I’ve written a great deal about John Zorn (in some detail here and here, and his name is appropriately dropped and checked in the course of discussions of other jazz musicians, especially the ones recording on his Tzadik label).
Here is an excerpt from one of those pieces:
I’ve not had much to say, in print, to this point about John Zorn for a variety of reasons, but it ultimately boils down to two very simple issues. First, there is so much to say it’s both exhausting and intimidating to consider; how to even grapple with an output like this? Second, and perhaps more significant, I’m not at all certain my best efforts would sufficiently convey how important his music is (to me, for starters) and how truly all-encompassing his sensibility has become. And that’s just in the last twelve months…
Consider his Masada songbook: 100 compositions he wrote in the early ’90s, and then recorded over the course of ten albums with the (then acoustic) Masada band, including Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass and Joey Baron on drums. The klezmer-meets classic Ornette Coleman Quartet vibe, too often and easily invoked as a way of describing what this music sounds like, nevertheless is an acceptably succinct summation. These tunes were covered by another working band, Bar Kokhba (which brought in Cyro Baptista on percussion, Marc Ribot on guitar, Mark Feldman on violin and Eric Friedlander on cello–all mainstays in the NYC downtown music scene), giving the compositions an augmented grandeur that keeps the material challenging (mostly for the players) and always accessible. The Masada String Trio (Cohen, Feldman and Friedlander) also recorded and performed this material live.
Suffice it to say, when it comes to Zorn, hearing is believing:
And seeing is not quite believable:
In honor of the great man’s 60th birthday, The Walker Art Org (more on them here) has assembled sixty artists to wax rhapsodic. The feature is split into two parts and can be found HERE and HERE.
A handful of highlights:
Besides being a composer and improviser, John is an important catalyst for a lot of the musical activity in New York City for the past four decades. His record company Tzadik has recorded hundreds of musicians from around the world in many diverse musical styles. His club the Stone offers challenging and interesting music night after night in New York City. Through his book series Arcana, he has published six books of essays by many different musicians writing about an astonishing variety of musical topics. It’s amazing that he has the time to do all of this and continue to produce, record, and compose.
John is an advocate of talent, both young and old. I’ve seen him go out of his way to help musicians by recording and promoting their music. He loves music that is experimental, different, unexpected, and takes chances. He has a healthy irreverence towards the conventional musical establishment.
–Uri Caine
I first heard John Zorn in the late ’70s when he came to my hometown of Los Angeles as part of a duo tour he was doing with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne. They played two nights at the Century City Playhouse. Zorn was instantly memorable with long hair pulled randomly into an almost-ponytail, glasses barely on his nose, football jersey, and cutoffs; his alto and curved soprano saxophones strapped on simultaneously around his neck and his clarinet held mostly between his scrawny legs. Impressively, I heard that they were touring on Greyhound buses with no change of clothes. I mention this because as the years progressed and I kept track of John as he started his gamesmanship pieces, put on concerts all over lower Manhattan, worked at SoHo Music Gallery, mounted tributes to some of his favorite jazz and film composers, etc., etc., he has, in my mind, always been as gonzo as that Greyhound tour. He is amazingly disciplined, thorough, iconoclastic, prolific, uncompromising—an artist through and through.
–Nels Cline
I also want to say something about the fact that, while John is as individual a creator as we have, he is, at the same time, someone who is and has always been actively concerned with community building. Way before Tzadik and The Stone, John was always right in the center of our musical world— organizing, engaging, challenging, cajoling. I can personally say that his encouragement and support have lifted me out of dark times of crippling doubt more often than I would like to admit.
–Anthony Coleman
Over the years, I’ve come to believe that the power of John’s work lies in his deep understanding of what makes us want to risk our very lives, as he has, to create music. I don’t think that John is in love with “all” sound, a viewpoint that is often attributed to Cage—erroneously, in my view. Rather, it is the evocative and meaningful sound that John consistently finds—not only in terms of history and memory, but also, and more crucially, in terms of its emotionally primordial effects on our bodies. With his refusal of convenient fixities and total opposition to cant, John has opened the ears, eyes, hearts, and minds of many people around the world, and I count myself among them with gratitude.
–George Lewis
From working with him in the recording studio to performing with him on stage to listening to his recordings, the openness, depth, and brilliance of John’s music and personality have only become more and more apparent to me during this time. He never ceases to amaze and inspire, and embodies the spirit of artistic vision and commitment more than anyone I know.
–Jon Madof
In a time when the musical establishment was more about narrowing doors than opening them, John burst through. But he burst through not just for himself, but for a legion of artists looking for a home: a corner where one could be heard, nurtured, and let loose. John’s career has always been about integrity, depth, and exploration. He knows no boundaries, and, as his friends will tell you, he goes to his own limits to help his community and yet manages to maintain a rigorous composition schedule and a sense of humor about life.
–Paola Prestini
One of Zorn’s verbal instructions to Quine: “I want you to sum up your whole life in this seven-second solo.”
Quine: “I’ll just lay out.”
–Marc Ribot
As far as the music, it has always spoken for itself. You like it, you dislike it, I’m sure to him it means the same. A true original.
–Bill Laswell
Simply put, any fan of Zorn’s needs to read these tributes. Anyone not a fan, or even familiar with the man, is encouraged to check it out. It’s one thing when a certain number of fans dig someone’s work. It’s yet another when a certain number of critics form something approaching consensus. But when you have a certain (i.e., large) number of fellow artists who use words like “inspiration”, “force of nature” and “genius”, it speaks volumes.
Put simply, there are few artists in any genre who amaze, perplex and inspire me as much as Zorn. I remain in awe of his creativity, his energy level (!) and his drive. More than any single human being I’ve seen or heard about, this cat has not only sucked the marrow out of life, he has sucked the life out of every marrow he could get his mouth around.
Here’s to the happiest of birthdays, and for all of our sakes’, let’s sincerely hope there are many, many returns.
