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JOHN ZORN

RIO/Avant-Prog • United States


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John Zorn picture
John Zorn biography
Born 1953-09-02 in Queens, NYC, USA

Although very few people would think of John Zorn as a progressive rock artist, his close relation to the genre can't be denied. Not only has he repeatedly joined forces with Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Art Bears), he has also collaborated on several occasions with Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Fantômas) and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle). Maybe just as important is the fact that Zorn's side project Naked City is generally regarded as an important avant-rock/jazz outfit, and his Painkiller project takes things to even greater extremes with a mix of grindcore and free jazz. On top of that, there are several prog bands that mention him as a source of inspiration, and his Tzadik label has helped keeping avant-garde music alive by releasing albums of such prolific artists as Mike Patton, Maudlin Of The Well-offshoot Kayo Dot, Toby Driver, Buckethead, Fred Frith, Ruins, and many others. So, although not a "progrock" artist per se, Zorn's connection to the RIO/avant-prog scene is obvious and his discography is a valuable addition to the ever-increasing Prog Archives website.

Born in New York at September 2, 1953, John Zorn initially studied piano, flute, and guitar and learned contemporary art music through a program of self-study. He took up the alto saxophone (which was to become his major instrument) and began to study jazz at age twenty. Zorn has always been interested in many kinds of music, including such 20th-century composers as Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, Charles Ives, Edgard Varèse, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Harry Partch, John Cage, and Mauricio Kagel, but he is also very fond of free jazz musicians such as Ornette Coleman, film music composer Ennio Morricone, and Carl Stallings, who wrote music for cartoons. In addition, Zorn's influences include doo-wop and other pop music, including thrash metal/grindcore band Napalm Death. As a teenager, Zorn was already writing contemporary art music in the vein of the composers mentioned above, and the influence of two of them figures strongly in Zorn's later works (in which he experimented with aspects of chance, after Cage, and 'game pieces', after Kagel). His liking of extreme metal led to the founding (around 1990) of the groups Naked City and Painkiller. In addition to the aforementioned 'game pieces' (including "Lacrosse", "Pool", "Hockey" and "Archery") and avant-metal (including "Naked City" and Painkiller's "Guts Of A Virgin"), Zorn has released recordings of chamber mus...
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JOHN ZORN discography


Ordered by release date | Showing ratings (top albums) | Help Progarchives.com to complete the discography and add albums

JOHN ZORN top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

1.33 | 6 ratings
School (With Eugene Chadbourne)
1978
1.50 | 6 ratings
Environment For Sextet (with Andrea Centazzo, Eugene Chadbourne, Tom Cora, Toshinori Kondo, Polly Bradfield )
1979
3.00 | 7 ratings
Pool
1980
1.41 | 13 ratings
Archery
1981
1.81 | 7 ratings
Yankees (with Derek Bailey & George Lewis)
1982
3.13 | 20 ratings
Locus Solus
1983
2.55 | 11 ratings
The Classic Guide To Strategy, Volume One
1983
3.30 | 11 ratings
Ganryu Island (Michihiro Sato / John Zorn)
1985
2.11 | 9 ratings
The Classic Guide To Strategy, Volume Two
1985
3.77 | 32 ratings
The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone
1986
3.92 | 34 ratings
Spillane
1987
3.41 | 27 ratings
Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman
1988
3.13 | 13 ratings
News for Lulu (with George Lewis / Bill Frisell)
1988
2.67 | 6 ratings
Cynical Hysterie Hour (Film Works VII)
1989
3.51 | 19 ratings
Elegy
1992
2.70 | 26 ratings
Kristallnacht
1993
3.53 | 11 ratings
The Art Of Memory (John Zorn / Fred Frith)
1995
2.00 | 6 ratings
First Recordings 1973
1995
3.35 | 14 ratings
Redbird
1995
2.25 | 8 ratings
Nani Nani (Dekoboko Hajime / Yamantaka Eye)
1995
1.97 | 10 ratings
The Book Of Heads
1995
1.86 | 7 ratings
Film Works II: Music For An Untitled Film By Walter Hill
1995
2.71 | 7 ratings
Film Works III: 1990-1995
1995
2.20 | 5 ratings
Film Works V: Tears Of Ecstasy
1996
2.20 | 5 ratings
Film Works VI: 1996
1996
2.63 | 8 ratings
Hockey
1997
2.71 | 7 ratings
Lacrosse
1997
2.80 | 10 ratings
New Traditions In East Asian Bar Bands
1997
1.75 | 4 ratings
Film Works IV: S/M + More
1997
3.23 | 13 ratings
Duras: Duchamp
1997
2.50 | 4 ratings
Euclid's Nightmare (John Zorn / Bobby Previte)
1997
3.03 | 12 ratings
Angelus Novus
1998
2.50 | 4 ratings
Film Works VIII:1997
1998
2.71 | 7 ratings
Aporias: Requia For Piano And Orchestra
1998
3.50 | 10 ratings
The Bribe - Variations And Extensions On Spillane
1998
3.00 | 13 ratings
Music For Children
1998
3.63 | 16 ratings
Taboo & Exile
1999
3.38 | 13 ratings
The String Quartets
1999
2.71 | 7 ratings
Xu Feng
2000
3.56 | 9 ratings
Cartoon S/M
2000
3.14 | 7 ratings
Film Works IX: Trembling Before G-d
2000
2.20 | 5 ratings
Film Works X: In The Mirror Of Maya Deren
2001
3.82 | 19 ratings
The Gift
2001
3.85 | 12 ratings
Madness, Love And Mysticism
2001
3.00 | 7 ratings
Songs From The Hermetic Theater
2001
3.77 | 12 ratings
IAO
2002
3.88 | 6 ratings
Film Works XI: 2002 Volume One - Under The Wing
2002
2.80 | 5 ratings
Film Works XII: 2002 Volume Two - Three Documentaries
2002
3.44 | 9 ratings
Film Works XIII: 2002 Volume Three - Invitation To A Suicide
2002
3.71 | 5 ratings
Film Works XIV: Hiding And Seeking
2003
3.10 | 10 ratings
Chimeras
2003
3.55 | 15 ratings
Magick
2004
2.60 | 5 ratings
Naninani II (Yamataka Eye / John Zorn)
2004
3.04 | 8 ratings
Film Works XV: Protocols Of Zion
2005
3.67 | 9 ratings
Rituals
2005
2.50 | 4 ratings
Film Works XVI: Working Man's Death
2005
4.33 | 9 ratings
Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass
2005
3.03 | 13 ratings
Mysterium
2005
3.00 | 4 ratings
Film Works XVII: Notes On Marie Menken / Ray Bandar: A Life With Skulls
2006
1.75 | 4 ratings
Film Works XVIII: The Treatment
2006
2.23 | 7 ratings
From Silence to Sorcery
2007
4.21 | 15 ratings
Film Works XIX: The Rain Horse
2008
3.59 | 22 ratings
The Dreamers
2008
3.00 | 5 ratings
Filmworks XX: Sholem Aleichem
2008
3.17 | 6 ratings
Filmworks XXI: Belle de Nature/The New Rijksmuseum
2008
3.25 | 4 ratings
Filmworks XXII: The Last Supper
2008
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Art Of Memory II (John Zorn / Fred Frith)
2008
0.00 | 0 ratings
The Crucible
2008
4.28 | 39 ratings
O'o
2009
4.20 | 18 ratings
Femina
2009
3.44 | 9 ratings
Filmworks XXIII: El General
2009
3.94 | 16 ratings
Alhambra Love Songs
2009
2.71 | 7 ratings
Late Works (with Fred Frith)
2010
3.71 | 7 ratings
Dictée/Liber Novus
2010
3.98 | 19 ratings
The Goddess - Music for the Ancient of Days
2010
3.88 | 5 ratings
Filmworks XXIV: The Nobel Prizewinner
2010
3.43 | 7 ratings
What Thou Wilt
2010
4.49 | 24 ratings
Interzone
2010
3.88 | 30 ratings
In Search Of The Miraculous
2010
0.00 | 0 ratings
a child's adventures in the realms of the unreal
2010
4.37 | 14 ratings
Ipsissimus (with The Moonchild Trio)
2010
3.33 | 6 ratings
At the Gates of Paradise
2011
3.10 | 10 ratings
A Dreamers Christmas
2011
3.24 | 10 ratings
Nova Express
2011
3.00 | 2 ratings
The Satyr's Play - Cerberus
2011
2.67 | 3 ratings
Enigmata
2011
4.02 | 20 ratings
Mount Analogue
2012
3.88 | 7 ratings
The Gnostic Trio: The Gnostic Preludes
2012
3.83 | 16 ratings
Nosferatu
2012
4.44 | 16 ratings
Templars-In Sacred Blood
2012
3.20 | 5 ratings
The Hermetic Organ
2012
2.25 | 4 ratings
Rimbaud
2012
3.14 | 7 ratings
A Vision In Blakelight
2012
2.67 | 3 ratings
Music And Its Double
2012
3.88 | 8 ratings
The Concealed
2012
3.67 | 3 ratings
Abraxas - Book of Angels Volume 19
2012
3.86 | 9 ratings
The Gnostic Trio: In Lambeth - Visions From The Walled Garden Of William Blake
2013
3.00 | 2 ratings
Shir Hashirim
2013
3.20 | 5 ratings
Filmworks XXV-City Of Slaughter/Schmatta/Beyond The Infinite
2013
1.00 | 1 ratings
Lemma
2013
3.22 | 9 ratings
The Gnostic Trio: The Mysteries
2013
3.77 | 4 ratings
On The Torment Of Saints, The Casting Of Spells And The Evocation Of Spirits
2013
3.86 | 10 ratings
Dreamachines
2013
3.42 | 12 ratings
Abraxas - Psychomagia
2014
3.00 | 2 ratings
The Alchemist
2014
2.33 | 3 ratings
The Hermetic Organ vol. 2-St. Paul's Chapel
2014
3.00 | 2 ratings
In The Hall Of Mirrors
2014
2.33 | 3 ratings
Myth And Mythopoeia
2014
3.50 | 4 ratings
On Leaves of Grass
2014
3.50 | 4 ratings
The Gnostic Trio: The Testament of Solomon
2014
3.33 | 3 ratings
Valentine's Day
2014
3.77 | 7 ratings
The Gnostic Trio: Transmigration of the Magus
2014
3.83 | 5 ratings
The Dream Membrane (with David Chaim Smith & Bill Laswell)
2014
2.33 | 3 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 3-St. Paul's Hall, Huddersfield
2015
3.44 | 5 ratings
Hen to Pan
2015
4.55 | 14 ratings
Simulacrum
2015
3.10 | 11 ratings
Pellucidar / A Dreamers Fantabula
2015
3.83 | 6 ratings
Simulacrum - The True Discoveries Of Witches And Demons
2015
3.71 | 7 ratings
Simulacrum - Inferno
2015
3.67 | 3 ratings
Cerberus: The Book of Angels Volume 26
2015
3.00 | 4 ratings
Madrigals
2016
2.75 | 4 ratings
The Hermetic Organ vol. 4 St. Bart's
2016
3.33 | 6 ratings
Flaga: The Book Of Angels Volume 27
2016
3.91 | 17 ratings
Simulacrum - The Painted Bird
2016
3.43 | 7 ratings
Simulacrum - 49 Acts of Unspeakable Depravity in the Abominable Life and Times of Gilles de Rais
2016
3.83 | 10 ratings
The Mockingbird
2016
2.09 | 4 ratings
Sacred Visions
2016
4.06 | 40 ratings
Simulacrum - The Garden Of Earthly Delights
2017
3.92 | 5 ratings
The Interpretation Of Dreams
2017
4.00 | 10 ratings
Midsummer Moons
2017
3.50 | 10 ratings
Insurrection
2018
3.70 | 10 ratings
Insurrection: Salem 1692
2018
5.00 | 3 ratings
Abraxas - Masada Book Three - The Book Beri'ah - Gevurah: Severity
2018
4.00 | 3 ratings
The Gnostic Trio: The Book Beri'ah Vol 7 - Netzach
2019
5.00 | 3 ratings
Sofia Rei & JC Maillard: Masada Book 3: The Book Beri'ah Vol. 1 - Keter
2019
3.13 | 5 ratings
The Hierophant
2019
3.83 | 6 ratings
Nove Cantici per Francesco D'Assisi
2019
4.50 | 2 ratings
Cat O'Nine Tails / The Dead Man / Memento Mori / Kol Nidre
2019
2.75 | 4 ratings
Tractatus Musico-Philosophicus
2019
4.00 | 2 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Vol.6 - For Edgar Allan Poe
2019
4.00 | 3 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 7 - St. John The Divine
2019
3.00 | 2 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 8 - For Antonin Artaud
2019
4.00 | 4 ratings
Encomia
2019
3.60 | 5 ratings
Virtue
2020
4.14 | 7 ratings
Calculus
2020
4.00 | 11 ratings
Baphomet
2020
3.00 | 2 ratings
Les Maudits
2020
4.60 | 5 ratings
Gnosis: The Inner Light
2021
5.00 | 2 ratings
Heaven and Earth Magick
2021
4.33 | 3 ratings
Teresa de Ávila
2021
3.75 | 4 ratings
Chaos Magick
2021
4.00 | 2 ratings
Parables
2021
4.25 | 4 ratings
Nostradamus: The Death of Satan
2021
4.67 | 3 ratings
Meditations on the Tarot
2021
4.50 | 6 ratings
The Ninth Circle: Orpheus in the Underworld
2021
4.50 | 4 ratings
The Cleansing (with Bill Laswell)
2022
4.00 | 3 ratings
A Garden of Forking Paths
2022
4.17 | 6 ratings
Perchance to Dream
2022
4.14 | 7 ratings
Spinoza
2022
4.00 | 1 ratings
Song of Songs
2022
0.00 | 0 ratings
Suite for Piano
2022
4.00 | 1 ratings
Incerto
2022
3.67 | 3 ratings
Multiplicities: A Repository of Non-Existent Objects
2022
4.00 | 1 ratings
John Zorn's Olympiad, Vol. 3: Pops Plays Pops
2022
4.00 | 1 ratings
The Fourth Way
2023
3.67 | 3 ratings
444
2023
3.33 | 3 ratings
Multiplicities II: A Repository of Non-Existent Objects
2023
4.50 | 2 ratings
Memoria (with Bill Laswell)
2023
4.33 | 3 ratings
Full Fathom Five
2023
4.00 | 1 ratings
Quatrain
2023
4.00 | 2 ratings
Homenaje a Remedios Varo
2023
4.00 | 1 ratings
Nothing Is as Real as Nothing
2023
3.96 | 5 ratings
Parrhesiastes
2023

JOHN ZORN Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.63 | 8 ratings
More News For Lulu (with George Lewis / Bill Frisell)
1992
3.00 | 2 ratings
Downtown Lullaby (John Zorn / Wayne Horvitz / Elliott Sharp / Bobby Previte)
1998
4.67 | 5 ratings
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 2: Milford Graves / John Zorn
2004
3.40 | 5 ratings
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 3: Locus Solus
2004
3.33 | 6 ratings
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 8: Wadada Leo Smith / Susie Ibarra / John Zorn
2004
2.50 | 4 ratings
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 9: The Classic Guide To Strategy Volume Three
2004
2.19 | 7 ratings
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 10: Yamataka Eye / John Zorn
2005
1.25 | 4 ratings
The Stone: Issue Three (with Lou Reed/Laurie Anderson)
2008
2.50 | 2 ratings
The Song Project Live at Le Poisson Rouge
2015
5.00 | 2 ratings
Beyond Good and Evil: Simulacrum Live
2020
0.00 | 0 ratings
John Zorn's Olympiad, Vol. 2: Fencing 1978
2022
2.00 | 1 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 9 - Liber VII
2022
0.00 | 0 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 10 - Bozar, Brussels
2022
3.50 | 2 ratings
The Hermetic Organ Volume 11 - For Terry Riley
2024

JOHN ZORN Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

4.00 | 5 ratings
A Bookshelf On Top Of The Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn (Claudia Heuermann)
2004

JOHN ZORN Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.91 | 4 ratings
Film Works 1986-1990
1990
4.00 | 1 ratings
The John Zorn Radio Hour
1990
3.33 | 6 ratings
The Classic Guide To Strategy, Volumes One & Two
1996
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Parachute Years, 1977-1980
1997
3.44 | 9 ratings
Godard/Spillane
1999
5.00 | 1 ratings
Film Works Anthology - 20 Years Of Soundtrack Music
2005
5.00 | 2 ratings
The Dreamers-The Gentle Side
2010
0.00 | 0 ratings
The Song Project
2014
4.33 | 3 ratings
John Zorn's Bagatelles (Vol. 1-4)
2021
4.50 | 2 ratings
John Zorn's Bagatelles (Vol. 5-8)
2021
4.00 | 1 ratings
John Zorn's Bagatelles (Vol. 9-12)
2022
0.00 | 0 ratings
John Zorn's Bagatelles (Vol. 13-16)
2023

JOHN ZORN Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Trip Coaster
1989
0.00 | 0 ratings
Earache (split with Napalm Death)
1990
0.00 | 0 ratings
A Dreamers Christmas
2011
0.00 | 0 ratings
Yoko Ono & John Zorn
2015

JOHN ZORN Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Baphomet by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2020
4.00 | 11 ratings

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Baphomet
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by Dapper~Blueberries
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Trying to understand what John Zorn makes is like finding a straw of hay in a stack of needles while blind and armless, while in an active warzone, whilst covered in molasses. To put it bluntly, it is really hard to even know what this strange man is gonna do next, or what he even did after listening to his music. Simply put, his music is the definition of a fever dream. I have heard plenty of artists who try their hand at more weirder, surreal directions in their musical catalogs, but John Zorn just has a different type of dog in him that puts David Sylvian and Mike Patton to stupefaction. One moment he is making a chamber jazz album involving Jewish harmonies and rhythms, then next make a surf rock smooth jazz record, then make a brutal progressive metal album that is more manic than Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's entire discography, and then go back to making Jewish chamber jazz music.

To say John Zorn is mad would be like saying water is wet or that fire is hot. I guess this is also why I kinda love his music, though. He's all over the place, making every record I listen to feel like an experience. While I may not consider all of his works to be winners, they never made me click away just by how intriguing they really are. This year I decided to just listen to what he has brought to the table. Earlier I got a taste of his more brutal prog style thanks to Spinoza. While Spinoza intrigued me on this whimsical human being, I think Baphomet is what made me want to ride this roller coaster a bit further.

Like many long working artists, John Zorn has a knack for making a lot of long songs, especially proggy epics. However, sometimes he likes to make and release albums that are just one song, usually 30-40 minutes long, and that is what Baphomet is. It is a 39 minute extravaganza of avant-prog excitability.

The whole track is never-not exciting to me. While I certainly have gotten quite familiar with it in recent times, I still cannot deny its force upon me each time I listen. No minute on here is wasted, with each bit of the work out feeling like a purebred experience. Even within the more quieter moments, my mind feels a sense of thrill when hearing each little bit of this epic. Not even within its end does it let up, giving a conclusion that feels as monstrous and foreboding as the title describes. It is pure instrumental prog fun, and certainly a top dog within the more extreme works of The Mars Volta and Ruins to me.

I guess if there is a critique I can give is that it does not include Zorn's saxophone skills. Now obviously not every John Zorn release gives him saxophone duties, since he is a lot more of a composer, much like Bach or Mozart, but I think some delicious saxophone workings could go well. Maybe after the calm, surfy rock bit in the middle can include a massive saxophone solo on top of the extreme guitar, keyboard, and drum workout. This is kind of why I slightly prefer Spinoza over this. Both are certainly on equal grounds of amazing records, but I think if I wanna introduce someone to the crazy 4-d chess of John Zorn, I probably would say Spinoza is the way to go as it feels like a proper introduction to both Zorn's skills as a composer, but also a saxophonist.

Baphomet is one of many, many ideas of John Zorn that has been crafted through his long life of works. While it personally isn't his all time finest work to me (still looking for that Zorn masterpiece), calling it anything but an amazing record would be putting the 39 minutes of grand music to shame. It is a record I think anyone with a more crazy backbone should check out, especially those who may already be familiar with what John Zorn can make. It's a dramatic routine of madness.

 Homenaje a Remedios Varo by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2023
4.00 | 2 ratings

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Homenaje a Remedios Varo
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars It was like 70 years ago when our world saw the birth of John Zorn, one of those artists who we can name as a lunatic, one of a kind, alien, etc., who nowadays continues to create art in a crazy way, putting him as one of the most prolific artists of our era. Though we might associate his name with music in most of the cases, he is not just an ordinary musician, he is also linked to films, painting, performance, and a large etc., which is why we must consider him a true artist.

Well, in that so prolific career he has given birth to several great projects which feature different musicians / artists carefully selected by Zorn himself, people who may have started as a colleagues, and then morphed into bandmates and why not, friends. One of those projects is Incerto, a jazz-oriented ensamble, a quartet of great musicians who, just like Zorn, love experimentation and aren't afraid of tresspassing boundaries. These band was conceived recently in 2022, however, they have now released four studio albums, being 'Homenaje a Remedios Varo', their latest one (October 2023) at the time this review is being published.

The title itself made me feel curious because I love Remedios Varo paintings, so it is remarkable that an artist this big like Zorn wanted to pay tribute to another one-of-a-kind artist like the Spanish painter, so I had to listen to this as soon as possible.

Well, this album features 9 tracks that make a total time of 40 minutes in which Julian Lage on guitars, Brian Marsella on piano, Jorge Roeder on bass and Ches Smith on drums (of course, guided by Zorn), take us through a very interesting musical crossover, where jazz leads, of course, but it wonderfully coexists with mysticism, colours, and art as a whole.

It is a fantastic trip with countless nuances made by constant rhythm and mood changes, a wonderful complexity that can be in fact linked to Remedios Varo's paintings and its magical depth, which is why we can find some references in the songs' titles, such as 'Somnambula', which take us to Varo's enthusiasm for dreams; or 'A Wilderness of Mirrors' which, of course, represents the mirror as a constant element of her work; or 'The Three Wands', which makes a takes her relationship with tarot, to name some examples.

It is a very visual album, we could even think it would work as a kind of soundtrack of the painter's works. Of course, it is reasonable to mention that the musical experience is wonderful here and can be appreciated even without linking it with Remedios Varo, and that's merit of the four musicians, people that has been playing for years, we can tell it by listening to the well assembled songs, in spite of its constant mood and rhythm changes.

The value of the four musicians is equitable, they understand and complement each other, they never shadow themselves, and they even have some moments where each and every one of them create a brief but heartfelt solo. I had the luck of seeing Incerto last december in Mexico City, and yeah, it was an exquisite experience because they use their creative and performing skills to reach one goal: to share and enjoy art. Just like in this album.

Enjoy it!

 Parrhesiastes by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.96 | 5 ratings

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Parrhesiastes
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Review originally posted at www.therocktologist.com

An excellent release!

John Zorn has to be one of the top 5 musicians alive with the biggest discography, he is a prolific mind who never stops or sleeps, and who is always aiming to create and to share. Among his creations, he has tones of albums and projects, and one of them is named Chaos Magick, featuring amazing musicians from the jazz, prog, avant-garde scenes. As far as I know, this line-up had released four records prior to this one, entitled Parrhesiastes, which saw the light the past November 1st.

Sometimes while digging through Zorn's discography might be difficult to find a clear musical path, because he is always changing and exploring, so in a same year you might listen to a classical guitar album, or maybe a funk- oriented record, or why not, a prog rock one. This time, he is giving us a feast of musical genres united in one single record which is divided in three long compositions, so be ready, because this journey will be quite interesting.

The album opens with 'In The Footsteps of Hermes', the first minute is a soft conversation between keys and drums, Kenny Grohowski is a hell of a drummer, by the way. As you can imagine, in long songs there are always changes in time and mood, and here it is not the exception. After some 3 minutes of a jazzy, delicious sound, electric guitar appears and all together explode into a progressive rock feast where the energy of drums, guitar and keyboards is spread. Then after minute five they stop, and begin to create a new passage where mystery appear, even silence. Of course, we can witness a vast amount of textures and nuances during the whole track, in the end we are surrounded by amazing musicians, such as the one and only Jon Medeski, as well as Brian Marsella and Matt Hollenberg.

'The Eventual Valorization of the Perhaps' is a track full of surprises, and it reflects once again the creativity of Zorn and the amazing performing skills of his four bandmates. Its first passage is nice and dreamy, however, after a minute it changes, becomes faster and embraces a jazzy and prog fusion sound that is truly enjoyable to our ears and souls. Then some funky guitar that suddenly morph into a metal-like, and then vanishes to join that soft and delicious jazzy sound keys and drums produce. Important to say that parrhesia is a term used in ancient Greece, which means something like freedom of speech and using the truth for the common being, in spite of personal risks, of course, parrhesiastes is the person who uses it, and I believe this album reflects it somehow, because the musicians are all free to do whatever they want, and all of them tell the truth through their instruments, through music.

Finally, 'Form, Object and Desire', which is a vertiginous track that shares loads of sounds and emotions, it goes from tension to excitement, from doubt to certainty, and in the end all is freedom, so we, in real life, have a mixture of emotions and attitudes, just like the music. I like the guitar work, sometimes soft, even acoustic, but mostly exploding. Organ and electric piano produce countless nuances, and once again, the drums are outstanding. Is it rock, or prog, or jazz? It actually doesn't matter, the journey is quite interesting, one just have to receive its diverse passages with open arms and ears.

This is a great record and one of my most played albums this November, so if you like Zorn and good music in general, this will make your day.

Enjoy it!

 Mount Analogue by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2012
4.02 | 20 ratings

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Mount Analogue
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 4.5 stars. John Zorn has already released five studio albums this year but lets talk about one of his 2012 recordings called "Mount Analogue". This is one long 38 plus minute suite performed by five very talented musicians who all add vocals. There is actually no singing but we get these vocal expressions that bring ART ZOYD to mind, disturbing and deep growls almost. We have a Brazilian percussionist who has played with ELECTRIC MASADA and THE NILES CLINE SINGERS, the vibes player is American and played with ELECTRIC MASADA while the drummer is American also playing an African drum called a calabash. An American keyboardist adds piano and organ and played with THE NILES CLINE SINGERS and lastly the American bass player a graduate of Berkley and he also went to Israel to learn stuff. He plays a skin covered three stringed bass called a gimbri as well as an oud plus of course his normal bass setup.

He was also on 2017's "Interpretation Of Dreams" by Zorn and that one I recently reviewed and it really set me up for this album. That 2017 album is much more stripped down as we get bass, drums and vibes only on two tracks while a string quartet and piano are all we get for the other song. I was so drawn to that record surprisingly. This one even more because it is more adventerous and involves many more instruments overall. We still get those warm vibes but along with them it's the piano leading the way much of the time while the bass and drums support. More percussion sounds too along with those ethnic instruments but very much in the style of "Interpretation Of Dreams". I also like how much atmosphere is on here usually from the cymbals or organ.

And while this can be sophisticated and fancy it clearly has moments that are dark and disturbing(vocals). This flows beautifully and changes often but seamlessly blends into each section. I'm not going to describe the ride because it's a long one but man I looked forward to putting this on when it was it's turn last week. We all know Zorn is a musical genius and he sure likes the extreme so this is like a slice of musical heaven to be honest. Space to breathe yet he changes it up enough to have me looking forward to his next move. Simply an inspirational recording.

 The Interpretation Of Dreams by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2017
3.92 | 5 ratings

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The Interpretation Of Dreams
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars What to say about John Zorn? Composing difficult music as a teenager this is one gifted man. He's involved in hundreds of recordings so you'd think there would be something for everyone except he always seems to have one foot in the Avant style. Still I have discovered several recordings of his that I value highly after thinking Zorn just isn't for me.

"Interpretation Of Dreams" is an interesting album with Zorn composing the music but not playing on it which is often the case. It reminds me of 2010's "Mount Analogue" mostly for the vibes and style. I just love the sound of this record. Three long tracks and I really like how he set this up with the opener and closer featuring the same three musicians playing bass, drums and vibes so obviously some continuity here but thankfully the middle track changes things up as we get THE JACK QUARTET of two violinists, cello and viola along with piano. Lots of tempo changes and contrasts thankfully but what a warm sounding recording with that middle track bringing a charge to the proceedings.

This was released in 2017 along with "Midsummer Moons" an album of two guitarists and that's it, not my cuppa tea but the other 2017 release "Garden Of Earthly Delights" really hits the spot as he goes heavy and extreme. This is in the middle but a 4 star record in my opinion. I have a lot of respect for this one.

 A Garden of Forking Paths by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2022
4.00 | 3 ratings

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A Garden of Forking Paths
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by Heart of the Matter

4 stars This is a new instalment in the prolonged saga of collaborations that John Zorn periodically proposes to an elite of top notch instrumentalists who are entrusted to visit his musical concepts. Now comes the turn for guitarists, and once again the guitar and brilliance of Bill Frisell is here to lead the trio proceedings.

The album title refers to a well-known short story by Jorge Luis Borges (El Jardín De Senderos Que Se Bifurcan) which is a particularly accomplished variation on a prime topic in Borgean narrative: labyrinths. There are also a nod to Samuel Beckett in the opener, which presents an appropriately intrincate intertwined design given by the trio interplay. The Secret Mirror is more like a curve ball, since it's a fictive stage play depicted in another Borges short story, An Examination Of The Work Of Herbert Quain (Examen De La obra De Herbert Quain). This is a track verging into contemporary chamber music a la Oregon, with great taste for it. In the same Borgean vein we find also Circular Ruins (Las Ruinas Circulares), reminding the League Of Crafty Guitarists style, The Zahir (perhaps the calmest track), The Encounter, and finally Orbus Tertius (Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius), a story about a conspiracy of schollars who write and insidiously spread an encyclopedia about an invented universe, which takes the place of the actual one in the end. Also appropriately, this is the most angular moment for the trio, and a high mark for their musicianship in this album.

In short, very good instrumental music with provocative literary references, there's a certain air to the guitaristic passages in Oregon's music, particularly in the jazzier moments (which are many).

 Yankees (with Derek Bailey & George Lewis) by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 1982
1.81 | 7 ratings

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Yankees (with Derek Bailey & George Lewis)
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by DangHeck
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Gurgle! Fart! Spit! Splat! Splunk!

The at times minimal, at times cacophonous, Avant-garde Jazz stylings of Mr. John ZORN, featuring here Derek BAILEY (guitar) and George LEWIS (trombone). Released in 1982, this is... a world to itself.

These are like musical scrawlings. Like scratches of ideas, etched into a bizarre little disc. 5 songs. They are as follows:

1. "City City City": scratching, scurrying, randomness, pings, pig squeals, meandering. Do you want full sentences, or what? I don't know what I can offer you here.

2. "The Legend of Enos Slaughter": now with more squeals(!), now with more scurrying randomness(!); Is the trombone the voice of this Enos Slaughter, or just farts? I got nothin'. Avant-garde Jazz, though I've tried (and succeeded with, in part; Hello Dave HOLLAND, John SURMAN, Roscoe MITCHELL, etc.), is not really in my wheelhouse (or understanding).

3. "Who's On First?": The shortest piece on here at just around 3 minutes. What is there to say that I haven't already? (Sorry?)

4. "On Golden Pond": And from the shortest track, we get to this, the longest track at nearly 18 minutes (and if this was on LP, as I assume, they must have really stretched its sides thin...). A few words here: rattle-tat-tat, gurgles, sawing, struggling, more farting, bubbling and more gurgling. Actually calls to mind some of the weird *SNORK* sounds made by Zappa and Co. on Lumpy Gravy and We're Only In It For The Money. We actually also get some of our first bits of what I would consider melody! Neat! /s

5. "The Warning Track": more meandering, more squeaking and squawking, what I'm unsure are vocalizations or the sound of lost horns. Have I mentioned farting in this review yet? I want to make clear, here and now, these are not real, actual farts.

So... the consensus so far, I'm going to have to agree. Is this music? Of course! Is it bizarre? Oh yeah... Who on here, at least, is going to be interested in this collection of songs? Not too many. And to those who, as I have, decide to venture here, best of luck to you.

 Ipsissimus (with The Moonchild Trio) by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2010
4.37 | 14 ratings

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Ipsissimus (with The Moonchild Trio)
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by TCat
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin

5 stars This is the fifth album which features The Moonchild Trio, which consists of Michael Patton, Trevor Dunn and Joey Baron performing John Zorn compositions, headed over by Zorn himself. Typically, Zorn doesn't play in any of the other albums by The Moonchild Trio, but this time around he brings his crazy saxophone along for the party along with guitarist Marc Ribot.

If you are already familiar with The Moonchild Trio, you already know what to expect here: Patton's crazy wordless vocalizations which would murder a normal singer to perform, Dunn's amazing bass work and Baron's progressive and unpredictable drumming. The music is anything but predictable or normal, can be rather chaotic and sounds like nothing you've ever heard, but this time around, with Ribot joining in, things get more angular, heavy and dark than ever before.

The first track "Seven Sigils" kicks off with simply the rhythm section, bass and drums churning out an ever changing riff, and you might be fooled into thinking you are listening to some great heavy progressive music, but then Patton comes in and everything just goes nuts. At one point, Patton's vocals soar up to unnatural heights, but when it comes down from the stratosphere, it's no longer Patton singing, but Zorn's strangled saxophone somehow got substituted without anyone noticing. That's how crazy it is. The insanity continues with Patton's tongue wagging sounds, Zorn's tortured sax and pounding bass and drums that will make anyone sit up and take notice. It's not always chaotic as things do get grounded from time to time, but soon goes off into left field again before you know it.

Ribot's guitar doesn't show up until the next track "The Book of Los". It brings the track in with a nice softer sound and Zorn brings in the piano to help out. Soon Patton starts to vocalize, but is using a lot of restraint this time at first. The rest of the band soon joins in and the main feeling is quite pensive and reflective, that is until about halfway in to the track when the guitar starts to go AWOL from this and Ribot demonstrates that he fits right into this crazy improvisation. At this point, Patton (not to be outdone) suddenly scares the listener to death with a crazy scream and then there is no return from the insanity after this.

It's this kind of thing you can expect from this album, a lot of crazy improvisational sections and also a lot of level- headed sections where things might resemble normalcy for certain brief sections. There are three tracks called "Apparitions" which are avant-garde improvisational tracks spread throughout the album and these are typically shorter tracks lasting about 4 minutes each of discord and such. You will notice, though, that this album a bit heavier than even most of The Moonchild Trio's albums, more in a metal vein than ever before. You'll notice this in "Supplicant" which might even fool you into thinking you are listening to extreme experimental metal. This one is probably the most accessible of the tracks, one that will win over the metal afficianados, with the heavy guitar and bass riffs and Patton's unusual growling/screaming/squealing. But then, you also hear the amazing songwriting skills of Zorn stand out on tracks like "Warlock" and "Tabula Smaragdina", the latter features a great bass and drum duet to open it up.

Is it possible that all of this chaos and noise can be considered a masterpiece? Yes it can. If you don't know how, then you have never heard Zorn and The Moonchild Trio, but this is probably my favorite album from them. There is so much going on here, and it's actually not hard to pick it out even if you don't like metal or avant prog. This album is quite amazing and can only be best explained by listening to it. I will say it may not be to everyone's taste mostly because of Patton's crazy singing, but you have to marvel at his talent if nothing else. I doubt if there are many people that can sing like this and survive with their voice intact. This is a masterpiece if there ever was one.

 Hen to Pan by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 2015
3.44 | 5 ratings

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Hen to Pan
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by TCat
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin

4 stars The album "Hen to Pan" belongs in John Zorn's "21st Century Classical Music" series, so, if you are looking for extreme music on this one, you won't find it. To understand Zorn's discography, you have to understand that it encompasses many different series, sub-projects and groupings, so in that respect, it is much different than many of the other artists in the Archives, and thus, it can also be quite confusing. Without some background on each album, you can never know what you are getting into, which is why, up front, I wanted to mention that this belongs in the classical music department, even though it is still quite avant garde.

In this episode of John Zorn's discography, we get some chamber-style music that consists of two cellos, piano, violin and drums. But, this is quite different from what you expect from chamber music from the baroque, classical and romantic periods. Rather, it's from the 21st century, so it's going to be progressive as far as classical music is concerned. Most will consider it chaotic and noisy. However, knowing a bit about what is going on here will maybe make things a little easier to understand.

First, the basics. Throughout these 5 tracks on this album, only one performer remains constant on all tracks, and that is cellist Jay Campbell. This is the person that Zorn wanted to focus on this album, as he was considered to soon be a "new music superstar" according to a blurb from the Tzadik label. The music on this album is dark and somewhat difficult for the layman to listen to, and, unlike much popular music, will take time and insight to really appreciate. The music hearkens back to Zorn's earlier chamber music, except here it is much more aggressive.

The album has three versions of the composition "Ouroboros" which above all else, is a work written for two cellos. It starts off with the Trio Version 1 which features not only Campbell on cello, but also Michael Nicolas, who will be the 2nd cellist on all three versions of "Ouroboros". The third person in this trio is Tyshawn Sorey on drums, who plays on both "trio" versions featured on the album. For those that don't know, the ouroboros is an ancient symbol that depicts a serpent eating its own tail. Just because there are three versions here doesn't mean the music is a complete repeat of something you've already heard. Much like Zappa's classical music, and much of 21st century neo-classical music for that matter, the performers have a lot of freedom as long as they play within a certain range, style or dynamic. So getting 3 versions of "Ouroboros" might not be as redundant as you might think. The 3 versions make up tracks 1, 3 and 5, 1 and 3 bookend the album with both trio versions, while track 3 is the duo version with only the two cellos, no drums.

The sound of the first trio version begins without warning, instantly with the cellists sawing away at the high notes of their instruments and the drums frantically pushing them forward. However, the sections are dynamic, ranging from pianissimo to double forte without any regard to convention. Some places are quite fast and dramatic while other places are pensive and quiet. This is chamber music on steroids. The 2nd track is "Occams Razor" which features Campbell's cello accompanied by Steve Gosling on piano. This track is formed in the style of a canon of sorts, not quite as chaotic, but with some very fast passages where the cello and piano play together almost impossibly, note for note, only to separate off on their own interesting tangents, sometimes going quite wild and other times pensive and sort of a dissonant pastoral which can be just as unsettling as the louder sections. It's definitely a different feel from the previous track, but the timing is at 9 minutes, just like the previous track. The 2nd version of "Ouroboros" comes next, this time as the duo version, only the two cellists, Campbell and Nicolas, without drums this time. It's interesting to hear the two cellos playing against each other, especially when one plays high notes and the other plays pizzicato low notes. It's almost more argumentative sounding but also playful at times without the drums and some sections have a lot of percussive sound to the playing (especially the picking parts). The mutilated melody fragmentations seem to stand out a lot more too.

The 4th track is called "The Aristos" (subtitled "Ten Metaphysical Ambiguities for Violin, Cello and Piano"). You get Campbell on cello and Gosling on piano again, but this time joined by Chris Otto on violin. This is basically what it says it is, 10 strange shorter works together on one track that adds up to over 13 minutes. These short works are separated by space and the style of each is quite different from each other, so it's fairly easy to discern one from another. There's plenty of dynamic variety on this track, feeling like moods. The last track is the second trio version of "Ouroboros". This seems to me to be a lot more peppy and playful with some noticeable variations. However, many of the differences might not be apparent right away, but will come after listening more often.

Granted, I understand that this type of music might not be for everyone. However, the performances are amazing and very technically difficult. The music also becomes more appealing the more you listen to it. Those that don't like neo- classical styles will probably have a hard time with it, but I can attest that the music is quite entertaining, colorful and enjoyable. Also, the production is perfect, with each instrumental line equally mixed. Although it may seem like noise to some, this music is quite complex and not easy to compose, so how Zorn can continually put out complex music and record it to be able to put out several albums a year is beyond me. Yet, everything he does has a lot of quality and complexity, it's like it is second nature to him. Anyway, this is quite an excellent album for the style of music that it is, yet even though it is progressive and avant garde, it is classical, so I can't say it's a progressive rock masterpiece, even though it is a neo-classical masterpiece. 4 stars.

 Locus Solus by ZORN, JOHN album cover Studio Album, 1983
3.13 | 20 ratings

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Locus Solus
John Zorn RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

4 stars Named after the 1914 French novel by Raymond Roussel, LOCUS SOLUS was one of JOHN ZORN's earliest recordings originally released in 1983 as a double album on the Rift label and then remastered and re-released on CD in 1991 on the Japanese late Eva in 1991 with several bonus tracks and then picked up again by ZORN's own Tzadik label and released a final time in 1995. As a seeker of adventurous musical experiences, i sniff out weirdness like dog treats but once in a while something so strange and so bizarre randomly falls into my lap that i have to sit back and go - whooooooooaaaaaahhhhhh! What did i just hear?

JOHN ZORN of course is well known for his avant-garde and frenetic free jazz workouts but LOCUS SOLUS is fairly weird even by ZORN's standards which means that those inured to only traditional forms of music will refer to this as pure noise and those who crave such wild manic music experiences will take them to the promised land of crazy unhinged sonic delight. The 68 minute run of pure mindf.u.ckery is roughly divided into four parts with different lineups. The bizarre nature of LOCUS SOLUS provided the blueprint of what would become the band Painkiller and after a listen to this it's obvious that Mike Patton was so enamored with this album that he adopted many of those weird spastic sounds in Mr Bungle and even borrowed the album title "Disco Volante" from one of the tracks.

This is one of those extreme avant-garde albums from ZORN with anarchic compositional structures, random electronic sounds, processed spoken word poetry, grindcore, freeform jazz saxophone squawks that sound like a coop of tortured chickens and excessive guitar noise. While the noise rock scene in Japan is considered ground zero for that kind of thing, it seems like LOCUS SOLUS is the epicenter that reverberated across the world. The first eight tracks feature Peter Blegvad on vocals although they are so processed and distorted that it sounds like a manic robot. There are several drummers on board with tribal drum parts as well as extreme metal bombast. Likewise there are turntable effects and wild array of other sounds ranging from whistling to clarinet solos and organ runs.

This is a very demanding album for sure as there is absolutely no recognizable forms of music to be heard. This is about as avant-garde and thinking outside of the box as you can imagine and all the more remarkable for its energetic prowess and that it was released as early as 1983 as it sounds like something that should've emerged in the mid-90s. The punk infused explosive tracks are succinct with most around the 2 minute mark or less but at over an hour's worth of this it is quite enervating. This is the stuff avant-garde dreams are made of but for those not accustomed to this degree of musical freedom, this will come off as jarring and completely startling. Not for everyone but i totally dig this twisted unapologetic noise-fest.

Thanks to Joren for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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