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John Zorn

Drawing on his experience in a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular and improvised music, John Zorn has created an influential body of work that defies academic categories. He learned alchemical synthesis from Harry Smith, structural ontology with Richard Foreman, how to make art out of garbage with Jack Smith, cathartic expression at Sluggs and hermetic intuition from Joseph Cornell. Early inspirations include American innovators Ives, Varese, Cage, Carter and Partch, the European tradition of Berg, Stravinsky, Boulez and Kagel, soundtrack composers Herrmann, Morricone and Stalling as well as avant-garde theater, film, art and literature

Drawing on his experience in a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular and improvised music, John Zorn has created an influential body of work that defies academic categories. He learned alchemical synthesis from Harry Smith, structural ontology with Richard Foreman, how to make art out of garbage with Jack Smith, cathartic expression at Sluggs and hermetic intuition from Joseph Cornell. Early inspirations include American innovators Ives, Varese, Cage, Carter and Partch, the European tradition of Berg, Stravinsky, Boulez and Kagel, soundtrack composers Herrmann, Morricone and Stalling as well as avant-garde theater, film, art and literature

Seven Sonnets
Originally brought together in September 2015 to perform the Zorn Bagatelles, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley have become two of Zorn’s most trusted and soulful musical collaborators, having recorded over a dozen CDs of his compositions for acoustic guita…
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 8
On The Bagatelles Vol. 8, John Zorn hands nine knotty miniatures from his 300‑tune book to the John Medeski Trio, who turn organ, guitar and drums into a shape‑shifting engine of groove, skronk and sly lyricism that makes each Bagatelle feel like a t…
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 7
On The Bagatelles Vol. 7, John Zorn hands a batch of his razor‑cut miniatures to pianist Brian Marsella, who turns thirteen terse themes into a 46‑minute solo suite where classical poise, jazz volatility and downtown mischief share the same set of ke…
Alea Iacta Est
On Alea Iacta Est, John Zorn hurls the piano concerto into a maelstrom: Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, Ches Smith and Sae Hashimoto navigate four years of volatile writing where ferocious counterpoint, free‑jazz impact and sudden lyric calm collide wi…
Olympiad - Vol. 4 - Curling
On John Zorn’s Olympiad Vol. 4 – Curling, John Zorn exhumes one of his rarest 1970s game pieces, a slow‑burn study in sustained tones, handing it to ROVA Saxophone Quartet and the William Winant Percussion Group, who turn its minimalist rules into 45…
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 6
On John Zorn’s Bagatelles Vol. 6, John Zorn hands a fresh batch of his angular miniatures to the Brian Marsella Trio, who render them as a volatile, deeply melodic piano‑trio songbook where Monkish heads, free detonations and elusive “exotic” moods f…
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 5
On John Zorn’s Bagatelles Vol. 5, John Zorn hands eight spiky miniatures to the Kris Davis Quartet, who turn his angular “weirdo tunes” into a fierce, lyrical piano‑guitar quartet set where structure, swing and free combustion constantly collide.
Sing Me Now Asleep
Bill Frisell, Kenny Wollesen, and Carol Emanuel are The Gnostic Trio and their unique blend of minimalism, early music, and jazz has resulted in some of the loveliest music Zorn has ever created. “Sing Me Now Asleep” is their first CD in over five ye…
Song Of Songs
This very special CD Book presents John Zorn’s evocative musical setting of the Biblical love poem The Song of Songs, with singer/conductor Barbara Hannigan and film director/actor Mathieu Amalric narrating. Featuring extensive notes, the full text o…
Alchemical Theatre
Friends and musical cohorts since the early 1980s, these three master improvisers come together to perform a freewheeling set of outrageous and mind-blowing improvisations. Recorded at Roulette, founded in 1978 and one of New York’s most adventurous …
The Big Gundown (John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone) (LP)
Original German edition with gatefold sleeve of the 1986 hommage to the wonderful music of Ennio Morricone from the NY sax player and composer, surrounded by Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith, Jody Harris, Christian Marclay, Anton Fier and many …
Nosferatu
Created for a modern Polish stage production of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale, John Zorn has created a music filled with nostalgia, tenderness, violent power and a great sense of mystery. Featuring the dark ambient bass tones of Bill Laswell, th…
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 4
From March to May 2015, John Zorn composed 300 new tunes that were eventually collected into a book of music he called The Bagatelles. After five years of performances around the world in venues large and small, the choicest ensembles have gone into …
Prolegomena
This CD is about quality not quantity - less than thirty minutes in total, but absolutely some of the most incredible music Zorn has ever composed. Dramatic, intense, mercurial, challenging, and endlessly virtuosic, Zorn’s writing for strings is amon…
Nocturnes
The fourth CD in Zorn’s remarkable series of piano trio recordings exploring classical forms, Nocturnes is an absolute delight. Preceded by Suite for Piano (2022), Ballades (2024), and the Impromptus (2025), Nocturnes is Zorn’s personal take on the b…
Harras
1995 release (no OBI) ** "A stellar trio of free improvisers, each respective kings of the avant-garde jazz scene in different capacities. British improvisation legend Derek Bailey has played with practically every musician of note in the European im…
Memories, Dreams and Reflections
Friends and colleagues for over 25 years, John Zorn and Dave Lombardo are two of the most uncompromising and powerful musical visionaries in modern music and “Memories, Dreams, and Reflections” presents these two extreme virtuosos in an exciting sess…
Fantasma (Illusions From A Surrealist Mirror)
Zorn’s compositions for classical soloists with rhythm section are among the most successful and powerful meetings of classical and jazz ever conceived—completely notated virtuosic scores for classical players augmented by improvisers who illuminate …
Impromptus
With “Suite for Piano” in 2022, Zorn began exploring classical forms in the context of the jazz piano trio. The second CD in the series was a beautiful collection of “Ballades,” released in July 2024. This third project presents nine Impromptus—freew…
Utopia Americana
1992 release ** "A wonderful view of what is "American" in contemporary American music from an Italian producer's perspective, with a nice cover photo of Joey's Navajo Cafe and Dining Room framed by several pickup trucks parked outside. Including rhy…
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