September 2003 - zorn-list - mailman.xmission.com

Most stupid invention from the record industry?
by Patrice L. Roussel 25 Sep '03

25 Sep '03

Somebody gave me the reissue of Dylan's phenomenal BLONDE ON BLONDE. What a surprise to discover that it was a 2xCD set with half the record on one, and the remainder on the other... Excuse given? That half of each CD contains the regular CD format, and the other half the alternate SACD format. Since I have a few SACD (mainly for Songlines), and they are of respectable length (74mn), I would have expected that a smart 2xCD edition of BLONDE ON BLONDE (specially since the LP was not that long) would have been: - one regular CD with the whole record - one extra CD with the SACD format of the whole record Now, thanks to modern technology, I have the pleasure of dealing with this new edition the way I used with LPs: by switching sides after seven songs. Do I miss something or isn't the stupidiest way to package these two formats? Patrice.

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Gravilords, Whirlies et al
by billy macmillin 25 Sep '03

25 Sep '03

Hello I just got the excellent Gravikords, Whirlies, and Pyrophones book and cd. Someone said there was a sequel but I can not find what it is called. Anyone have the aswer? Thanks --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search

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Zorn film in Leeds (UK)
by julian.hughes＠examiner.co.uk 25 Sep '03

25 Sep '03

of interest to UK listers; Claudia Heuermann's documentary "A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky" will be screened as part of the Leeds International Film Festival on Oct 7th. http://www.leedsfilm.com/filmpage.asp?filmId=371 ******************** IMPORTANT NOTICE This email (including any attachments) is meant only for the intended recipient. It may also contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any reliance on, use, disclosure, distribution or copying of this email or attachments is strictly prohibited. Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received this message by mistake and delete the email and all attachments. Any views or opinions in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Trinity Mirror PLC or its associated group companies (hereinafter referred to as "TM Group"). TM Group accept no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided, unless that information is subsequently confirmed in writing. Although every reasonable effort is made to keep its network free from viruses, TM Group accept no liability for any virus transmitted by this email or any attachments and the recipient should use up-to-date virus checking software. Email to or from this address may be subject to interception or monitoring for operational reasons or for lawful business practices. Trinity Mirror PLC is the parent company of the Trinity Mirror group of companies and is registered in England No 82548, with its address at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP. ********************

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Re: Parachute Years -
by Richard Gardner 25 Sep '03

25 Sep '03

> Any quick reviews of the Parachute Years recording? > It has been haunting my at the record store and would like to know > about the "Fondle Factor" ((you know .. the liner notes)) > what type of ensambles are on it .... etc.. I was waiting for an expert to reply to this but so far nothing, so very briefly (although I don't have it with me for reference). I have this box which gathers a lot (but I believe not all) the recordings of the early games pieces. The musicians include all Zorn's early colleagues Eugene Chadbourne, Henry Kaiser, Wayne Horvitz et al (See Patrice's Discography for details.) The Set contains two leaflets: one of quotes, a few notes, reproduced graphics (that are really too small to see any detail) and some comments from Zorn; the other has session photographs. I particularly enjoy Zorn's hymn to a single cello note heard at one point. You will have to listen carefully to follow his drift! It has been said many times before that the games pieces really need to be seen as well as heard. Personally, I think this applies even more to some of the early stuff than it does to Cobra or, in particular, Xu Feng that I thinks works well on disc. Having said that I do enjoy the music - Lacrosse had real moments. If you like Cobra you will probably like Parachute Years but it is raw music captured at a very experimental time. If you prefer Electric Masada wait for the imminent Miles Davis - Complete Jack Johnson, you'll listen to it a lot more. Richard Gardner

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Zorn discography updated
by Patrice L. Roussel 24 Sep '03

24 Sep '03

To let you know that the Zorn discography has been updated. You can find it at: http://home.arcor.de/nyds-exp-discogs/index0.htm Enjoy, Patrice. PS: special thank you to the people who answered my request for help with a few entries!

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women?
by mod bohemian 24 Sep '03

24 Sep '03

Hi Theo, in addition to Iza, I'm female, as well. Without nearly going broke, it's impossible to listen to all of Zorn's genres, but I love what I've heard so far -- Naked City, Masada, and his CD, "The Gift." I'd like to investigate more of his game pieces. Those few seconds that I'm able to catch on the internet don't quite fulfill my curiosity! Jennifer _________________________________________________________________ Instant message with integrated webcam using MSN Messenger 6.0. Try it now FREE! http://msnmessenger-download.com

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Subject: Zornfest 2003-09-17 XU FENG (part 2 of 2)
by Ed Price 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

[ CONTINUED FROM PART 1 ] it was interesting to see this piece performed again. or, really, just performed at all :) i don't remember the first and only other time i saw it. i've never listened to it on a recording. actually i have to admit i'm not really that familiar with zorn's game pieces. but they seem like a cool idea... i can't help wondering whether the surface has just barely been scratched though. at one point i was thinking, what would this piece be like if no-one could play loud? if it was totally low volume? and also, the recognizable strains of melody, harmony, beat, are these things just distractions from the "structure" of the piece? those are often the parts that seem the most enjoyable, but perhaps for the "wrong reasons". oh, there's a tune, great, but then one is frustrated (well some people are anyway) when it is interrupted. so maybe it would be nice if the band wasn't "allowed" to play such recognizable things. heck maybe it would be nice if it were done with just voices (yeah! that would be cool!), maybe radios... i dont know. anyway it was fun to see zorn conducting (gesturing, pointing at players, holding up cards, dropping the cards for a "downbeat"), to see the band having a good time playing. there were definitely some nice moments where joey and susie were bashing away together, one time in particular joey seemed to be "following" susie, which was interesting. one piece ended really nicely on susie hitting a gong (the only time i remember her using it). the highlight of the first set for me was an intense rapid-fire duo between joey baron and fred frith. that probably didnt have much to do with XU FENG the composition, i just really like frith and baron and they play well together, it was totally "out" but totally tight, a real dialogue, instant reactions, etc. it got me grinning. after that "tune", zorn went up on stage and went up to baron's drumset, leaned over and said something to joey, and i was very curious what it was. the coincidence of that right after what was to me the highlight of the set... (later, after the show, i asked zorn what he had said, and he didnt seem to mind the question but said i should ask baron. huh. ok. so i did, and baron said no it wasnt related to that duo with fred frith but was some sort of general musical direction, which was difficult to explain, though he did try, and was very nice about it, which i appreciated.) there were some good "crossfades" in the first set. but i did find myself not totally satisfied. i wondered whether the second set might be better now that the band was warmed up, and maybe more used to the nature of the piece. the second set didnt seem as crowded (but maybe thats just because i was not sitting in the same place). my wife, happily, did arrive. woohoo! at first the second set started out perhaps more consistently loud than the first set. all the endings for the first few pieces were something loud which zorn would cut off abruptly. this is of course an effective ending... but then they played an entire piece which was totally quiet! ahh... it was very nice. after that things got better. (not that they were bad before, actually i thought they were executing very well, but i was still thinking why does it always have to be loud. though i think the playing did get better after the quiet piece.) i should mention that zorn's "cards" which have the words like "slow", "fast", "loud", "quiet" on them, they have some kinda velcro system so he can hold up multiple cards and attach them together. well at one point he held up a larger-than-usual number of cards and the band (fred in particular IIRC) laughed, and then zorn turned the cards around and showed them to the audience. there was a big yellow card with "R" (was that the "Runner" card referred to in '93??) with five cards velcro-chained below it: "dense", "slow", "quiet", "static", "fast". http://panix.com/~edp/2003-09-17--cards.JPG besides the fact that this was funny, i think it's nice that zorn shared this with the audience. the whole time zorn had his back to the audience, and he was showing the cards to the musicians, but the audience never saw them (well you could try to read them backwards since they were sorta translucent and backlit, and some were not so hard to see). so it was a nice moment. after that they did in fact start playing, with zorn holding up those cards. he held up some other unusually large batches in that piece too. the mood seemed to me to get better, lighter, esp after the quiet piece and then the fun zorn-audience interaction. oh i almost forgot, there was another fun audience-interaction incident when zorn held up a card and baron either eargerly gestured about it or possibly feigned lack of understanding, and zorn turned that card around too to show the audience that it said "RHYTHM". either way, that's funny :) finally, after the nominally last piece, zorn named everybody in the band, there was a standing ovation, and they played one more. it was easily the most "straightahead" piece of the entire evening, to my memory. baron let loose with some of his trademark backbeat with intense accents. ribot and frith wailed bluesy guitar stuff, etc. nice way to end it... so my wife told me was glad she went. but she didnt really enjoy the music... we talked about it on the way home... in the subway station there was some intense jackhammering sounds. yow. wasnt really what i wanted to hear at the time, although it was kinda interesting, ironic even, given what we were talking about... i'd write more, clean this up, etc. but no more time. time to let go :) -ed

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New @ The Squid's Ear CD Reviews - September 23, 2003
by zampino 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

NEW @ THE SQUID'S EAR <http://www.squidsear.com> CD REVIEWS: GoodandEvil The GoodandEvil Sessions (Thirsty Ear) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=272> Keith Rowe and John Tilbury Duos for Doris (Erstwhile) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=270> Ernest Dawkins - Capetown Shuffle (Delmark) Jeff Parker - Like Coping (Delmark) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=269> Daughter Skin (AUM Fidelity) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=267> Joyce Hinterding / Dion Workman / Need Thomas Windham Spectral / Ching / Employment Patterns (Antiopic) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=266> Art Ensemble of Chicago Tribute to Lester / The Meeting (ECM / Pi Recordings) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=265> Derek Bailey, Antoine Berthiaume, Fred Frith Soshin (Ambiances Magnetiques) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=264> Painkiller (Tonic) September 5, 2003, 8:00 set <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=263> Carolyn Yarnell Sonic Vision (Tzadik) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=260> David S. Ware String Ensemble Threads (Thirsty Ear Blue Series) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=259> Options/Ughi South of Brooklyn (577 Records) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=258> Warren Burt Harmonic Colour Fields (Pogus) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=257> Allen Eager In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee, 1947-1953 (Uptown Records) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=256>

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New @ The Squid's Ear Live Reviews - September 23, 2003
by zampino 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

NEW @ THE SQUID'S EAR <http://www.squidsear.com> LIVE REVIEWS: Xu Feng (Tonic) September 17, 2003 8:00 Set <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=286> Book of Heads (Tonic) September 16, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=285> Locus Solus (Tonic) September 10, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=284> John Zorn duos with Fred Frith and Yamatsuka Eye September 15, 2003 (Tonic) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=283> Frederic Rzewski (Zankel Hall) September 14, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=281> Tim Barnes/Sean Meehan/Jon Butcher/Rhodri Davies (Lost Planet/ Quakebasket) September 13, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=280> Franz Hautsinger (Tonic) August 6, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=278> Mariza Fado Curvo (Times Square) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=277> John Zorn - New Traditions in East Asian Bar Bands/Fencing (Tonic) September 10, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=276> John Zorn/Milford Graves (Tonic) September 8, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=275> John Zorn The Classic Guide to Strategy (Tonic) September 8, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=274> Sean Meehan/Greg Kelley/ Vic Rawlings (Tonic) September 8, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=273> Marc Ribot/Catherine Janeaux/Ikue Mori/Ned Rothenberg (Tonic) August 13, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=271> Taylor Ho Bynum Spider Monkey Strings (Tonic) August 21, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=268> Cobra (Tonic) September 3, 2003 <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=262> A Month of Zorndays <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=255> Randy Weston's African Rhythms Quintet and The Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco Spirit! The Power of Music (Sunnyside) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=282> Jon Rose - Great Fences of Australia (Dynamo House) Jon Rose - Fleisch: Hyperstring 2 (Saucerlike) <http://www.squidsear.com/a.cgi?a=279>

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Zornfest 2003-09-20 MASADA + stds trio (part 1 of 2)
by Ed Price 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

hopefully you could see some pix here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=336862 I'll try to keep the offtopic stuff brief :) The Standards Trio (Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette) was weak. The acoustics at Carnegie -- at least where we were sitting, which was far back in row "X" because I waited too long to order tickets :( which BTW cost $75 each!! but no drink minimum... :/ -- uh, anyway the acoustics were ATROCIOUS. the piano was washed out, the bass was inaudible and the worst thing was the drums, which were audible BUT there was this weird echo following every firm hit of the ride cymbal with a stick. it was a constant out of sync "clicking" sound. maybe that's why the "free" improv they did during "Autumn Leaves" sounded so great! it was such a relief, like a breath of fresh air, and i'm not sure if it was because of musical reasons or just that jack wasnt riding that cymbal for once. in fact, i think it's probably true that i wasnt impressed with the music itself either. this did not change until after intermission, the last tune they played before leaving the stage, a slow tune, i dont remember what, but they finally seemed to hit their stride, they finally "gelled". keith was playing very rapid but smooth righthand filigree. (nice, but my taste would be to hear more contrapuntal textures and less righthand exhibitionism.) anyway, the best thing about that piece was the way it ended. it ended soft, and was followed by utter silence. that is such a cool effect, when a very large group of people is completely silent. we went to the first yankees game after 9/11 (on 9/25?) and there was a "moment of silence" that was awesome. it's a great sound. and rarely heard, right? at least not in New York City. so it was a treat to hear silence at carnegie hall courtesy of the standards trio. but they just barely managed to do something cool there at the end, other than that the whole preceding part of the show (except maybe that free part of autumn leaves -- and my brother liked the groove on "god bless the child" but i wasnt so impressed by that, i think the version on one of the recordings is similar and better). they played three encores, which were also actually pretty good. so it took them a while to warm up. the show had its moments, esp at the very end, but it was basically a disappointment. after that i was thinking, i wonder what i missed at tonic; probably MASADA was The Show To See in the city that night... i had not really planned to go back today for more masada. i was vaguely thinking about it but hadnt got my act together with tickets etc. partly because no-one else was going. (rob and alice had some museum opening, and ellen expressed interest but didnt really want to go out yet again, wanted some downtime, so she declined.) but before the day had progressed very far i decided i had to go. it's the last masada sets, probably would be better than the first, and AFAIK it's joey baron's last appearance at the zornfest. so, basically, duh, HOW COULD I NOT GO?? got myself together and headed out, arriving at tonic for more agonizing line-standing etc. when i got inside there was a large photograph of irving stone, who recently died, and to whom there was a birthday tribute earlier in the afternoon. i never knew him but i used to see him at the knitting factory all the time... it was very sad to see the picture and think back to seeing him so much, but now won't ever see him again. he wrote program notes to the 1993 zornfest, BTW; you can find them online (google "irving stone zorn")... i'll quote his last paragraph: | The month of Zorn is a birthday celebration for a totally honest, | totally committed and totally fearless musician. It celebrates the | fact that a man can succeed on his own terms and in his own unique | fashion. If John has made an intelligent career move to I know he | didn't do it with premeditation. The Month of Zorn is not a | retrospective; John hasn't even reached mid-career yet. It is a | party and I intend to enjoy it as such. I sincerely [hope] John will | too and his past, present and future public as well. hell yeah. still true. RIP mr stone :( once inside, i was getting a drink at the bar and noticed they had leftover brownies from (i assume) the irving stone tribute. so i had one and wished him a happy birthday. [ CONTINUED IN PART 2 ]

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