions of my pieces, but no one has done them like this". Zorn followed with another major-label release ''

Spillane Spillane is a family name derived from the Ireland, Irish (Gaelic) surname Ó Spealáin or Mac Spealáin. It has also been anglicised as Spellman, Spillan, Spilane and Spallon. It may refer to: People * Adrian Spillane (born 1994), Gaelic football ...

'' in 1987 featuring compositions performed by

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

, the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

, along with the title track, an early "file-card" composition.Watrous, P
"John Zorn Makes Radical Turn Chic"
nytimes.com, September 16, 1993. This method of combining composition and improvisation involved Zorn writing descriptions or ideas on file-cards and arranging them to form the piece. Zorn described the process in 2003:

I write in moments, in disparate sound blocks, so I find it convenient to store these events on filing cards so they can be sorted and ordered with minimum effort. Pacing is essential. If you move too fast, people tend to stop hearing the individual moments as complete in themselves and more as elements of a sort of cloud effect ... I worked 10 to 12 hours a day for a week, just orchestrating these file cards. It was an intense process.Service, T
"Shuffle and Cut"
''The Guardian'', March 7, 2003.

Zorn's file-card method of organizing sound blocks into an overall structure largely depended on the musicians he chose, the way they interpreted what was written on the file cards, and their relationship with Zorn. "I'm not going to sit in some ivory tower and pass my scores down to the players." said Zorn,

I have to be there with them, and that's why I started playing saxophone, so that I could meet musicians. I still feel that I have to earn a player's trust before they can play my music. At the end of the day, I want players to say: this was fun—it was a lot of fucking work, and it's one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was worth the effort.

Three further releases on Nonesuch followed; ''

'' in 1989, '' Naked City'' in 1990, and ''

Filmworks 1986–1990 ''Filmworks 1986–1990'' features the first released film scores of John Zorn. The album was originally released on the Japanese labels Wave and Eva in 1990, on the Nonesuch Records label in 1992, and subsequently re-released on Zorn's own label, ...

'' (1992) before Zorn broke with the label.

Music

Jazz

Zorn demonstrated his

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

credentials as a member of the

Sonny Clark Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom. Early life Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pit ...

Memorial Quartet, recording ''

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

'' in 1986. '' News for Lulu'' (1988) and '' More News for Lulu'' (1992) featured Zorn,

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

and

George E. Lewis George Emanuel Lewis (born July 14, 1952) is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization ...

performing compositions by Clark,

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...

Freddie Redd Freddie Redd (May 29, 1928 – March 17, 2021) was an American Hard bop, hard-bop pianist and composer. He is best known for writing music to accompany ''The Connection (play), The Connection'' (1959), a play by Jack Gelber. According to Peter ...

, and

Hank Mobley Henry "Hank" Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to descr ...

. He recorded ''

'' featuring

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

versions of

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

's compositions in 1989. According to Cook, "Zorn's admirers often consider him a masterful

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

alto player, but when he does perform in something approaching that style his playing has little of the tension and none of the relaxation of the great beboppers, often sounding more strangulated than anything".

Film music

Zorn stated that "After my record ''The Big Gundown'' came out I was convinced that a lot of soundtrack work was going to be coming my way".Zorn, J. (1992) liner notes to ''

'' Tzadik: New York While interest from Hollywood was not forthcoming, eventually

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

makers like

Sheila McLaughlin Sheila McLaughlin (born 1950) is an American lesbian feminist director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and photographer. She wrote and directed the controversial film, ''She Must Be Seeing Things'' (1987). Her debut feature film, '' Committed'' (1 ...

and Raúl Ruiz sought his talents. Filmmaker

Walter Hill Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

rejected his music for a film to be called ''Looters''. Although Zorn's score did not make the final cut he used the money he received to establish the record label, Tzadik, on which he released '' Filmworks II: Music for an Untitled Film by Walter Hill'' in 1995. Zorn also produced a series of commercial soundtracks for the advertising firm

Wieden+Kennedy Wieden+Kennedy (W+K; earlier styled ''Wieden & Kennedy'') is an American independent global advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the l ...

, including one directed by

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

, a long-term Zorn inspiration.Zorn, J. (1997), liner notes to '' Filmworks III: 1990–1995'' Tzadik: New York. Zorn used his film commissions to record new ensembles like

and the

Masada String Trio Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s. Masada was the first ensemble to perform Zorn's compositions inspired by Radical Jewish Culture and written to be perform ...

. From the mid-1990s, Zorn composed film music for independent films dealing with

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

and

LGBT culture LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" o ...

, documentaries exploring the Jewish experience, and films about

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...

ists. In 2013, after releasing 25 volumes in his Filmworks Series, Zorn announced that he would no longer be releasing music for film.

Hardcore: Naked City, Painkiller and beyond

Zorn established Naked City in 1988 as a "compositional workshop" to test the limitations of a

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

format. Featuring Zorn (saxophone),

(guitars),

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

(bass),

(keyboards),

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...

(drums), and vocalist

Yamatsuka Eye (born , 13 February 1964) is a Japanese vocalist and visual artist, best known as a member of Boredoms and Naked City. He has changed his stage name three times, from Yamatsuka Eye, to Yamantaka Eye, to Yamataka Eye, and sometimes calls hims ...

(and later

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

), Naked City blended Zorn's appreciation of

and

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

bands like

Agnostic Front Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre. History First era (1980–19 ...

and

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

with influences like film music, country or jazz often in a single composition. The band performed pieces by film composers Ennio Morricone, John Barry,

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

and

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

and modern classicists

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...

, and

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

and recorded heavy metal and

albums. In 1991, Zorn formed

with

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

on bass and

Mick Harris Michael John Harris (born 4 October 1967) is an English musician from Birmingham. He was the drummer for Napalm Death between 1985 and 1991, and is credited for coining the term "grindcore". After Napalm Death, Harris joined Painkiller with Joh ...

on drums. Painkiller's first two releases, '' Guts of a Virgin'' (1991) and '' Buried Secrets'' (1992), also featured short

and

-inspired compositions. They released their first live album, '' Rituals: Live in Japan'', in 1993, followed by the double CD '' Execution Ground'' (1994), which featured longer dub and ambient-styled pieces. A second live album, '' Talisman: Live in Nagoya'', was released in 2002 and the band was featured on Zorn's '' 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 12'' (2005) with

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

replacing Harris on drums and guest vocalist

. Both bands attracted worldwide interest, particularly in Japan, where Zorn had relocated following a three-month residency in Tokyo.Goldberg, M
John Zorn Interview
, ''BOMB Magazine'', Issue 80, Summer 2002. Mike Patton-1

In 2006, Zorn formed the voice/bass/drums trio of Mike Patton,

Trevor Dunn Trevor Roy Dunn (born January 30, 1968) is an American composer, bass guitarist, and double bassist. He came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. While performing with Mr. Bungle, Dunn would dress similar to the ...

, and

as “a compositional challenge, as a song cycle, songs without words” as he decided “I want to work with Patton more; Patton was very hungry to do more work together. ‘OK, so let's start it with just bass, drums, and voice". Rolling Stone said Moonchild was "a band that, much like Naked City, mutated radically across its lifespan as Zorn kept raising his compositional bar. While it touched on similar extremes as that group... its episodes are more sustained, its structures more conventionally songlike" noting "For the first five of Moonchild's seven albums, released from 2006 through 2014, Patton utilized his full whisper-to-scream range while operating entirely without lyrics".

Concert music

As Zorn's interest in Naked City waned, he "started hearing classical music in ishead again." Zorn started working on compositions that drew on chamber music arrangements of strings, percussion and electronic instruments. ''

Elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

'', a suite dedicated to

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

, was released in 1992. This was followed by the piece ''

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

'' recorded in November 1992, his premiere work of radical Jewish culture, featuring seven compositions reflecting the ''

'' ("Night of Broken Glass") in late 1938 where Jews were targets of violence and destruction in Germany and Austria. The establishment of Tzadik allowed him to release many compositions which he had written over the previous two decades for classical ensembles. Zorn's earliest released classical composition, ''Christabel'' (1972) for five flutes, first appeared on ''

Angelus Novus ''Angelus Novus'' (New Angel) is a 1920 monoprint by the Swiss-German artist Paul Klee, using the oil transfer method he invented. It is now in the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. History The artist's friend Walter Benjamin, a n ...

'' in 1998. Zorn credits the composition of his 1988

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

''Cat O' Nine Tails'' (commissioned and released by the

on ''

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

'') to awakening him to the possibilities of writing for classical musicians. This composition also appeared on '' The String Quartets'' (1999) and '' Cartoon S/M'' (2000) along with variations on "Kol Nidre", inspired by the Jewish prayer of atonement which was written at the same time as the first Masada Book. '' Aporias: Requia for Piano and Orchestra'' (1998) was Zorn's first full-scale orchestral release featuring pianist Stephen Drury, the Hungarian Radio Children's Choir and the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

conducted by

Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist, He is currently the music director and chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard Sch ...

. Much of Zorn's classical work is dedicated or inspired by artists who have influenced him: * '' Duras: Duchamp'' (1997) contains tributes to

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

and

* '' Songs from the Hermetic Theatre'' (2001) features compositions dedicated to Harry Smith,

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

, and

Maya Deren Maya Deren (born Eleonora Derenkowska, uk, Елеоно́ра Деренко́вська, links=no;

* ''

Madness, Love and Mysticism ''Madness, Love and Mysticism'' is an album of contemporary classical music by American composer John Zorn released in 2001 on the Tzadik label. Reception The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars noting that "The work is full ...

'' (2001) featured ''Le Mômo'', inspired by

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

, and ''Untitled'', dedicated to

Joseph Cornell Joseph Cornell (December 24, 1903 – December 29, 1972) was an American visual artist and film-maker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of Assemblage (art), assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde e ...

* '' Chimeras'' (2001) was based on

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's atonal composition, ''

Pierrot Lunaire ''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a me ...

'' Several of Zorn's later concert works drew inspiration from mysticism and the works of

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...

in particular; '' Magick'' (2004) featured a group called the Crowley Quartet. A 2009 performance of the album's centerpiece ''Necronomicon'' was described as "... frenetic vortexes of violent, abrasive motion, separated by eerily becalmed, suspenseful sections with moody, even prayerful melodies. The music is sensational and evocative, but never arbitrary; you always sense a guiding hand behind the mayhem". Later works expanded to include vocal and operatic works; ''

Mysterium Mysterium may refer to: * ''Mysterium'' (John Zorn album), 2005 * ''Mysterium'' (Manilla Road album), 2013 * ''Mysterium'' (board game), a cooperative board game designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko * ''Mysterium'' (novel), an alte ...

'' released in 2005 featured ''Frammenti del Sappho'' for female chorus; ''

Rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, ...

'' (2005) featured Zorn's opera composed for the Bayreuth Opera Festival in 1998; and ''La Machine de l'Être'' composed in 2000, premiered at the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

in 2011, and recorded for the 2012 album ''

Music and Its Double ''Music and Its Double'' is an album composed by John Zorn and featuring three contemporary compositions which were recorded in late 2011 and early 2012 in New York City and Finland,

''. Zorn's concert works have been performed all over the world and he has received commissions from the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence fr ...

and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

Masada books

Book One

The experience of composing ''Kristallnacht'' prompted Zorn to explore his Jewish heritage and examine methods of composing using the

Phrygian dominant scale In music, the Phrygian dominant scale is the fifth musical mode, mode of the minor scale#Harmonic and melodic minor, harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant (music), dominant.Dave Hunter (2005). ''Play Acoustic'', San Francisco: Backbe ...

. Zorn set himself the task of writing 100 compositions within a year. In 1993 Zorn engaged Dave Douglas (trumpet),

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includi ...

(double bass), and

(drums) to provide musical cues for

Joe Chappelle Joseph Chappelle is an American screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and Film director, director of film and Television director, television. He is perhaps best known for his work on the critically acclaimed HBO series ''The Wire'', where he d ...

's first film ''

Thieves Quartet ''Thieves Quartet'' is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Joe Chappelle and starring Michele Cole and James Denton. Premise In Chicago, four desperate criminals kidnap a businessman's daughter, only to find their plans unravel. Cast *Phil ...

'' (later collected on '' Filmworks III: 1990–1995'') and established them as

to perform his recent compositions using the instrumental lineup and improvisational approach of

's pioneering free jazz quartet. Within three years, the number of compositions had grown to 205 and became known as the first Masada Book. Zorn explained: In 1996, Zorn released ''

Bar Kokhba Simon ben Koseba or Cosiba ( he, שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כֹסֵבָא, translit= Šīmʾōn bar Ḵōsēḇaʾ‎ ; died 135 CE), commonly known as Bar Kokhba ( he, שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כּוֹכְבָא‎, translit=Šīmʾōn bar ...

'' featuring Masada compositions recorded by a rotating group of musicians. Two ensembles arose from this album: the Masada String Trio, composed of Greg Cohen (bass), Mark Feldman (violin), and

Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City. A veteran of New York City's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with sax ...

(cello); and the Bar Kokhba Sextet which added

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wait ...

(guitar), Cyro Baptista (percussion), and Joey Baron (drums), both of which were featured on 1998's ''

The Circle Maker ''The Circle Maker'' is a double album by John Zorn featuring Zorn's Masada compositions performed by the Masada String Trio (on Disc One: Issachar) and the Bar Kokhba Sextet (on Disc Two: Zevulun) which was released in 1998 on the Tzadik label. ...

''. The Masada String Trio were also featured on Zorn's Filmworks series, as part of his 50th Birthday Celebration, and released two albums as part of the Book of Angels project, '' Azazal'' and ''

Haborym The demons' names (given below) are taken from the ''Ars Goetia'', which differs in terms of number and ranking from the ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' of Johann Weyer. As a result of multiple translations, there are multiple spellings for some of t ...

''. In 2003, Zorn formed Electric Masada, a band featuring Zorn, Baptista, Baron, and Ribot, along with

(bass),

(electronics),

Jamie Saft Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private mu ...

(keyboards), and

Kenny Wollesen Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist. Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a foun ...

(drums) releasing their debut live album from Zorn's 50th Birthday Concert series and a double live CD recorded in 2004. In 2019, Zorn formed the New Masada Quartet with

Julian Lage Julian Lage ( ; born December 25, 1987) is an American guitarist and composer. Career A child prodigy, Lage was the subject of the 1996 short documentary film ''Jules at Eight''. At 12, he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Three years later ...

(guitar),

Jorge Roeder Jorge Roeder is a Peruvian bass player and composer. He has performed and collaborated with many jazz artists including Gary Burton, Nels Cline and John Zorn. As part of the Julian Lage Group, he received a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Con ...

(bass), and

(drums). A Tenth Anniversary Series of Masada recordings was released by Zorn beginning in 2003. The series featured five albums of Masada themes including ''

Masada Guitars ''Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 1: Masada Guitars'' is the first album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada (band), Masada songbook project.

'' by

, and

Tim Sparks Tim Sparks (born October 31, 1954) is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer. Life Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was given his first guitar when a bout of encephalitis kept him out of school for a year. T ...

; '' Masada Recital'' by Mark Feldman and

Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist and improviser. Career Courvoisier, originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, has lived in Brooklyn, New York for years. She has led several groups over the years, recorded 10 albu ...

; ''

Masada Rock ''Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 5: Masada Rock'' is the fifth and final album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project.

'' by Rashanim; and two albums featuring various artists, ''

Voices in the Wilderness ''Masada Anniversary Edition Volume 2: Voices in the Wilderness'' is the second album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features 24 compositions by Zorn, each performed by di ...

'' and ''

The Unknown Masada ''Masada Anniversary Edition Volume 3: The Unknown Masada'' is the third album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features twelve previously unreleased Masada compositions perfor ...

''.

Book Two

In 2004, Zorn began composing the second Masada Book, ''The Book of Angels'', resulting in an additional 316 compositions.Ratliff, B
A Most Prolific Composer Opens His Book of Angels
''NY Times'', September 12, 2006. Zorn explained: Zorn released thirty-two volumes of Masada Book Two compositions performed by many varied artists.Phipps, D
Album Review: Mary Halvorson: Paimon: Book Of Angels Volume 32
''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'', December 13, 2017Wolk, D
"Pat Metheny Mingles in the Weird World of John Zorn"
MTVHive.com, May 29, 2013. The titles of many Masada Book Two compositions are derived from

demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or pseudoscience. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may b ...

and

Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. The Masada quartet performed at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in March 2007 for what were billed as their final concerts. Zorn reformed the band as a sextet with

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began p ...

and

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to C ...

in 2009 saying:Milkowski, B.
John Zorn: The Working Man
'', ''

'', May 2009. Zorn's Masada compositions and associated ensembles have become a central focus of many concerts and festivals and he has established regular 'Masada Marathons' that feature various bands and musicians performing music from the Masada Books.

Book Three

Zorn completed the third Masada book, titled ''The Book Beriah'', in 2014.

The Dreamers

Zorn released one of his most popular albums, '' The Gift'', in 2001, which surprised many with its relaxed blend of surf, exotica and world music. On February 29, 2008, at St Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, Zorn premiered '' The Dreamers'', which saw a return to the gentle compositions first featured on ''The Gift'' and established the band of the same name. The Dreamers released their second album, ''

O'o ''O'o'' is an album by John Zorn released in 2009. It the second album by The Dreamers following their 2008 release '' The Dreamers''. The title refers to the '' ʻōʻō'' of the Hawaiian Islands, the last living members of the now-extinct son ...

'', in 2009, an album of Zorn's Book of Angels compositions in 2010 and a

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

in 2011.

Other work

Tzadik Records

In 1992, John Zorn curated the

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

subsidiary of the DIW label and released several Naked City recordings on the label as well as many other albums featuring Zorn affiliated musicians including Derek Bailey,

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

, Dave Douglas,

Bobby Previte Bobby Previte (born July 16, 1951 in Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began ...

Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...

and

. In 1995, in co-operation with jazz producer Kazunori Sugiyama, Zorn established the

record label to ensure the availability of his catalogue and promote other musicians. The label's releases are divided into series: * The ''Archival Series'' features Zorn's recordings exclusively, including re-releases of several albums that appeared on other labels, Zorn's film work, and recordings from 1973 onwards; * The ''50th Birthday Celebration Series'' is 11 live albums recorded in September 2003 at Tonic as part of the month-long concert retrospective of Zorn's work; * The ''Composer Series'' features Zorn's music for "classical" ensembles along with work by many other contemporary composers; * The ''Radical Jewish Culture Series'' features contemporary Jewish musicians; * The ''New Japan Series'' covers Japanese underground music; * The ''Film Music Series'' features soundtracks by other musicians (Zorn's ''Filmworks'' recordings are featured in the ''Archival Series''); * The ''Oracle Series'' promotes women in experimental music; * The ''Key Series'' presents notable avant-garde musicians and projects; * The ''Lunatic Fringe Series'' releases music and musicians operating outside of the broad categories offered by other series; and * The ''Spotlight Series'' promotes new bands and musical projects of young musicians. Tzadik also releases special-edition CDs, DVDs, books and T-shirts. Since 1998, the designs of Tzadik releases have been created by graphic artist Heung-Heung "Chippy" Chin.

The Stone (music venue)

Zorn's earliest New York performances occurred at small artist-run performance spaces including his own apartment. As his profile grew, he became associated with several

alternative venues such as the Knitting Factory and Tonic. On Friday April 13, 2007, Zorn played the final night at Tonic before it closed due to financial pressures. Zorn was the principal force in establishing The Stone in 2005, an avant-garde performance space in New York's

Alphabet City Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...

which supports itself solely on donations and the sale of limited-edition CDs, giving all door revenues directly to the performers. Zorn holds the title of artistic director and regularly performs 'Improvisation Nights'. Zorn feels that "The Stone is a unique space and is different from Tonic, the Knitting Factory, and most of the other venues we have played at as there is no bar ... so there is NO pressure to pack the house with an audience that drinks, and what night you perform has nothing to do with your power to draw a crowd or what kind of music you might play". On January 10, 2008, Zorn performed with

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

and

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

at a special benefit night at The Stone which was also released on '' The Stone: Issue Three'' on CD. In December 2016 Zorn announced that The Stone would close in February 2018 but that he was hopeful that a new location could be found, stating "Venues come and go, but the music continues on forever!" By March 2017 Zorn had negotiated with

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

to move The Stone to Greenwich Village. On February 25, 2018, the last performance was held at the original venue and Zorn moved operations to The New School's The Glass Box Theatre on the basis of a handshake deal.

50th and 60th birthday concert series

In September 2003, Zorn celebrated his 50th birthday with a month-long series of performances at Tonic in New York, repeating an event he had begun a decade earlier at the

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

. He conceptualized the month into several different aspects of his musical output. Zorn's bands performed on the weekends, classical ensembles were featured on Sundays, Zorn performed improvisations with other musicians on Mondays, featured his extended compositions on Tuesdays and a retrospective of game pieces on Wednesdays. A total of 12

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s were released on his 50th Birthday Celebration Series. Zorn@60@Met

Zorn's 60th birthday celebrations encompassed concerts across the globe from festival appearances to unique events in art galleries and unusual venues across 2013 and into 2014. The first concerts under the Zorn@60 banner were performed at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...

in Minneapolis in April 2013. This was followed by performances at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

. The European leg of Zorn@60 commenced at the

Barbican Theatre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibi ...

in London in July 2013. Festival appearances in Belgium, Poland, Spain and Germany followed soon after. These were followed by concerts in Victoriaville, Canada. Returning to New York City other concert appearances occurred at

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

and

Lincoln Centre Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. Zorn undertook another of his celebrated Masada Marathons at the

Skirball Center for the Performing Arts The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, generally known as NYU Skirball, is an 850-seat theater at 566 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan, New York, owned by New York University. It was named after philanthropist Jack H. Skirball. The thea ...

in August. Further New York City concerts in September included performances of music for film at the

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent, experimental, and avant-garde cinema.''Cobra'' at the

Miller Theatre Miller Theatre at Columbia University is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. It is a performing arts producer dedicated to developing and presenting new music. In 1988, the former McMillin Theater was renovated an ...

, a day-long concert at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

and a performance of improvised duets with

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

. In October, the

International Contemporary Ensemble The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is a contemporary classical music ensemble, based in New York City and Chicago. ICE performs a diverse and extensive array of chamber, electro-acoustic, improvisatory, and multimedia works. History ...

performed a retrospective of Zorn's classical music at the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary ...

. The final Zorn@60 concerts were performed as part of the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

in Australia in March 2014 featuring a four concerts covering the breadth of his compositional and improvisational range.

''Arcana'' (book series)

In 2000, Zorn edited the book ''Arcana: Musicians on Music'' featuring interviews, essays, and commentaries by musicians including

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', ''The Big Gundown'', ''Archery'', and ''Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music in ...

, Peter Garland, David Mahler,

Gerry Hemingway Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer. Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E. ...

Eyvind Kang Eyvindur Y. Kang (born 23 June 1971) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. His primary instrument is viola, but has also performed on violin, tuba, keyboards and others. In addition to his solo work, Kang has worked extensively with ...

and

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

, on the compositional process. Zorn released the second volume of ''Arcana: Musicians on Music'' in the summer of 2007. According to the preface by Zorn, "This second installment of what will be a continuing series of books presenting radical, cutting-edge ideas about music is made, like the initial volume, out of necessity." New volumes have since been released; the eighth volume was published in September 2017.

In other media

Zorn also appeared on the 1985 Henry Hills film
Money
' about the financial struggles of

avant garde artists during the age of

Reaganism Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989). A Republican and former actor and governor of California, he energized the conservative movement in the United States from 1964. His basic foreign policy was to equal and ...

Awards

In 2001, John Zorn received the Jewish Cultural Award in Performing Arts from the

National Foundation for Jewish Culture The Foundation for Jewish Culture (formerly the National Foundation for Jewish Culture) was an advocacy group for Jewish cultural life and creativity in the United States. Founded in 1960, it supported writers, filmmakers, artists, composers, cho ...

. In 2006, Zorn was named a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

. In 2007, he was the recipient of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's School of the Arts William Schuman Award, an honor given "to recognize the lifetime achievement of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and generally acknowledged to be of lasting significance."Columbia News (2007)
Composer John Zorn Garners William Schuman Award
', March 2007 In 2011, Zorn was inducted into the

Long Island Music Hall of Fame The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents, as a nonprofit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York. It recognizes ...

by Lou Reed, and was awarded the Magister Artium Gandensis, an honorary degree from the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. In 2014, he received honorary doctorates from The

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

and the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

Discography

Filmography

* ''Money'' (1985), a "manic collage film" by Henry Hills on "the early days of "language poetry" and the downtown improvised music scene."Cf. website of filmmaker Henry Hills. Retrieved June 16, 2013
* ''Put More Blood Into the Music'' (1987), documentary by George Atlas on New York avant garde music, aired Sunday March 12, 1989, as episode 292 of ''

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

''. * '' Step Across the Border'' (1990), documentary on

. * '' A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn'' (Tzadik, 2004), film portrait by Claudia Heuermann. * ''Masada Live at Tonic 1999'' (2004), concert film. * ''Celestial Subway Lines / Salvaging Noise'' (2005), experimental documentary by

Ken Jacobs Ken Jacobs (born May 25, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American experimental filmmaker. His style often involves the use of found footage which he edits and manipulates. He has also directed films using his own footage. Ken Jacobs directed ...

with soundtrack by Zorn and

. * '' Sabbath in Paradise'' (Tzadik, 2007), documentary by Claudia Heuermann on Jewish musical culture in New York's avant garde Jazz scene in the 1990s. * ''Astronome: A Night at the Opera'' (2010), an opera by

, music by John Zorn.

Bibliography

* Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road: New York 2000, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana II: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2007, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana III: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2008, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana IV: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2009, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2010, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana VI: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2012, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana VII: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2014, . * Zorn, John (editor). ''Arcana VIII: Musicians on Music''. Hips Road/Tzadik: New York 2017, .

References

External links

Tzadik.com

The Stone website

Hips Road Edition: Concert music of John Zorn, including score and mp3 samples

Art of the States: John Zorn
* *

John Zorn Primer ''The Wire'' Issue 156 Feb 1997

John Zorn interview (Hungarian)
* Brackett, John
John Zorn: Tradition and Transgression
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008. .
John Zorn Q&A Session
* John Zorn radio interview by Chris Comer: chriscomerradio.com/john_zorn/john_zorn8-24-1999.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Zorn, John 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Jewish American jazz composers American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Avant-garde jazz musicians Jazz fusion musicians Jewish American classical composers Jewish American classical musicians Jewish heavy metal musicians Free improvisation saxophonists MacArthur Fellows Musicians from Queens, New York Postmodern composers American experimental musicians American noise musicians Elektra Records artists Nonesuch Records artists Tzadik Records artists 1953 births Living people The Golden Palominos members Webster University alumni 21st-century American composers Jewish jazz musicians 20th-century American composers Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American saxophonists American male jazz composers American jazz composers Naked City (band) members Painkiller (band) members Masada (band) members Human Arts Ensemble members United Nations International School alumni 20th-century jazz composers 21st-century jazz composers

Early life and career

Early life

Early compositions and recordings

Breakthrough recordings

Music

Jazz

Film music

Hardcore: Naked City, Painkiller and beyond

Concert music

Masada books

Book One

Book Two

Book Three

The Dreamers

Other work

Tzadik Records

The Stone (music venue)

50th and 60th birthday concert series

''Arcana'' (book series)

In other media

Awards

Discography

Filmography

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links