John Zorn ... where to Begin?

[zombywoof]

I've been listening to a lot of avant prog and RIO lately, and the name John Zorn has appeared more than a few times in liner notes and press releases. Now, I know that his catalogue is immense, so there's a lot to behold. I'm looking for recommendations for John Zorn for the beginner, however keep in mind that I'm a RIO / Avant / zeuhl head, so I don't need an easy listen, but I would like one that is representative of who he is and is daring and exciting. Thanks very much in advance!

[Progmatic]

Zorn, John / Electric Masada - At the Mountains of Madness.... a top album IMHO
Zorn, John / Naked City - Naked City...another great album

some warning...John music also tends to go on some tangents...some of his albums may be dificult to get into e.g.his work in Painkiller

[walt]

but I would like one that is representative of who he is and is daring and exciting. Thanks very much in advance!

Tough call.Zorn's discography is quite large and there are many facets to Zorn's work;Zorn the noisy skronking sax man,Zorn the klezmer composer,Zorn the improvisor,Zorn the composer of 'hommages" to his musical heroes,and Zorn the man who combines all of these in one pot..etc

You asked for one; here's my rec.--"The Circle Maker"-2disc set.One cd is Zorn's compositions for the Masada String Trio,the other cd is the Bar Kokhba Sextet,for violin, bass, perc, drums, guitar,cello.
I only have 2 or 3 Zorn cds but The Circle Maker is, by far, the one i'm most fond of.

[wideopenears]

the Electric Masada would be my first rec for a progger. If you like acoustic jazz in a somewhat "Ornette"-ish flavor, the acoustic Masada stuff I have is great. Bar Kokbha is great, Aleph is great...

Painkiller is brutal.
Naked City is like Attention Deficit Disorder Pulp Detective movie Free Jazz Noir Soundtrack.

[zombywoof]

Naked City is like Attention Deficit Disorder Pulp Detective movie Free Jazz Noir Soundtrack.

Sounds fantastic.

[NogbadTheBad]

As others have mentioned Electric Masada & Naked City are both excellent Zorn bands to start with. When I played At The Mountains Of Madness for the first time I had a real "Wow this is going to take some digesting" moment.

Any album the uses a HP Lovecraft reference has to be good doesn't it?

[markwoll]

Another vote for naked city. Thrash jazz metal or something like that.
Torture Garden is a pretty tough listen. Same band line up.
I saw it performed live a long while ago with Mike Patton on screams.
It was awesome in a 'you had to see it to believe it' sort of way.

mark

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Probably the best...(and probably the most used) entry point is his band Naked City. The self titled is the obvious choice, and if you enjoy that there is a box set out that houses all the studio material by that band.

In a somewhat similar vein (though heavier and less accessible) is Painkiller, which is absolutely magnificent IMHO. There is a box set of this as well...so I'm not sure if the albums are available separately. The only one that I do know is available by itself is Painkiller's set from Zorn's birthday celebration (Vol 12 I believe), which is a good entry point (esp since it's cheap compared to the box set).

Electric Masada is pretty dern good as well, esp if you like Jazz and related musics. Masada itself is not as enjoyable to me, but if you enjoy klezmer inspired jazz ('straight' jazz [straight of course being a relative term with Zorn]) then you have much to enjoy. Another good entry point to this type of stuff is with Masada book 2 where Zorn gave the music and bare bone structures to different groups of musicians to interpret and play there way. If you are a fan of those particular groups that might be of interest. (I can recommend the Secret Chiefs 3 album and the Medeski, Martin & Wood album from MB2.)

There's also the 'Moonchild Trio' of Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn, and Joey Baron (who are often augmented by others to expand the trio format) which produce some fine dark/classical/avant music with plenty of energy and drive (good to check out esp if you are a fan of any one of the three main players in the band....but admittedly probably not the best entry point to Zorn's world). Six Litanies For Heliogablous and Moonchild are my favorites from them.

If you like film music/soundtrack music there is a long line of Music For Film, which is exactly what it sounds like. I only have one of these so I really can't recommend this series but I've heard good things about the majority of them if this is you type of stuff (but again, probably not the best entry point to Zorn's world as it isn't totally representative of his style).

There are also what he calls file card pieces which is a controlled improvisational technique that Zorn uses. Alot of the early stuff is like this (Hockey, Lacrosse, etc...which are all released in the Parachute Years box set) and the Cobra series (which I can think of at least two different versions released) is this style as well. Cobra is particularly good.

The final thing I'd recommend for the beginner is a couple of recent albums that kind of fall in between all the above...meaning Nova Express, Interzone, Elegy (and possible another one or two...he releases so many damn albums! )


So, to make my point short: Naked City is probably the best way to go. Unless you really love one of the other styles of course.

[gregory]

Start with Grand Guignol, by Naked City. Lotta fun

[zombywoof]

Thanks for the great response so far. I'm adding all of these titles to my Amazon and Wayside carts for future use.

[Reid]

Zorn, John / Electric Masada - At the Mountains of Madness.... a top album IMHO

The whole album is up on YouTube if you want know what you're getting into?

[Brad to the Bone]

FIMAV has announced that (similar to the 2008 Guelph Jazz Festival) they will be devoting one entire day of programming to Zorn at this year's festival:

The pre-sale of the Passeport Festival will be available on Friday, February 8, 2013. In the meantime, we give you a taste of the programming of the 29th edition of the Festival. On Sunday, May 19, 2013, you will have the chance to see John Zorn. The whole day’s worth of his most recent works for Moonchild, The Dreamers and Electric Masada; plus new compositions for chamber ensembles; an unrecorded “Song Project”; and a church organ solo by JZ himself!

[LighthouseKeeper]

[QUOTE=Hobo Chang Ba;38423]I can recommend the Secret Chiefs 3 album and the Medeski, Martin & Wood album from MB2.

I second the above and also recommend Marc Ribot's Asmodeus from this series.

Zorn's Mount Analogue was in my top ten from 2012.

[NogbadTheBad]

Zorn's Mount Analogue was in my top ten from 2012.

I like that album.