From: zorn-list-owner@xmission.com To: zorn-list-digest@xmission.com Subject: zorn-list Digest V2 #52 Reply-To: zorn-list@xmission.com Errors-To: zorn-list-owner@xmission.com Precedence: zorn-list Digest Monday, 20 January 1997 Volume 02 : Number 052 In this issue: Re: Zorn a fake? Re: Voodoo Re: Zorn a fake? Re: Voodoo Steve Beresford - Cue Sheets Mr Bungle list? State of the Union Re: Zorn a fake? Re: State of the Union Re: Zorn a fake? Re: Steve Beresford - Cue Sheets Re: Steve Beresford - Cue Sheets Re: Zorn a fake? Tim Berne OrkestRova Trio Fungus Re: Zorn a fake? Frith and early NYC downtown scene See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the zorn-list or zorn-list-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: IOUaLive1@aol.com Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 23:02:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Zorn a fake? In a message dated 97-01-14 19:24:00 EST, proussel@ichips.intel.com (Patrice L. Roussel) writes: > > Saying someone plays and writes poorly, is just an opinion. These things > are > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > I can tell you that if I try to play clarinet and somebody says that I play > poorly, this would not be an opinion at all, but just stating a (sad, but > nevertheless true) fact. It sounds to me like you are saying you CAN'T play the clarinet, and obviously you would think that you play poorly. So if I think "Joe Schmoe" is a good clarinet player, but you think he plays poorly, and maybe even he himself thinks he plays poorly, then is my original opinion that he plays well totally negated?? It sounds to me like you have already defined the parameters... of what is GOOD and what is BAD... and that there is no such thing as an opinion. I guess I just don't get it... maybe you should be a tad less cryptic with your posts. Please, tell me, what is an opinion, and how do I form one?? Jody McAllister IOUaLive1@aol.com ------------------------------ From: gastarit@comm.net Date: Fri, 17 Jan 97 22:07:56 -0600 Subject: Re: Voodoo On Fri, 17 Jan 1997, Jeff Schwartz wrote: >Sorry to have shocked anybody by bringing up Voodoo. I think it's a cool >record. I was just trying to imagine how some bop head might hear it and >find it inept rather than original, the same way a lot of reviewers dogged >Braxton's In the Tradition. >Like, I haven't seen any reviews saying Zorn can't play, but I've hardly >seen any reviews in proportion to his prolific output. Last year Downbeat >reviewed what? I saw one Masada CD review. It was very positive, but geez! >One review. How are Cadence and Option? Option always has a ton of >reviews, but they seem to have become more and more of a so-called >alternative rock thang. Cadence used to have loads of reviews too and >probably still do, but no store in town carries it (I need to subscribe!). >Same deal with Bill Laswell-I never seem to see reviews of his dozens of >projects. I guess small labels don't have much promotion money, but >whenever I'm in L.A. I see lots of Axiom promos in used stores... > > > > >Last Spring Downbeat reviewed several Laswell related projects... The ambient stuff faired well....e.g. Jonah Sharp/Laswell, Namlook/Laswell.. Sacred System..etc.. Arcana w/Derek Bailey and Tony Williams received 3 or 3 1/2 stars in Downbeat. Other than a few negative comments...Arcana was generally well recieved. Also, Pulse (Tower Records Rag) reviews Laswell related stuff from time to time... glenn ------------------------------ From: SUGAR in their vitamins? Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 20:37:01 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: Zorn a fake? On Fri, 17 Jan 1997 IOUaLive1@aol.com wrote: > your posts. Please, tell me, what is an opinion, and how do I form one?? you're already there. hasta. Yes. Beautiful, wonderful nature. Hear it sing to us: *snap* Yes. natURE. ------------------------------ From: Jeff Spirer Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 20:41:45 -0800 Subject: Re: Voodoo At 10:02 PM 1/17/97 -0500, Jeff Schwartz wrote: >whenever I'm in L.A. I see lots of Axiom promos in used stores... Probably sold by Polygram employees in LA. Jeff Spirer http://www.hyperreal.com/axiom/ Axiom Records/Material Communications ------------------------------ From: "wesley@interaccess.com" Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 00:20:16 -0600 (CST) Subject: Steve Beresford - Cue Sheets Just a quick note to let everyone know how fantastic I think this record is. I just finished listening to it while I was reading my e-mail. It is part of the film series on Tzadik, and it's all over the map. The CD contains music from several movies and television shows, and it ranges from jazz to improv to cartoon music to more traditional film music to Masada-ish pieces to squealing pigs to a dance music song about stationary sung by a Luther Vandross type singer, as well as pieces that trancend or go beyond all these stupid catagories and just are :) Quite an enjoyable record. So, the question becomes - what else has Beresford done? I have the record on Avant upstairs but have not listened to it yet, but that will soon be rectified. So what else is there? Stationery moves me, Paul wesley@interaccess.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- GROOVE O(+> (the artist formerly known as Prince) <+)O - ---------- e - m - a - n - c - i - p - a - t - i - o - n one nation The Exodus Has Concluded - Welcome 2 The Dawn ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: Gary Gnu Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 12:52:57 -0500 (EST) Subject: Mr Bungle list? Does anyone have the address for the Mr Bungle list? Thanks. - ------------------------------+---------------------------------------- Gary M. Gettier - gmg@ari.net | "Think for yourself and feel the walls | become sand beneath your feet." ! Don't Buy CDs at Wal-Mart ! | - Queensryche ------------------------------ From: Greg Mills Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 13:39:28 -0700 Subject: State of the Union All -- i came across this two cd set, State of the Union, that was produced by Elliot Sharp and includes, among others, JZ, Marc Ribot, Frith, Yamatsuke Eye, Alan Ginsburg (!), Hakim Bey (!!), Henry Kaiser, A. Lindsay, ad nauseum (it has 147 tracks). The label is ATAVISTIC. What the hell is this thing? Greg Mills Copywriter ADVERTISING: The bastard offspring of Art and Commerce kill their parents and go watch roller derby. ------------------------------ From: "Patrice L. Roussel" Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 13:35:27 -0800 Subject: Re: Zorn a fake? Jody, On Fri, 17 Jan 1997 23:02:55 -0500 (EST) IOUaLive1@aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 97-01-14 19:24:00 EST, proussel@ichips.intel.com (Patrice > L. Roussel) writes: > > > > Saying someone plays and writes poorly, is just an opinion. These things > > > are > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > I can tell you that if I try to play clarinet and somebody says that I > play > > poorly, this would not be an opinion at all, but just stating a (sad, but > > nevertheless true) fact. > > It sounds to me like you are saying you CAN'T play the clarinet, and > obviously you would think that you play poorly. That's exactly the situation. > So if I think "Joe Schmoe" is a good clarinet player, but you think he plays > poorly, and maybe even he himself thinks he plays poorly, then is my original > opinion that he plays well totally negated?? It is a little bit more complex. Some very good players think there are bad because instead of looking around them, they focus on the best players, and hence their judgement uses a different reference point. If you are very indulgent with yourself and compare your playing with somebody who does not even know what end of the instrument to put in his mouth, yes, I guess, you are a good player. But I am personally not interested by such "artists". In fact, buy a clarinet and spend a week working on it and I guarantee that you will be among the 100,000 best players in the world :-). Are you thinking about such case? If yes, we are definitely using a different threshold and reference point. > It sounds to me like you have already defined the parameters... of what is > GOOD and what is BAD... and that there is no such thing as an opinion. > I guess I just don't get it... maybe you should be a tad less cryptic with > your posts. Please, tell me, what is an opinion, and how do I form one?? I am not sure that I follow you but there is something I am sure of: I play clarinet very bad. Hence, the concept of playing bad is not an abstract one in the sense that the producer (me) even agrees with :-). Now, yes, I am sure I can find an indulgent and confused audience that will claim that I am a good player (for reasons I will gently not ellaborate on -- my mom thought that was a good player, even a girlfriend... but before we split :-)). Will it change the quality of my playing? Not for me, unfortunately. The fact that a technical skill can range continuously from bad to excellent and that putting the threshold for a binary decision (good versus bad) is subjective, should not lead to a philosophical position that good and bad are subjective attributes that should be removed from the dictionary. When there is enough evidence on a quantitative level (complete lack of elementary control of the instrument), we should not feel affraid of making a qualitative judgement. In fact, if you refuse to use the qualifier bad, it seems to me that it makes the other one (good) completely useless. Because I want to keep using the attribute "good", I cannot remove the other one. To use a parallel with a similar problem, the day hate will disappear from the world, I am affraid that there won't love left either. I personally use good and bad when dealing with "the tails" of the distribution for which regardless of where you put the threshold, you know if you are on the left (bad) or on the right (good). Of course, most of the interesting musicians are in the middle of the distribution where judgements can be very subjective. Now, as anybody can claim being an artist (no law prohibits it, right?). I could also decide tomorrow to make clarinet records. If a critic decides to say that my playing is awful, he will be right (and I will have respect for him). Patrice. ------------------------------ From: "Patrice L. Roussel" Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 13:52:43 -0800 Subject: Re: State of the Union On Sat, 18 Jan 1997 13:39:28 -0700 Greg Mills wrote: > > i came across this two cd set, State of the Union, that was produced by > Elliot Sharp and includes, among others, JZ, Marc Ribot, Frith, Yamatsuke > Eye, Alan Ginsburg (!), Hakim Bey (!!), Henry Kaiser, A. Lindsay, ad > nauseum (it has 147 tracks). > > The label is ATAVISTIC. > > What the hell is this thing? This is an ongoing project. 1982 - Zoar Records (USA), ZOAR 10 (LP) 1992 - Arrest Records (USA), AR 003 (CD) 1993 - Muworks Records (USA), MUW 1016 CD (CD) 1996 - Atavistic (USA), ALP69CD (2xCD) It was a LP in 1982 with about 40 x 1mn tracks. Then it became a CD in 1992 with the same tracks (from the LP) plus about 40 more. Then, few months ago, it mutated to a 2xCD containing the 1992 CD plus 70 new tracks. The record is really an amazing sampler that most of the people on this list should check out. The CD pressing was a little bit annoying because of its lack of numbering, making it hard to know who plays what. This has been fixed on the 2xCD (specially great for people who know how to use the random selection). Patrice. ------------------------------ From: IOUaLive1@aol.com Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 20:53:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Zorn a fake? Patrice, Originally, I said that wether or not someone thinks Zorn plays or writes poorly is something that is subjective, as opposed to someone calling him a fake. (Which I think can be validated, somewhat anyway) I wasnt talking about someone who had never played an instrument before, I was talking specifically about Zorn. I still think it is a matter of opinion, wether or not you think Zorn can or can't play (or write). And there are probably as many people out there who think he sucks, as think he is great. Hence-- subjectiveness. BUT, to say that he is a "fake", based solely on the premise that he can't play or write, is really ludicrous!! (And that was the original statement that started this thread.) If someone could say that Zorn ripped off a particular aspect of his sax playing from "Joe Saxman", and point that out somehow, by a reference, his point that Zorn is a fake would be valid. But so far, no one has been able to prove to me that Zorn is a fake. Thanks, Jody ------------------------------ From: Wlt4@aol.com Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 22:59:43 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Steve Beresford - Cue Sheets Beresford released last Fall "Fish of the Week" (Scatter UK) which also features Alexander Balanescu, John Butcher and Clive Bell among others. Quite rowdy & interesting improvs. Lang Thompson ------------------------------ From: xander@sirius.com Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 23:47:03 -0800 Subject: Re: Steve Beresford - Cue Sheets Picked up cue sheets about a week ago myself and I'm quite pleased with it too. Don't really care for the style of the lyrical piece, but as always, Andrew Brenner's lyrics are great. Actually, I have never heard AB stuff outside of records with Beresford. Does anyone know if Brenner has any other outlets for his lyrics. You can't do much better than a guy who likens cynicism to "living with ants in your anus, or refusing to swallow your flegm". Yes, I do love "Signals for Tea" on Avant almost as much as I love the Misha Mengelberg disc on Avant, so now you know where I'm coming from. Beresford has done a ton of other stuff, some of it quite silly (and in my opinion only occassionally effective) like the couple of 10" records that I used to have by him on Chabada: "L'Extraordinaire Jardin de Charles Trenet" and the one about Doris Day (can't remember the exact title). Both of these had one song apiece which I really liked and where otherwise mediocre. SB has also done plenty of improv oriented stuff like The Bath of Surprise" on Piano Records which is pretty cool and playful. There was also a record with Tristan Honsinger from 1980 which was just too dificult for me (and which I'm pretty sure is still in my box full of sale records, not that anyone would be interested). But by far my favorite Beresford record was the old General Strike cassette on Touch (about '84, but recently reissued on CD, though I haven't seen it yet). A collaboration with David Toop and David Cunningham, this is dub heavy tinkertoy stuff, very musical with a several Sun Ra covers and quite a few guests like Lol Coxhill. Alexander ------------------------------ From: "Patrice L. Roussel" Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 12:40:14 -0800 Subject: Re: Zorn a fake? On Sat, 18 Jan 1997 20:53:09 -0500 (EST) IOUaLive1@aol.com wrote: > > Patrice, > > Originally, I said that wether or not someone thinks Zorn plays or writes ^^^^^^^^^^^ Your statement was more general than that. As usual with Internet, we know what we write but not always phrase it in such a way that our thinking get accurately set (it would take hours and multiple checking to be sure that what we write exactly conveys what we think), hence everlasting threads like this one. I reacted to the general statement, not to the statement applied to Zorn. On the Zorn issue we agree totally. > poorly is something that is subjective, as opposed to someone calling him a > fake. (Which I think can be validated, somewhat anyway) I wasnt talking > about someone who had never played an instrument before, I was talking > specifically about Zorn. > > I still think it is a matter of opinion, wether or not you think Zorn can or > can't play (or write). And there are probably as many people out there who > think he sucks, as think he is great. Hence-- subjectiveness. BUT, to say > that he is a "fake", based solely on the premise that he can't play or write, > is really ludicrous!! (And that was the original statement that started this > thread.) If someone could say that Zorn ripped off a particular aspect of > his sax playing from "Joe Saxman", and point that out somehow, by a > reference, his point that Zorn is a fake would be valid. > > But so far, no one has been able to prove to me that Zorn is a fake. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ And fortunately :-). And if this was possible, I doubt that this list would be the good one. Patrice. ------------------------------ From: "ALAN E. KAYSER" Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 18:25:45 -0500 Subject: Tim Berne To Zorn fans of taste I have no connection to Tim Berne in any way, but I'd like everyone to know about his excellent 3 CD package of live recordings from 1996. These were recorded in March and April in Germany, and feature Bloodcount. Berne on alto and baritone, Chris Speed tenor and clarinet, Mike Formanek bass, and Jim Black drums. His earlier live Paris recordings on JMT included Marc Ducret on guitar, but he is not present here. Too bad, though I think his absence inspired Berne, whom I believe has never sounded this good. Speed, Black, and Berne should be familiar to JZ folks. Black really stands out on every piece. As usual with Berne, the band stretches out; there's over 200 minutes of music, but only eight tunes. Get it before it's gone. It is a Screwgun Records release, 104 St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217 $32 including shipping. Thanks Tim! Alan E Kayser aek1@erols.com ------------------------------ From: Tom Benton Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 23:23:34 -0600 (CST) Subject: OrkestRova I found this on another mailing list, thought there might be some interest here. I certainly hope someone makes it down to this and comes back with a report, there's a small ice cube in hell chance I might be in SF this weekend, but I don't think it's gonna happen. Oh well, enjoy everybody: - ------------------------------------------------------ Rova Saxophone Quartet presents OrkestRova music for electric big band February 15, 1997 9:00 p.m. Slim's 333 11th Street with Henry Kaiser, Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn, John Schott, Lisle Ellis, William Winant, Scott Amendola, Jon Raskin, Bruce Ackley, Steve Adams, and Larry Ochs. ------------------------------ From: BIRD BRAIN Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 09:14:22 -0500 Subject: Trio Fungus Just thought I'd make a shameless plug for a buddy of mine. For those who live here in the Denver area - you should check out the group Trio Fungus. They're playing this Wednesday the 22nd at bar called Seven South, located at 7 South Broadway. The band consists of the following: Brett Sexton - alto sax (you'll definately hear the Ornette influence) Tom Sublette - electric bass (I've never heard a better e. bassist in this town) Tim ? - guitar (this dude can lay it down) Matt Homan - drums (another excellent musician) These guys keep getting better every time I hear them. You really shouldn't miss it. They usually start at 9 o'clock and hey, there's no cover! ------------------------------ From: DANIEL BITTON Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 12:41:06 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Zorn a fake? Just listen to Masada, him and Douglas are dancing in and out of eachother, the melodic ideas (and squawks) are fresh and well executed and it's full of boppy licks, the jack knows his sack. As for the guy who said he was the least impressive Masadite in concert, he was probably tired or something, I saw him in Burlington kind of taking it easy and giving Joey all the solos. In Victoriaville the man was holy like Rebbe Schneerson. Cosmojizzmatic. Probly the best show I ever saw. Someone said there was a Radio Canada tape of it? How do I get it? ------------------------------ From: "Patrice L. Roussel" Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 12:37:33 -0800 Subject: Frith and early NYC downtown scene Somebody asked a few weeks ago about Frith and the NYC scene. Following is an article Frith wrote for the late MUSICS. It might be one of the very first testimonies on the scene we are covering on this list. Hope you enjoy, Patrice. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From MUSICS, No.23, November 1979 2000 STATUES AND ZU MINI-STATUES, by Fred Frith New York, 5-9 June, 1979. The Zu-place -- 3 small lofts and a basement full of junk in W.24th St. On the top floor Giorgio Gomelski is picking up the pieces in the final stages of a 34-date tour by GONG, MOTHER GONG, YOCH'KO SEFFER and the ZU BAND; economically disastrous and unthinkably chaotic, but nonetheless the first attempt to bring 'European' rock music to America on a co-ordinated 'alternative' basis and as such worthy of admiration. Actually he is asleep and remains so throughout most of the day. On the middle floor his deprived dog stalks around, no doubt contemplating the final solution. Below, a large orchestra of improvisors, assembled by guitarist Eugene Chadbourne to play two of his pieces and one by reed-player John Zorn, limber up for the first time. The Orchestra consists of some students and alumni of Karl Berger's Creative Music Studio in Woodstock -- 'cellist Tom Cora, Chuck ver Stracton (trombone) and Mark Kramer (trombone and organ) -- plus Bob Ostertag (synthesizer) and Jim Katzin (violin) of Fall Mountain, Evan Gallagher, a percussionist from Mississippi, Davey Williams (guitar, banjo, mandolin) and LaDonna Smith (viola) from Alabama, John Zorn and Polly Bradfield (violin), Andrea Centazzo (drums), Toshinori Kondo and Lesli Dalaba (trumpet), Wayne Horvitz (piano and double bass), Mark Miller (percussion), myself, Steve Beresford and Chadbourne, presiding with his usual manic enthusiasm, jovial insults and energetic vagueness. The excitement in the air verges at times towards the atmosphere of a Boys Brigade Summer Camp. The Schedule is 4 days rehearsal, with 3 concerts in the evenings at ZU. These will consist of small groups and solos in which nearly all the orchestra members are featured (why not all?). Finally a day in a recording studio to put down Eugene's 'English Channel', and a concert at Columbia University of the fruits of our work. Rehearsals The Three Pieces: The English Channel. The players are numbered. The score consists of boxes with appropriate numbers in them. The boxes themselves are numbered and one proceeds in a relatively orderly fashion from box to box until the end of the piece, which is in 3 sections. Contained in this structure are solos of almost everyone, some seen as final events in a box, others as whole boxes. It's difficult to make out if there is supposed to be a quantitative or qualitative difference between these two types of solo, but it's scarcely important. The only other written instructions are directions as to which instrument to play (for those with more than one) and hints as to ambience -- 'Texas Chain Massacre', 'I Walk The Line', 'An imitation of Anthony Braxton', 'Swing', 'R & B Trades', 'Noodling', etc. There are 3 more or less set pieces - -- a fragment of West Coast jazz, a loony calypso entitled 'I am the Dentist' which Eugene sings inaudibly into a contact microphone, and the inevitable Disco section. Oh yes, and an Incus Records takeoff. In the last 'movement', the idea is that a melody line moves around from instrument to instrument, but a melody line generated spontaneously by the musicians themselves. When the piece was performed by an orchestra of students at Woodstock, this was apparently very successful; here it remains unclear and Eugene decides to cut it from both the record and the concert. There are some inevitable contradictions at work, especially the old favorite of the composer saying that fundamentally he'd like us to do what we want in the improvised sections, only later to reveal that he has quite specific ideas about what it should sound like. Why not write them down? Attempts to discuss this and related issues during and after rehearsals were generally unsuccessful. A popular response was to questions about structure and improvisation seems to be 'This is the way I work'. Frustrating. The most helpful description of the piece for me was when Eugene said that what he was really after was for it to sound like him if he happened to be an orchestra. As such, it sounds pretty good in the end. Psychology This appears to be based on the idea of strip comics, and presents words or phrases for players to interpret freely, like 'plumbing', 'Miami', 'domesticity', 'Only one-horrible!', 'escape', 'dressing-up'. The orchestra is divided into 3 simultaneously unravelling strands, a Song Band, the Brass Section and Andrea Centazzo (Everything Italian). For me, this piece contained both too many instructions and too few. I mean I'd rather have had more specific things to do as in 'Stripsody' or just completely improvised a strip comic, which I've also seen done successfully. Anyway, we got bogged down and Eugene withdrew the piece after one rehearsal. Archery (John Zorn) 'Archery' is a complex set of instructions with a tendency towards the mathematical. We only barely had time to rehearse it with any degree of success, and it would take several performances for it to achieve any real coherence in my opinion. Players are identified by their initials. The 3 basic strands of the piece are clock events, duos-and-trios and solos. Every time the clock reaches zero, any number of players can 'improvise', in however sparse or dense a manner they please, for up to 60 seconds (in practice, it was usually between 5 and 20). These events take place during the first and last thirds of the piece, but not the middle third. Duos-and-trios occur in order, by sections. The sections are labelled A to O and each is divided into 14 sub-sections (O has 12). Each sub-section corresponds to a specific duo or trio combination from the Orchestra. The duos-and-trios proceed in strict consequence, but they can overlap and be of any duration (in practice, mostly pretty short). They can also consist of, or end with 'fixed points' or 'help points'. Solos can be taken up at any moment in the piece, but only one at a time -- the soloist stands up or indicates to the 'prompter' that s/he is taking a solo. That's the basic structure; there's a lot more, to do with 'divisi' -- other sections of 'clock events' (variously timed free sections), or other duos-and-trios, or events which divide the orchestra into different equal numbers of musicians who then improvise as a sequence of soloists (one at a time, each cuing the next). These 'divisi' are cued to the 'prompter' by specific players holding up cards; they override the basic structure (Archery), which has to stop at the next clock-zero to allow the cued section to happen; they are in turn overridden by any breaking of the rules (but in practice usually by a soloist standing up to signal a return to 'Archery' which happens, in theory, at once). Since durations of duos-and-trios, cues of divisi, solos and choice of whether or not to play 'clock events' are all in the hands of the musicians, there are inevitable struggles; we only begin to touch on the possibilities. During rehearsals there's a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that this could be a lot more fun to play than to listen to; plus incomprehension at some of the claims John makes for his piece in his notes to us on improvisation. Can it be said, for example, that this piece constitutes 'an analysis of an improvisation' anymore that an improvisation constitutes an analysis of an improvisation? And shouldn't any improvised piece require the same alertness and care in making choices as we were required to exercise in 'Archery'? The rehearsals are good-humoured but concentrated, intense; they have to be to enable us to play the thing at all. I think this concentration has a tangible effect on the concerts at Zu -- I've seldom seen such consistently good, diverse, surprising improvised music as there was over those three nights. It was as if we all felt the constraints of the days lifted, a sense of release. The concerts I can't review the Zu concerts properly; it would be difficult as I was involved to some extent each night, and not having intended to write all this, I didn't make notes. However, I'll try and pick out some details. For example, the solo performance by John Zorn. He used silence effectively and often, but it was not one of those tense, cerebral affairs. The tension has its element of wit, the technique, rather than hingeing on simultaneity of sound was linear, consisting of a rapid succession of quite different timbres and variations of dynamics, crammed into short moment's and interspersed with pauses, shuffling noises, quick changes from mouthpiece to mouthpiece. Rivetting. I also really liked Davey Williams and LaDonna Smith's duo. They've reached a rare degree of telepathy and manage to be fiery without being aggressive, delicate without being ephemeral. LaDonna also manages beautifully to suggest the tension between the degree to which she is in command of her instrument and the degree to which it wilfully carries her off to some other planet. Polly Bradfield's solo playing was quite different -- harder, less lyrical and treading a tightrope between controlled and contrived. I thought she had a lot of bottle actually, because she's chosen a difficult path; her playing is austere and uncompromising, a little stiff; she takes chances; her use of silence is similar to John Zorn's, though her humour's dryer (it's there though). After she'd played I felt mentally excited but earthbound. Chadbourne, Centazzo and Kondo cropped up together and in various combinations with those already mentioned at Zu. The three of them fit together in my mind, seem to represent a particular side of what was going on, inseparable from each other. Chadbourne and Centazzo in particular rest in my memory of that week as a kind of joint venture in bad taste, colossal and hilarious, refined in the former case and crude in the latter, energetically imposing their obsessive and quite singular ideas on whatever context they found themselves in, playing jokes and insulting at least each other and simultaneously carrying the music headlong and head-on. Kondo perfectly suited their schemes in his sensitive, extrovert way and managed to hold the balance, preventing them from ever sinking into meaningless jive by his timing and talent, while appearing on the contrary to encourage their excesses. His performances were real tours de force. The sextet with these three, Zorn, Bradfield and Tom Cora was particularly good I thought. Steve Beresford sat in with various groups. I like his playing very much when it's in shord burst like that, it becomes more concentrated and he doesn't have so much opportunity to get bored, an important factor in his longer concerts I always think. In the recording and at the final concert he played two great piano solos which gave me as much pleasure as anything that happened during the rest of the week. Bob Ostertag is the first synthesizer player I've heard (Sun Ra always excepted) with any kind of an interesting approach to the instrument. He derives a lot of his raw material from the radio, and is careful and discriminating. (It's clear that in remembering the concerts I've concentrated pretty much on personalities; but that's because for me, the concerts came across more sharply on that level than any other. Or is it a function of my memory? Of not having made notes about precise musical occurences at the time?) The recording A very strange experience, engineered with great skill in a small professional studio by the genial Les Paul Jnr. A whole album in a day, with a 17 piece band; problems like the brass sitting next to the strings in the same room, acoustic and electric guitars playing at the same time, three percussionists... the mixing was never likely to be anything less than erratic, but Les did a remarkable job. Eugene entered into his mad genius persona ("That's really awful -- fantastic!"), pressing on in the face of our murmuring voices wanting to do things again. In the end there were no 2nd takes of anything at all. It probably wouldn't have made much difference under the circumstances. Lesli Dalaba played two fined trumpet solos, quiet, slow, subtle, sure; in fact all the solos went much better than the ensemble improvisations, which was entirely predictable as a lot of us couldn't hear what half of us were doing! On leaving the studio I inadvertently broke a door. It cost us $100. I could have mended it myself for 2... The concert Eugene's piece in the first half, John's in the second. On the way to the theatre Tom Cora and I walk out of the subway and find ourselves in the middle of Harlem. A mistake. Thirty seconds of another world. We are firmly directed into the subway again by an amused local. 100 people in the audiences (it is a 1000 seater). There's a week-long festival of new music downtown, pretentiously packaged and extensively covered in the press, which has no doubt diverted many of the potentially curious. It's hard not to be inhibited by the structure of the music. We have fun, there are stirring moments, but the contrast with the energy of the first night and now is clear. It never quite takes off. Eugene's piece seems entertaining but lightweight. Is this a criticism? What most strikes me about John's magnum opus in its 1 1/4 hour performance is on the one hand the importance of the visual element, constant patterns of hand-gestures, holding-up of cards, eye-contact, concentration on the clock; and on the other, the degree to which the bones of the game dominate the flesh, players hurrying to exercise control, to counteract each others' cues, with little apparent thought as to the intended effect, what it will sound like. Not that that mattered -- in fact it led to a few moments of hair-line humour when the prompter found himself desperately juggling pieces of card and paper while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on the clock, to the accompaniment of a strained and puzzled silence from the musicians and giggles from the audience. I enjoyed that bit! By the end, when we all tiring, I felt that there was a tendency to respond to cues by making a noise, any noise, just to fulfil our obligations to the score on a minimal level, to bring it to a close. It was as if we were trapped inside the piece with a long slog ahead to get out of it. This was an obvious drawback, though a surmountable one -- provisions for ending could be much clearer. I'm looking forward to hearing the tape. Reactions varied. A critic friend found it over-weight, old-fashioned and boring but enjoyed individual performances. Others thought it visually compelling, often startling to listen to, but much too long. It needs to be played some more. I can't make up my mind, not only about the piece but about the philosophy of this approach to improvising. Should we merely be 'open' to all different kinds of improvisation, or should we at least develop some kind of critique to discover what processes are at work and to discuss them? Is this imposition of structure an anachronism? A contradiction in terms? Are restrictions placed on improvisors legitimate means to specific ends or are they just interfering with a richer creative process? Does free improvisation relate to anarchy in the same way that structured improvisation relates, say, to democracy? These are other questions... ------------------------------ End of zorn-list Digest V2 #52 ****************************** To subscribe to zorn-list Digest, send the command: subscribe zorn-list-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@xmission.com". 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