Personally, I think he's way above average. Just on SPILLANE you can hear how proficient he is at any tempo, has a great tone (and a beautiful sound on clarinet, which we can hear him play in the ungodly hard for clarinet key of D flat), stays in tune throughout, obviously reads obscenely well. He's a guy that can play in a bunch of different genres -- and appropriately to each -- and remain recognizable. It would be follish to dismiss his flat-out ability to play the saxophone. skip h on 11/19/02 11:59 AM, Samerivertwice@aol.com at Samerivertwice@aol.com wrote: No one's ever come out and said it -- not that I've seen anyway -- but my feeling is people on this list have mixed feelings about Zorn's proficiency as a sax player. While I'm hardly an expert on technique or innovations, I happen to think Zorn is an exceptionally good player with a unique style. Do others feel the same? Why or why not? I'd love it if someone could articulate Zorn's style in more technical terms so I can better understand and appreciate his playing approach. Thanks, Tom NP: Johnny Cash -- American IV (American)