Jazz Archives

Claudia Heuermann's "A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: Twelve Stories About John Zorn" is not quite what it seems. Expectations ran high, a documentary about John Zorn, the man who rarely grants interviews and when he does, seems to say everything and not say anything at all, whose music jumps genre to genre in a matter of seconds, captivates some, horrifies others, and has a strange sway over its fan.
What Heuermann did though was quite a bit different-- she told the story about her trying to make the movie, about her relationship with Zorn, from the moment she first discovered him (a friend playing her Naked City's "Torture Garden") to her meeting him for the first time, travelling to New York and deciding to make a movie about Zorn. It's really a piece about self-discovery, about learning to be one's "own parent".
Along the way, we get snippets of interviews with Zorn, brilliant statements, footage of rehearsals, recording sessions, remastering of "The Big Gundown" and live performances from Naked City, Painkiller, Masada, Bar Kokhba, Emergency, and "Rituals". We also get a brief explanation of game pieces and a picture of a frustrated artist who can't stop looking, who views music as problem solving, and who does it not for listeners, but for himself and the musicians.
This is the second time I've watched this-- the first time was when it first came out, and I was still in the process of discovering Zorn's work through a chance encounter at an independent movie theater (Naked City was the house music before the show, and somehow I knew who it was). Three months and a dozen or so Zorn CDs later and this came out to guide my way, to help put the pieces together.
A year after that and my Zorn collection is bordering on obscene and the piece still holds weight. It still is entertaining, and yeah, its not a lot of revelatory stuff, but it's a worthwhile viewing. Truth to be told, in many ways, the piece gave validity to my own view on my choice of career and my great passions. And I keep thinking that maybe when my coworkers ask why I'm making the four hour trip to New York City yet again to see some obscure musician who they've never heard of (and who if they did hear, they'd probably dislike), maybe in those situations I should let them borrow this and certainly Heuermann's experience isn't really that much different from mine. Isn't that powerful enough to merit a recommendation to someone else?
If you're just learning about Zorn, get this, it's critical. If you're already initiated, you probably already have it. It's got its flaw, but invariably, it's a deeply personal expression, how could it not? Either way, it's a fun film to watch. Recommended.

:::Review from amazon.com:::

John Zorn - A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories about John Zorn, DVD (2004)

Credits
- Cyro Baptista
- Joey Baron
- Stefan Blum
- Anna Carewe
- Jennifer Choi
- Greg Cohen
- Anthony Coleman
- Ariadne Daskalakis
- Uwe Dierksen
- Dave Douglas
- Mark Dresser
- Yamataka Eye
- Mark Feldman
- Erik Friedlander
- Bill Frisell
- Fred Frith
- Mihoko Fujimura
- Joyce Hammann
- Wayne Horvitz
- Susie Ibarra
- Matthias Kaul
- Otis Klöber
- Briggan Krauss
- Bill Laswell
- Hartmut Leistritz
- Dave Lombardo
- John Medeski
- Ikue Mori
- Nele B. Nelle
- Mike Patton
- Jim Pugliese
- Marc Ribot
- Roberto Rodriguez
- Josh Roseman
- Jamie Saft
- Astrid Schmeling
- Michael Schröder
- Stefan Schäfer
- David Shea
- Chris Speed
- Jim Staley
- Mason Wendell
- William Winant
- Kenny Wollesen
- John Zorn

Releases information
DVD Tzadik (TZ 3001), Mar 2004

A whole new chapter in Polish jazz music was started by Miłość / Love, a band created in Trójmiasto (an aggregate of the three neighbouring towns of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot) in April 1988. Ryszard Tymon Tymański (guitar) is the leader of this group. Together with other young musicians he contests the so called classical stream of Polish jazz. The band describes its music as yass, referring in this way to the original roots of jazz music. Yass is a combination of new wave, free jazz, modern rock, surrealistic instrumental theatre and poetry. Polish yass questions jazz played in Poland so far, it questions especially its creative value. At the beginning of the 1990's, Miłość had among its members a remarkably talented pianist Leszek Możdżer, and saxophonists Maciej Sikała and Mikołaj Trzaska. Miłość began a creative ferment, it gathered a group of believers, it led to the creation of a new stream in Polish jazz. Today this stream gathers at least over ten musicians, it has its own record company (Biodro Records), its own festival ("Muzyka z Mózgu" / "Music from the brain"), and a number of clubs of which "Brain" located in Bydgoszcz is the most important.
The leading bands of the yass stream are as follows: Miłość (records: "Miłość" / "Love", "Taniec smoka" / "Dance of a Dragon", "Asthmatic", "On Life and Death", "Not Two" - with a famous American trumpeter of the avant-garde stream Lester Bowie); Kury / Hens (record: "P.O.L.O.V.I.R.U.S."); Łoskot / Din (record: "Koncert w Mózgu" / "Concert in a Brain"); Duet Trzaska-Świetlicki / Trzaska-Świetlicki Duo (record: "Cierpienie i Wypoczynek" / "Suffering and Resting"); Arythmic Perfection ("Out to Lunch", "Rozmowy z Catem"); Trytony / Tritons (record: "Zarys matematyki niewinnej" / "An Outline of Innocent Mathematics"); Maestro Trytony / Maestro Tritons (record: "Enoptronia"); Diffusion Ensemble (record: "Azure Excess"); Trupy / Corpses; Niebieski Lotnik / Blue Pilot.
The leading musicians of the yass stream are: Ryszard Tymon Tymański (guitar), Mikołaj Trzaska (saxophones), Mazzoll (clarinet), Tomasz Gwinciński (guitar) Jacek Olter (percussion), Leszek Możdżer (piano during the initial period), and Maciej Sikała (saxophones).

Mózg ("Brain" in Polish) is a performance place (concert, exhibitions and more) in Bydgoszcz aimed at contemporary art. It was established in 1994 by Jacek Majewski and Sławomir Janicki. Mózg and Gdańsk were centers of yass movement.
This compilation was released to celebrate fifth anniverary of Mózg.

Mózg website


V/A - Mózg 5 lat (2000)

01. Marzena Pawlicka, Joanna Czapińska - Habanera Z Opery "Carmen" G. Bizeta [02:49]
02. Mazzoll & Arhythmic Perfection - Andrzej [05:02]
03. Teleecho - Mars Bars [05:06]
04. Trytony - Ostatni raz [06:34]
05. Sylvie Curvoisier, Tomasz Pawlicki - Fragment koncertu [03:52]
06. Zdzisław Piernik, Sławomir Janicki - Dialogi na tubę, kontrabas i taśmę [04:24]
07. Pieces Of Brain 2nd Edition - Ayler's Song [07:34]
08. Maestro Trytony - Wariacja na temat "Ojczyzną naszą dobroć, dobroć, dobroć [06:49]
09. Kazik Staszewski - Mózg [01:00]
10. Masło - Venus in Furs (The Velvet Underground cover) [06:15]
11. Tomasz Gwinciński, Peter Gonzales, Tomasz Pawlicki, Grzegorz Daroń, Phillipa & Hariert - The Identity of Relative and Absolute [03:02]
12. 4 Syfon - Be be cia cia [05:40]
13. Caridad De La Luz - This Love is Not Good For Me [02:48]
14. Barondown - Unleashing the Dobermans [03:03]
15. Tymon Tymański - Lies [02:20]
16. Fred Frith - Fragment koncertu [05:22]

Wow! How one does not commit suicide after falling from the window on the fourth floor and realizing that he will never walk again. I think I have never heard such a personal album like this one and the Syd recordings do not come close as those were so sloppy. This is rather a healing job as the open wounds just start to cauterize , but as he says in the booklet of the remaster, he realized also that he would not have to write music according to his different band mates as it will be impossible to tour again especially with a band, so this would give him more artistic freedom in the writing dept. Everyone ot these tracks is an absolute gem and his voice has never been so fabulous. Nerve-wracking, hair-raising, flabbergasting, spine-tingling. But nevermind me, I'll let my trusted collabs talk about this album.

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (1974)

1. Sea Song (6:31)
2. A Last Straw (5:46)
3. Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road (7:38)
4. Alifib (6:55)
5. Alife (6:31)
6. Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road (6:08)

Credits
- Robert Wyatt / vocals, keyboards, percussion, guitar
- Richard Sinclair / bass
- Hugh Hopper / bass
- Laurie Allan / drums

With

- Mongezi Feza / trumpet
- Ivor Cutler / voice, baritone concertina
- Gary Windo / bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
- Fred Frith / viola
- Mike Oldfield / guitar
- Alfreda Benge / voice

Art Bears' second album is their masterpiece, a beautifully focussed and concentrated piece of work that was recorded in just 2 weeks. Amazingly, the music was all written during the recording period - Chris Cutler arrived with the texts, Fred Frith set them to music and the arrangements evolved in the studio.
On this album there were no guest musicians, although special mention should be made of engineer Etienne Conod's contribution to their use of the studio as a compositional instrument.
Where their debut album explored several different themes, the lyrics for Winter Songs are informed mostly by Chris Cutler's fascination with the Middle Ages and are based on stone carvings in Amiens cathedral (except for two songs that refer to similar carvings in other cathedrals from the same era and area). The words are always poetic and sometimes oblique, although Cutler's political leanings can be inferred from Gold: "Owned men mined me/And out of their lives all my value derived/And out of their deaths/My authority". The music has some of folk influences first heard on 'Hopes and Fears' (Frith began his musical career in folk clubs and some of his solo albums feature his unique take on various folk traditions), but also ventures into dense, dark RIO style chamber rock and even into Residents- influenced studio wizardry. With Frith playing everything except drums, the arrangements are precise and uncluttered. Bass guitar is only heard on a few tracks, most notably on The Summer Wheel and 3 Figures, and like all the other elements in the sonic palette it is only used when necessary. There are some splendid passages featuring violin and piano, as well as Frith's ever inventive guitar. Chris Cutler's drumming is likewise a model of clarity and concision - rather than trying to fill all the available space, he knows when to drive the tempo forward, when to play softly to complement Frith or Dagmar and - most crucially - when not to play at all. Dagmar's interpretation of this material features some of her best vocal performances - The Hermit is sung with a clear, bell like tone, on The Skeleton she is at her most strident and the frantically uptempo Rats and Monkeys (a counterpart to the rock out on In Two Minds from Hopes and Fears) shows the uniqueness of her talent. A particularly powerful moment comes at the opening of First Things First, where the vocal is played backwards as an introduction to the song, mirroring the the theme of the lyrics (two dead trees pulling apart in opposite directions). Lyrics, melody, rhythm, arrangement and production are all informed by a singular vision, and there is nothing extraneous anywhere in these 12 songs.
Despite the possibly forbidding avant garde credentials of the writers and performers, this often a melodic and accessible album. Dagmar's voice is something of an acquired taste, but it is worth persevering with; few albums released under the 'rock' banner have such a coherent and fully realised artistic vision.
This album is on a par with Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom, Christian Vander's Wurdah Itah or Captain Beefheart's Lick My Decals Off, Baby. Uneasy listening, but highly rewarding and strongly recommended.

:::Review by Syzygy:::

Art Bears - Winter Songs (1979)

1. The Bath of Stars (1:45)
2. First Things First (2:41)
3. Gold (1:40)
4. The Summer Wheel (2:47)
5. The Slave (3:38)
6. The Hermit (2:59)
7. Rats and Monkeys (3:14)
8. The Skeleton (3:11)
9. The Winter Wheel (3:06)
10. Man and Boy (3:22)
11. Winter/War/Force/Three Figures (5:51)
12. Three Wheels (3:38)

Credits
- Fred Frith / guitars, violin, keyboards
- Chris Cutler / drums, percussion
- Dagmar Krause / vocals
+ Etienne Conod / engineering, mixing

By this point Henry Cow consisted of guitarist Fred Frith, drummer Chris Cutler, bassist John Greaves, keyboardist Tim Hodgkinson, and, of particular importance to the band's sound at this point, bassoonist Lindsay Cooper. As is so often the case with avant-garde rock & roll, it's the composed pieces that work best, and the fact that Frith is responsible for the majority of them is significant. "Bittern Storm Over Ulm" is an absolutely brilliant demolition of the Yardbirds' "Got to Hurry," while the brief but lovely "Solemn Music" unfolds in a stately manner with atonal but pretty counterpoint between Frith and Cooper. The improvised material succeeds in a more spotty way. "Upon Entering the Hotel Adlon" demonstrates how fine the line can be between bracing free atonality and mindless cacophony. The unsettling but eventually gorgeous "Deluge," on the other hand, shows how well Henry Cow could walk that line when they tried; in this piece, random guitar skitterings, scattershot drum clatter, and pointillistic reed grunts are eventually snuck up on and overtaken by softly massed chords and Cooper's gently hooting bassoon. The effect is startlingly moving. Overall, this is one of Henry Cow's better efforts.

:::Review by Rick Anderson:::

Henry Cow - Unrest (1974)

1. Bitter Storm Over Ulm (2:44)
2. Half Asleep; Half Awake (7:39)
3. Ruins (12:00)
4. Solemn Music (1:09)
5. Linquaphonie (5:58)
6. Upon Entering The Hotel Adlon (2:56)
7. Arcades (1:50)
8. Deluge (5:52)

Musicians
- John Greaves / bass, piano, vocals
- Chris Cutler / piano, trumpet, drums, vocals
- Lindsay Cooper / bassoon, oboe, recorder, vocals
- George Born / bass
- Fred Frith / guitar, piano, violin, keyboards, xylophone
- Charles Fletcher / vocals
- Tim Hodgkinson / organ, clarinet, piano, keyboards, saxophones, vocals

Although officially released in 1990 as a John Zorn solo album, “Naked City” was in fact the debut of a whole new band of the same name. Although it turned out to be a short-lived formation (it lasted only a couple of years), it existed long enough to obtain a legendary status among avant-garde fanatics. With his Naked City project - which also featured Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith, Joey Baron, and occasionally Yamatsuka Eye - John Zorn produced a challenging mix of jazz and hardcore/metal. Zorn had already experimented with this combination on the cover album “Spy Vs. Spy” - on which Ornette Coleman tunes in the melody section were set against hardcore ‘grooves’ in the rhythm section - but with Naked City he ventured even further into rock territory. Add to this Zorn’s love for film and cartoon music, superb musicianship, and a good dose of humour, and you’ll get an idea of what “Naked City” sounds like.

The album contains both original compositions and cover songs (seven in total). The latter, however, are arranged in such a way that they fit into the style of the album perfectly and they don’t disturb the flow. The most notable covers are “The James Bond Theme” and “Lonely Woman” - a famous film tune and an early free jazz classic (Ornette Coleman). One of the best originals on the album is the unpredictable “You Will Be Shot”, but even more unpredictable - and also the most impressive - are the eight tracks that make up the center of the album. These agressive bursts of energy, all of which clock in at less than fourty-four seconds, pretty much summarize the musical language of the band. Moreover, the fragmentary character of these pieces is distinctive for John Zorn’s musical vision at the time. (According to the American musicologist Richard Taruskin, Zorn once wrote that “‘I’ve got an incredibly short attention span’, and that his music is meant for listeners who, like him, grew up with television.” *)
In my opinion, “Naked City” is a postmodern masterpiece and an artistic statement in the line of such landmark works as Ornette Coleman’s “The Shape Of Jazz To Come”, Frank Zappa’s “Freak Out!” and Captain Beefheart’s “Trout Mask Replica”. Apart from that it could be a nice introduction into Zorn’s gigantic discography. People who like wild, experimental music will certainly enjoy it, and especially fans of Mr. Bungle or Fantômas will be delighted.

* Richard Taruskin, The Oxford History Of Western Music, Volume 5: The Late Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 504

:::Review by Joren:::

John Zorn - Naked City (1990)

1. Batman (2:04)
2. The Sicilian Clan (Ennio Morricone) (3:33)
3. You Will Be Shot (1:31)
4. Latin Quarter (4:12)
5. A Shot In The Dark (Henry Mancini) (3:13)
6. Reanimator (1:43)
7. Snagglepuss (2:20)
8. I Want To Live (Johnny Mandel) (2:12)
9. Lonely Woman (Ornette Coleman) (2:45)
10. Igneous Ejaculation (0:24)
11. Blood Duster (0:17)
12. Hammerhead (0:11)
13. Demon Sanctuary (0:42)
14. Obeah Man (0:20)
15. Ujaku (0:31)
16. Fuck The Facts (0:14)
17. Speedball (0:44)
18. Chinatown (Jerry Goldsmith) (4:28)
19. Punk China Doll (3:06)
20. N.Y. Flat Top Box (0:46)
21. Saigon Pickup (4:50)
22. The James Bond Theme (John Barry) (3:06)
23. Den Of Sins (1:14)
24. Contempt (Georges Delerue) (2:54)
25. Graveyard Shift (3:32)
26. Inside Straight (4:17)

Musicians
- John Zorn / alto sax
- Bill Frisell / guitar
- Wayne Horvitz / keyboards
- Fred Frith / bass
- Joey Baron / drums
special guest:
- Yamatsuka Eye / vocals

Even though Bill Laswell was already immersed in numerous projects since the end of the '70s, including leading his loose ensemble Material, he didn't release a solo record until 1984, and Baselines was quite a strange album. On the one hand, there's "Upright Man," one of the most infectious grooves Laswell has ever conceived, boasting ace bass playing and a weird taped sermon as sort-of lead vocals. Then there's "Work Song," which is funky and catchy and features Phillip Wilson's somewhat off-beat drumming (pun intended). The other tracks are more experimental, weird, and don't catch on as well -- although they all reward repeated listening, for at first the listener might get lost between Ronald Shannon Jackson's irate drumming, Michael Beinhorn's acid-drenched synths and snippets of tapes and shortwave, the stuttering horns of George Lewis and Ralph Carney, the undescribable contributions of Fred Frith, and the vocalisms and percussion (rhythmic and non-rhythmic) David Moss provides. It's an interesting record, but it's not essential listening, and beginners or fans of Laswell's less avant-garde music won't get much out of this. If the somewhat comparable Memory Serves by Material left you craving more, you might want to give this album a try.

:::Review by Chris Genzel:::

Bill Laswell – Baselines (1984)

1. Activate (3:22)
2. Work Song (7:13)
3. Hindsight (3:57)
4. Uprising (1:05)
5. Barricade (4:06)
6. Upright Man (3:51)
7. Moving Target (1:52)
8. Lowlands (4:22)
9. Conversation (3:05)

Credits
Artwork By - Felipe Orrego , Thi-Linh Le
Bass [Music Man Sting Ray, Fender 6-string, Ibanez 8-string, Steinberger, Fender Fretless Precision] - Bill Laswell
Congas - Daniel Ponce (tracks: 2, 3, 6, 8)
Drums - Phillip Wilson (tracks: 2) , Ronald Shannon Jackson (tracks: 1, 4 to 6, 8, 9)
Drums, Percussion - Martin Bisi (tracks: 3, 6, 7)
Guitar, Violin, Performer [Steinberger String Console] - Fred Frith (tracks: 4, 5, 8, 9)
Mastered By - Howie Weinberg
Producer - Material
Recorded By - Martin Bisi
Saxophone - Ralph Carney (tracks: 1, 2, 5)
Synthesizer, Performer [Shortwave], Tape - Michael Beinhorn (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 6, 8, 9)
Trombone - George Lewis (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 8)
Voice, Percussion [Non Metric], Drums [Steel] - David Moss (tracks: 3, 9)

Western Culture was Henry Cow's farewell album, recorded after a protracted break during which they had become independent from Virgin Records, Chris Cutler had laid the foundations for what were to become Rock In Opposition and Recommended Records and they'd already decided to split. Much of the material which was to become the first Art Bears album had already been recorded before the band decided that the material wasn't 'Henry Cow', although the closing track 'Half The Sky' came from these sessions. With all this turmoil it's surprising that an album was made at all, and in a way it's ironic that this least showbizzy of bands should have followed the old showbiz maxim 'save the best till last'.
Western Culture is Henry Cow's most coherent album - the only one to feature only composed pieces, the only purely instumental album and the album on which Lindsay Cooper emerged as a talented composer in her own right, as well as a great musician. In creative terms, the album is a 50/50 split between Tim Hodgkinson, who wrote tracks 1 - 3 (side 1 of the vinyl original) and Lindsay Cooper (who wrote or co-wrote the remainder).
Hodgkinson's pieces on side 1 really blend into a seamless whole - brass and reeds play a prominent part here, with relatively little electric guitar but with acoustic guitar featuring prominently for the first time on a Henry Cow album. Special mention should be made of guest musician Anne Marie Roelofs, a Dutch musician who had played with them on stage, and who added some warm, blurry trombone lines to complement Cooper's bassoon - her playing is particularly effective on 'Industry' and 'The Decay Of Cities'. These compositions are a continuation of the compositional style first heard on 'Living In The Heart Of The Beast', with more of a jazz element (perhaps as a result of HC's work with the Mike Westbrook Orchestra and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago). They evoke a decaying urban landscape, with the closing piece 'On The Raft' giving a more optimistic tone with huge brass/reed chords played over a lazy tempo, the whole never quite settling into the comfortable orthodoxy that seems to be promised.
Lindsay Cooper's compositions are a more diverse selection, drawing on contemporary classical and avant garde influences. 'Falling Away' is probably the track that is closest to the avant rock style normally associated with Henry Cow. 'Gretel's Tale' features an astonishing piano contribution by Irene Schweizer, almost like John Cage plying free jazz. 'Half The Sky' takes its title from a famous quotation from Chairman Mao, also cited by John Lennon on 'Woman' a couple of years later - appropriate for a musician who would go on to be a key player in the Feminis Improvising Group.
The key players in Henry Cow continued to work together in various configurations over the years, and released a lot of fine music and exerted a massive influence on the more left field aspects of progressive rock. Odd tracks have since emerged on compilations, but there have been no reunion tours and no 'greatest hits'. Their final press release said that they would not be trapped into reproducing their past in order to secure their future, and they have been as good as third word. Western Culture is a fitting end to a remarkable career, and is an essential album of its genre.

:::By Chris Gleeson::: 

Henry Cow - Western Culture (1979)

History and Prospects

1. Industry 6:57

2. The Decay of Cities 6:55

3. On the Raft 4:01

Day by Day

4. Falling Away 7:38

5. Gretels Tale 3:57

6. Look Back 1:19

7. 1/2 the Sky 5:07

8. blank track 1:29

Additional Tracks

9. Viva Pa Ubu 4:28

10. Look Back (alt) 1:21

11. Slice 0:36

Credits

Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Electric], Bass - Fred Frith

Bassoon, Oboe, Saxophone [Soprano, Sopranino], Tape - Lindsay Cooper

Drums, Electronic Drums, Noises, Artwork By - Chris Cutler

Organ, Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto] - Tim Hodgkinson

Recorded By, Mixed By - Etienne Conod , Henry Cow

Trombone, Violin - Annemarie Roelofs