''Xu Feng: John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 1'' is a studio album by American composer

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

consisting of game pieces. It features improvisations performed by an ensemble of pairs of musicians using the same instruments:

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

and David Slusser on electronics;

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 ...

and John Schott on guitars; and

Dave Lombardo David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. He is currently playing drums with Testament, Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle ...

and

William Winant William Winant (born 1953) is an American percussionist. In addition to his work in contemporary classical music—notably performing Lou Harrison's compositions—Winant has worked in a variety of genres, including noise rock, free improvisation ...

on drums and percussion. The album is titled after Xu Feng, a Taiwanese actress featured in many

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

s who appears on the cover art, a still of ''

Raining in the Mountain ''Raining in the Mountain'' () is a 1979 film written and directed by King Hu. The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 52nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. Synopsis The story of ...

'' (1979).

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Dean McFarlane awarded the album 4 stars calling it "One of John Zorn's many outstanding works, the composer once again goes above and beyond listeners' expectations. Hearing this astonishing work, it is little wonder that John Zorn is often considered one of the more vital and influential figures in 20th century music".McFarlane, D
Allmusic Review
accessed July 29, 2011.

Track listing

All compositions by John Zorn. # "The Valiant Ones" - 10:21 # "The Fate of Lee Khan" - 9:03 # "Legend of the Mountain" - 4:07 # "The Assassins" - 2:38 # "Dragon Gate Inn" - 5:34 # "The Beauty of Yang Hui-chen" - 10:48 # "Trouble at Spring Inn" - 6:31 # "Hidden Fortress" - 7:55 # "Hsia Nü" - 7:41 # "Raining in the Mountains" - 5:38 # "A Touch of Zen" - 4:11

Personnel

– composer, conductor *

– guitars * John Schott – guitars *

– electronics * David Slusser – electronics *

– drums, percussion *

– drums, percussion

References

{{Authority control 2000 albums Albums produced by John Zorn John Zorn albums Tzadik Records albums