Any fans of John Zorn out there?

[Carl]

When I need a break from djembe music I often listen to John Zorn.

Currently I am listening to "electric masada" a fairly out there electric jazz avant guard craziness.

Their drummer Joey Barron is pretty amazing.

That is all.

C

[I really should be working.... ]

[Rhythm House Drums]

I like John Zorn alright. I'm a big Marley fan, and am really diggin Stephen Marley "Mind Control" CD these days.

I'm a Reggae and Ragamuffin fan when I'm not listening to drumming music.

I also like Bebop Jazz... and Tom Waits.

[Carl]

Tom Waits rocks!

Havn't listened to him in a while, but he is in semi-regular rotation at home (wife turned me on to him)

I had an awesome time playing in a Reggae band one summer, helped a friend fulfill a dream of being in a Reggae band. It was a weekly booze cruise boat trip every wed. night for three months!

C

[e2c]

I really like Joey Baron's playing - not much of a Zorn fan, though. I also have very mixed feelings about his record labels (Avant and Tzadik).

I listen to a ton of different kinds of music - jazz, Western classical and Brazilian music (of all kinds) are some of my favorites. (But check the link in my signature - to my MP3 blog.) Since I also play Middle Eastern percussion instruments, I periodically take time to refocus on that as well, though lately, I've spent more time listening to Persian classical and folkloric percussion recordings than anything in either the Turkish or Arabic styles... I'd really love to take some lessons with someone who knows at least one of the Persian drums well. (Am especially interested in tombak and daf(f) - Google should give you lots of hits on both instruments.)

[bops]

I've listened to John Zorn but never got too into his playing. I don't mind avant garde playing, but I just never developed an appreciation for his tone for some reason. The high-voltage electricity stuff gets to me, but I do like the Electric Masala group with Ciro Baptista.

Maybe you'll like Ken Vandermark, a tenor player and MacArthur grant winner. Prolific composer, bandleader and improviser. I especially dig the Vandermark 5. He composes in odd time signatures, but still manages to really groove.

[Carl]

I mostly like the Masada live stuff. I've listened to a few things in his more "out there" stuff, and I don't really like it.

However his "game pieces" are interesting to me. I have Cobra and I've heard a few of the others. Interesting way of combining game theory and improvisation....

I am such a geek!


His "painkiller" stuff is just about unlistenable to me, but everyone has their limits.

Ok, where did I put Afo? I need to get back on topic...


C

[e2c]

Carl, we're all music geeks here! Glad you decided to join the party.

I'm not crazy about Zorn's tone, either - and I do like some of his ideas, though not (so much) his execution of them. To be really honest, I think he's gotten too much hype in the press (jazz and otherwise). There are lots of talented musicians out there - IMO - who are doing things that are much more interesting, but they don't get half the coverage that he does.

I kinda think he knows how to "work" press and PR.

Here are a couple of folks that I really like:

http://www.ravishmomin.com/

http://www.amirelsaffar.com/

http://www.jasonkaohwang.com/

http://www.susieibarra.com/ (Yeah, I know she's recorded for Zorn's Tzadik label... which is how I found out about her. But she does lots of other projects, too.)

Edited to add: I used to write jazz and "world music" reviews... gave it up because it just wasn't that much fun. (I'd rather play music for people than try to explain it in words.) At any rate, I used to see (and throw away!) a *lot* of press releases. Zorn hasn't done that kind of PR in a long time, but a lot of his material (meaning: releases on his labels) gets pride of place in many publications, both in print and web-only. (Some of the artists who record for Tzadik work with PR people; all of them are invited to record by Zorn himself... so it's a pretty exclusive kind of club, in some ways. )

[Carl]

http://www.ravishmomin.com/

Meh. Their first video wasn't enough to make me look for a second.

http://www.amirelsaffar.com/

Cool, but I'm not that into the trad. mid-east stuff. I have a friend who is, and he hasn't been able to drag me into it yet (though he did give me an awesome oud as a wedding present! I even play it occasionally)

http://www.jasonkaohwang.com/

Ok, now we're talking. I'll give this more of a listen when I have time.

http://www.susieibarra.com/

Susie! I found her last week in some random youtube searches. I like the chipmonk song. very cute!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX4yKVD_eFY

Thanks for sharing this.
C

[e2c]

I wouldn't be quite so quick to dismiss Ravish... he's done some great stuff with his group (Trio Tarana).

Amir El Saffar plays jazz - but he's an expert player of Iraqi art music, too. It sounds like you might want to check out some of his jazz playing. (See my blog - link in my signature - for some cuts by both of these guys...)

Glad you liked the others, but... short samples don't really show what people can do. I listed both Ravish and Amir as jazz musicians because they are, although that's not the only thing they do.

cheers,
e.

Edited to add: a cut by Ravish and his trio here - http://spinninginair.blogspot.com/2008/09/wish.html

Amir's "Blues in E Half-Flat" here: http://spinninginair.blogspot.com/2008/09/maqam.html

And it's fine with me if you don't like either cut...!

[Carl]

Edited to add: a cut by Ravish and his trio here - http://spinninginair.blogspot.com/2008/09/wish.html

Amir's "Blues in E Half-Flat" here: http://spinninginair.blogspot.com/2008/09/maqam.html

And it's fine with me if you don't like either cut...!

Ravish sounds way to trad. for me. Even in the jazz context. My friend Mac and I have gone around forever on this. In the end, I can't get into the linear nature of the music, which is a big part of the feel. The stuff that I have liked, Mac has said that it's not so traditional and not as interesting to him. In any case, I keep trying to convert him to west african music, and he tries to convert me to mideastern. Its a fun trip...

As to the Amir track... much more to my liking, thanks. I'll bookmark these guy's and see if any of their CDs make it into my collection.

Thanks for sharing your interests. It's always good to find new music.

C

[e2c]

i'd still keep an eye on Ravish... he might surprise you one of these days! (I don't know him; am judging from the influences he mentions on his site, nothing else.)

I though you might like Amir's jazz playing...

[bops]

I saw Amir el Saffar and his Two Rivers ensemble a couple of months ago at the Green Mill in Chi. Overall it was a great show, very intense and energetic. His tenor player was excellent and outshined Amir in terms of improvisation, I thought. I also really liked the oud/violin/darbuka player. The drummer wasn't communicating well with the rest of the band, though. He was very free-jazz-oriented and arhythmic, which worked for the horn players but not the rest of the (traditional) musicians. The oud, violin and other traditional musicians were improvising within a rhythmic structure, but the drumset was taking it out so far that they were no longer together and that brought the energy down somewhat. Nice concept with the jazz arrangements of Sufi chants.

I am such a geek!

Join the club...

Give us some of your drumset recs in the Drumset thread.

[Carl]

Give us some of your drumset recs in the Drumset thread.

There's a drumset thread?????

[wanders off in search of new thread to invade....]



C

[bops]

shya dude... barely touched, I might add. http://www.djembefola.com/board/other-instruments/drumset-t958.html

[e2c]

I saw Amir el Saffar and his Two Rivers ensemble a couple of months ago at the Green Mill in Chi. Overall it was a great show, very intense and energetic. His tenor player was excellent and outshined Amir in terms of improvisation, I thought. I also really liked the oud/violin/darbuka player. The drummer wasn't communicating well with the rest of the band, though. He was very free-jazz-oriented and arhythmic, which worked for the horn players but not the rest of the (traditional) musicians. The oud, violin and other traditional musicians were improvising within a rhythmic structure, but the drumset was taking it out so far that they were no longer together and that brought the energy down somewhat. Nice concept with the jazz arrangements of Sufi chants.

I hear you on the set player - I think it's hard to do this kind of (for lack of a better word) fusion well - and that it's probably easier for those who've grown up with the rhythms and modes to play them in a jazz context.

Who was the drummer at that gig?