Modern Jazz

The Dreamers & John Zorn – Gormenghast (2015)

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Taken from: Pellucidar~A Dreamers Fantabula
Credits:
Cyro Baptista: Percussion
Joey Baron: Drums
Trevor Dunn: Bass
Marc Ribot: Guitar
Jamie Saft: Keyboards
Kenny Wollesen: Vibraphone
John Zorn: Arranger, Composer, Conductor, Producer

“The peculiar thing about Dreamers is that despite the stunning musical acumen of all involved, they aren’t really what one would call a “musician’s band”. Their performances are impressive, but in a subtle way. There are no flights of fancy, just an atmosphere to drape over your senses. When a cozy blanket is covering you, you don’t think about the individual fibers. And when you listen to a Dreamers album, you don’t think about Trevor Dunn’s time in Mr. Bungle. You think about how sweet life is and how having another Dreamers album is now a part of that sweet life.” Source

Masada – Ne’eman (2000)

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Live in Sevilla, recorded and released in the year 2000, is arguably the finest document in this extremely prolific jazz quartet’s catalog. If there’s anyone who still believes that John Zorn is nothing more than an avant-garde screamer, look no further. The interplay between Zorn’s alto and the trumpet of Dave Douglas is nothing short of amazing, and each one’s soloing is focused and intense. Joey Baron and Greg Cohen are a fantastic rhythm section; Cohen acts as anchor while Baron playfully dances around the beat, simultaneously supplying a driving pulse. Even when Zorn and Douglas enter the realm of extended techniques (as on the end of “Ne’eman”), Cohen and Baron keep things firmly grounded.”Allmusic

John Zorn – HuDie (胡蝶) (1995)

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Hu Die
Guitar – Bill Frisell, Fred Frith
Lyrics By [Text] – Arto Lindsay
Narrator – Zhang Jinglin
Recorded By [1986] – Kramer
Recorded By, Mixed By – Seigen Ono
Translated By – Ruby Chang

“New Traditions in East Asian Bar Bands is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn consisting of improvised music from paired instruments and narration in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. The pieces are listed individually within Zorn’s game pieces and were composed in 1986, 1988 and 1990 respectivel” Wiki

John Zorn – Chronology (1989)

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John Zorn ‎– Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman

John Zorn teams up with fellow altoist Tim Berne, bassist Mark Dresser and both Joey Baron and Michael Vatcher on drums to perform 17 Ornette Coleman tunes which range chronologically from 1958’s “Disguise” to four selections from 1987’s In All Languages. The performances are concise with all but four songs being under three minutes and seven under two, but the interpretations are unremittingly violent.” Allmusic

John Zorn, George Lewis, Bill Frisell – News for Lulu (1987)

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“Fun, fun, brilliant, spirit-raising fun. News For Lulu, recorded in 1987 and here reissued in a new master with a bonus track, features three idiosyncratic post-modern improvisers in a homage to the late 1950s hard bop songbook—not playing the material for laughs, not subjecting it to “reconstruction,” but approaching it with joy, respect, truck loads of energy and unfettered, viral abandon.” Allaboutjazz

John Zorn – End Title (from ‘White And Lazy’) (1986)

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“Film Works 1986-1990 opens with John Zorn’s first film score, White and Lazy. In just under ten minutes comes small capsules of instrumental punk, rockabilly, dark ambient, nightclub jazz, until “End Title,” with vocals by Arto Lindsay, and soloing by Robert Quine (of Lou Reed’s band), who Zorn regards as “a punk guitar genius.” The other musicians on these first six tracks are bassist Melvin Gibbs, reeds player Ned Rothenberg, harpist Carol Emanuel, keyboardist David Weinstein, and drummer Anton Fier.” Allmusic

Szun Waves – Constellation (2018)

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“Szun Waves’ jazz is as grounded by the earth’s elements as it is afloat in space. The experimental trio, comprised of Luke Abbott, Portico Quartet’s Jack Wyllie, and Laurence Pike of PVT, released their debut album At Sacred Walls in 2016, which recalled the celestial jazz of Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra mixed in with a grimier rock crunch. “Constellation,” the lead single from Szun Waves’ forthcoming record New Hymn to Freedom, draws from the same astral inspiration, expanding galaxies of sound while evoking earthy imagery.” Source

Material – Improvised Music #2 (1981)

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Derek Bailey + Fred Frith + Sonny Sharrock + John Zorn + Bill Laswell + Charles K. Noyes

“This is a live recording of a performance by the New York avant-garde group Material. Due to legal complications, the name “Material” was not allowed to be used on this release, as well as there being no song titles. It’s an early performance (Sep. 18, 1981) only for the most open-minded listeners, for the group sticks to aggressive experimental noise which follows no musical conventions at all. Sometimes the group creates some fascinating moments (especially on track 2), but otherwise this is largely enerving, though occasionally amusing (Noyes’ percussion intro on track 7). This features interesting abstract cover art by Thi-Linh Le.” Allmusic

The Stanley Clarke Band – Alternative Facts (2018)

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“The release of Stanley Clarke’s latest album, The Message, comprises magnetic compositions that incorporate various elements of funk, jazz-fusion, and breakbeats. The band’s members—Beka Gochiashvili (pianist), Cameron Graves (keyboardist), and Mike Mitchell (drummer)—come together with featured artists such as Doug E. Fresh, Salar Nadar, Skyeler Kole, Trevor Wesley, and voice actor Steve Blum to cut this eclectic offering of hope, love and compassion (…) The Message is certainly a testament to Clarke’s creativity and longevity as a music artist. From beginning to end, the listener is taken on journey filled with sonic qualities that excite the spirit, satisfy the ear, and calm the soul.” Blackgrooves

The Contemporary Jazz Quintet – Inner Beckoning (1973)

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‘Location’ dropped on Cox’s own Strata imprint. Led by Kenny Cox on piano and electric piano, the quintet also features Charles Moore on flugelhorn, trumpet and percussion – an enormously influential figure on the Detroit scene – along with guitarist and Motown side-man Ron English. This five-track offering shows the ensemble to have side-stepped the shadow of 60’s Miles Davis for a more muscular and explosive art form. From the aptly entitled opening salvo of ‘Bang’ to the expansive thirteen minute ‘Inner Beckoning’, ‘Location’ delivers that sense of restless reflection and stubborn resistance which characterized the dawn of the Seventies in the Motor City.” Source