John Zorn

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1,532,006 plays (79,725 listeners)

jazz, avant-garde, experimental, free jazz, noise… see all

John Zorn (born 2 September 1953 in New York City) is an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. He owns the Tzadik record label and has worked with a large number of experimental musicians, particularly in improvised music, incorporating modern classical music, jazz and even death metal and grindcore as well as having produced music to include most styles.

As a child, he played piano, guitar and flute. He went to college in St. Louis, Missouri at Webster College (now Webster University) where he discovered free jazz, before dropping out and moving to Manhattan. There he gave concerts in his small apartment, playing a variety of reeds, duck calls, tapes, etc; almost anything (sometimes he played “musical optics” which involved no instruments or sounds at all, but rather the arrangement of lights and objects in a dark room). In the mid 1980s he signed to the Elektra-Nonesuch label. Since then, Zorn has been quite prolific, usually putting out several new records each year. His breakthrough recording was perhaps 1985’s The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone, wherein Zorn offered a number of often radical arrangements of Morricone’s famed songs from various movies. The Big Gundown was endorsed by Morricone, and incorporated elements of traditional Japanese music, soul jazz, and other diverse musical genres.

Naked City
John Zorn
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The Gift
John Zorn
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Moonchild
John Zorn
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The Circle Maker: Issachar
John Zorn
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Top Tracks

1	Batman	157
2	The Sicilian Clan	133
3	Uluwati full track	120
4	Snake Catcher full track	108
5	You Will Be Shot	105
6	Saigon Pickup	102
7	Abidan full track	98
7	Latin Quarter	98
9	Mow Mow	97
10	A Shot In The Dark	95
11	Reanimator	94
12	Demon Sanctuary	86
13	Raksasa full track	84
14	The James Bond Theme	77
15	I Want To Live	76

Shoutbox

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ebrown7 wrote:
Wednesday afternoon

XIX is very melodic! It's a beautiful album, I love it.

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R4pt0R wrote:
last month

oh, FWXX is the most melodic filmwork of him? knowing a lot of people who said the same about FWXIX, Zorn goes mainstream...joke! :D

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xNeux wrote:
last month

Six Litanies For Heliogabalus owns hard. :D

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RyanJones wrote:
last month

I wish he'd do another Ornette Coleman cover album.

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itsatoe wrote:
last month

The master. My all time favorite.

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Prayer wrote:
last month

well, Filmworks XX is incredibly sweet, melodic and kletzmer'ish. maybe his most melodic filmwork to date. awesome

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demantik wrote:
last month

R4pt0R: yes, and i quite like it.

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tired_time wrote:
last month

Six Litanies For Heliogabalus has just 8882 plays! WTF?! It's one of the best albums ever made, people, try it!

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Monty__ wrote:
last month

Thanks guys, I'll check those up!

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R4pt0R wrote:
last month

and, if you like that, More News for Lulu (Live CD)

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HungryFreaks wrote:
last month

Dear Monty, try: John Zorn, George Lewis, Bill Frisell - News For Lulu (1988)

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pawelparzysz wrote:
last month

Mezzo TV group - feel free to join in.

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Monty__ wrote:
last month

To clarify a little, I want songs that focus more on cool atmospheres and melodies than the more crazy jazz improvisation.

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Monty__ wrote:
last month

So I've tried Naked City, Spy Vs. Spy and Moonchild out, and i prefer his (in the lack of a better description) softer stuff. Naked City is amazing. Can you people recommend an album with similiar styles?

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JamesLebowski wrote:
last month

Filmworks 22 and The Crucible anounced. 'scuse me but, fuck yeah!

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R4pt0R wrote:
last month

anyone heard the new filmscore XX?

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nabraxas wrote:
last month

Of course, he does dip deeply into the realms of Klezmer jazz and bebop...But, you might say that you can learn more about a John Zorn LISTENER rather than John Zorn himself, based on their reviews, depending on how they got introduced and which of his stylistic tangents they entered through. His ouvre is such a vast pool that any unsuspecting fan can formulate their own sort of 'divining rod' once they dive in.

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praisingfolly wrote:
last month

Zouiii, what have you heard? Zorn's music can't be limited to one style, really... I'm guessing you've heard something Masada related, maybe?

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zouiii wrote:
last month

this is incredible. sounds a little like eric dolphy. jewish bebop?! jewish latin?! fuckin madness, fuckin great...yipeeee!!!

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Sckxyss wrote:
last month

Just saw this guy live yesterday...WOW. I'm speechless.

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12…19 Next

Events

Oct 17 John Zorn: The Dreamers USF Verftet, Bergen, Norway
2 shouts | 6 attendees
Oct 18 The Dreamers, Essential Cinema and Electric Masada Peer Gynt salen, Bergen, Norway
1 shout | 3 attendees
Feb 25 John Zorn et Tzadik Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
Add shout | 26 attendees

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Recent Activity

J_entz tagged John Zorn with ‘jentzjazz’. 1 hour ago
eiertom, janulamat, GoedeltoGentzen and 9 other people added John Zorn to their libraries. 6 hours ago
SirAlecHendrix connected John Zorn to the group The Mothership of Jazz. Sunday evening
fracal, flindersnorman, THlady and 2 other people added John Zorn to their libraries. Sunday evening
juliasky tagged John Zorn with ‘avantgarde’ and ‘crazy’. Sunday afternoon
DiabolicBadger, cyberede, runman69 and 6 other people added John Zorn to their libraries. Sunday afternoon
HolyHardcore tagged John Zorn with ‘jazzcore’. Saturday morning
HolyHardcore, zotomog, wishg and 4 other people added John Zorn to their libraries. Saturday morning
Vigoor tagged John Zorn with ‘jazz’. Friday morning
manthosk, Requendel, perm_orange and 7 other people added John Zorn to their libraries. Friday morning