★Tzadik

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 the studio and the results are some of the most exciting and varied music Zorn has ever presented. This first volume features the remarkable Mary Halvorson Quartet. Dynamic, fiery and endlessly imaginative, this is a fascinating first peek into the world of Zorn…

Chris Otto (violino), Austin Wulliman (violino), John Pickford Richards (viola), Jay Campbell (violoncello). The world class JACK Quartet, both individually and as an ensemble, have had a personal relationship with Zorn for well over a decade. Here they deliver passionate and virtuosic recordings of his complete string quartets. Zorn’s writing for strings is legendary, and his eight string quartets, written in a thirty-year period from 1988–2017, are some of the most important and original works…

The Equinox is PainKiller's much anticipated sequel to their critically praised 2024 album Samsara, and it has a more varied and adaptable style than their previous work.

Performed by virtuosic madman William Winant, who has worked with John Cage, Anthony Braxton, Mr. Bungle, Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, Thurston Moore, Terry Riley, Cecil Taylor and countless others, Theme Park is a major new work by Alvin Curran and one of the most dynamic solo percussion compositions of the decade. Coupled with a kaleidoscopic tribute to jazz giant Charlie Parker, this newest CD by one of today's most important musical pioneers incorporates minimalism, structuralism and post-mod…

Alvin Curran, a persistant innovator in today's new music world, brings the whole environment into unpredictable focus through his sonic fireworks, sharp wit and timeless lyricism. Curran studied with Elliott Carter at Yale in the early 1960's and in 1966 co-founded the legendary Musica Elettronica Viva with Richard Teitelbaum and Frederic Rzewski. He has composed for the Ursula Oppens, and is a close collaborator with the Trisha Brown Dance Company. He is a guest faculty member at the prestigio…

Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, Ches Smith. "Ou Phrontis" means 'who cares' in Greek. Inscribed on the lintel above the door of Thomas Edward Lawrence's cottage on Clouds Hill, it symbolized a place where Lawrence felt at home, free from the cares of the world. This fourth CD by the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder and Ches Smith ("Suite for Piano," "The Fourth Way," "Ballades") features eight challenging Zorn compositions inspired by Stoic philosophy and science. The telepathic …

Brian Marsella is one of the most accomplished keyboard virtuosos in the Downtown scene. A vital member of projects by Cyro Baptista and John Zorn for decades, his fluid keyboard stylings and intense energy is legendary—and Medietas is his masterwork: a sprawling three-hour long work that embraces jazz, rock, funk, classical, world music, exotica, folk, soundtrack moods, and so much more. Segueing from song to song seamlessly, this is a work that puts you into an ecstatic dream world—a psychedel…

Thirty-three years after their first meeting, Samsara is a spectacular reunion of three of the world's most extreme musical explorers—John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris.

This long-awaited third volume featuring John Zorn's newest and most exciting ensemble, New Masada Quartet was recorded live at Roulette, one of Zorn's home bases in NYC. White hot and razor sharp, an intense electricity is in the air from the very first note. Resplendent with burning solos, telepathic group interaction, heartfelt lyricism, hypnotic grooves, and of course Zorn’s ever-surprising conducting techniques, this is truly one of the most transcendent sets they have yet performed. With a…

Composer, trumpeter, and educator Frank London has been a central figure of the Downtown Scene since the mid 1980s. A founding member of the Klezmatics, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and Hasidic New Wave, he has worked with everyone from LaMonte Young, Itzhak Perlman, John Cale, and Allen Ginsberg to Gal Costa, Lester Bowie, and Iggy Pop. This exciting project is a startling new take on the deep tradition of music for brass and percussion and is informed by Latin, New Orleans, Soundtrack, Ragti…

Volume Two documenting Barbara Hannigan’s collaboration with Downtown alchemist John Zorn presents four dramatic pieces for voice and ensemble—three composed expressly for Hannigan! Liber Loagaeth, a meditative composition for voice and string quartet that lies somewhere between a spell and a prayer—Star Catcher, a powerful tour-de-force for voice, piano, and rhythm section—Ab Eo, Quod, scored for voice, cello, vibes, electronics, and drums—and a Zorn classic, Pandora’s Box, his dramatic take on…

A remarkable meeting of two musical forces of nature finally available on recording!

This third CD from the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith is a delightful surprise--and one of Zorn's greatest achievements. Exploring a wide variety of tempi, moods, and feelings the compositions dive deeply into the parameters of melody, harmony, hythm, and texture, stretching the ballade format to its limits and beyond. The trio, three essential members of Zorn's inner circle, performs with passion, imagination, virtuosity, and a telepathic improvisational inte…

Julian Lage and Gyan Riley have a magical rapport, a deep mutual respect, and have recorded some of Zorn’s most melodious and intimate compositions. In addition to the many books of music written for their trio with Bill Frisell, they have also worked together as a duo on The Bagatelles (2015), Midsummer Moons (2017), Book Beri’ah (2019), and Quatrain (2023). For this fifth duo CD Zorn turns again to William Shakespeare for inspiration and has composed a varied collection of ballads, dances, lul…

Zorn's first appearance at the world renowned Venice Biennale was a spectacular one. Invited to perform The Hermetic Organ at the famed 17th century Palazzo Pisano, he was surprised to find two small antique organs opposite one another on the small stage of its intimate concert hall. His performance that day was one of the very best Offices of The Hermetic Organ—a wild, acoustic affair that takes full advantage of the rich reeds, flutes, and horns of these two outstanding instruments. Zorn ran b…

Zorn's lush and seductive compositions for the magical trio of Frisell-Lage-Riley are some of his most beautiful 21st century creations, and this seventh CD in their ever-expanding series is their best yet. A dramatic and colorful tribute to the expressive Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, Lamentations contains four extended pieces that unfold like exotic flowers—gorgeous music with a dark philosophical edge. These master musicians—three of the greatest guitarists in the world—work together with a profou…

One of the most important musical partnerships in English Free Improvisation was the duo of Tony Oxley and Derek Bailey. Their long standing friendship began as early as 1963 with the group Joseph Holbrooke (including composer/bassist Gavin Bryars) and lasted over forty years. These recordings were created in the studio in 1975 and catch them at their peak. Also included is Oxley’s touching tribute to Bailey, a dynamic new piece for electronics and percussion recorded live at the recent Bailey t…

The mystical figure On Ka'a Davis returns for his second CD on Tzadik, and his first in twenty-five years - Blending the psychedelia of Sun Ra with Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, this is an epic, direct from the ever-growing counterculture of Downtown New York - Performing on guitar, synth keyboard, programmed sounds, and percussion On is joined here by Don McKenzie on drums and Ali Ali on trumpet. Years in the making the music is wild, varied, and intensely felt. A New York Underground classic! …

Recorded at the Grote Kerk in Den Bosch as part of John Zorn’s 70th birthday celebration at November Music in Den Bosch, this exciting performance pays tribute to one of Zorn’s seminal influences—the 15th century painter Hieronymus Bosch. Performing on two different organs simultaneously, running from one to the other, this is one of the most bizarre installments in the entire Hermetic Organ series. The CD begins with a rare private performance of Zorn alone in the church exploring and stretchin…

Big Tip! Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/producer/songwriters working today. Sean has written countless songs, composed film scores, produced, and performed on dozens of albums-and here he steps out as the leader of an all-star band of Downtown luminaries. Years in the making, the music is powerful, trippy, and intensely imaginative, blending rock, electronics, jazz…