Daily Dose Of Jazz…

John Zorn was born September 2, 1953 in New York City, New York and attended the United Nations International School, where he studied piano, guitar and flute from an early age. Exposed by his families musical tastes in classical, world, jazz, French chansons, country doo-wop and rock and roll records, he spent his teenage years exploring classical and film music, listening to The Doors and playing bass in a surf band. He explored experimental and avant-garde music as well as cartoon soundtracks and film scores. He went on to teach himself orchestration and counterpoint by transcribing scores and studied composition under Leonardo Balada.

After discovering Anthony Braxton’s album For Alto when he was studying composition at Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri, Zorn began playing saxophone and attended classes taught by Oliver Lake. While at Webster, he incorporated elements of free jazz, avant-garde and experimental music, film scores, performance art and the cartoon scores of Carl Stalling into his first recordings.

Leaving Webster after three semesters, John lived on the West Coast before returning to Manhattan where he gave concerts in his apartment and other small NY venues, playing saxophone and a variety of reeds, duck calls, tapes, and other instruments. He immersed himself in the underground art scene, assisting Jack Smith with his performances and attending plays by Richard Foreman

Zorn entered New York City’s downtown music scene in the mid-1970s, collaborating with improvising artists while developing new methods of composing experimental music. Over the next decade he performed throughout Europe and Japan and recorded on independent US and European labels. In 1986 he received acclaim with the release of his radical reworking of the film scores of Ennio Morricone, The Big Gundown, followed by Spillane, an album featuring his collage-like experimental compositions. Spy vs Spy and Naked City both demonstrated his ability to merge and blend musical styles in new and challenging formats.

Having spent time in Japan in the late 1980s and early ’90s John returned to Lower East Side Manhattan to establish the Tzadik record label in 1995,  enabling him to establish independence, maintain creative control, and ensure the availability of his growing catalog of recordings. He prolifically recorded and released new material for the label, issuing several new albums each year, along with recordings by many other artists.

He performs on saxophone with the groups Naked City, Painkiller, and Masada but more often conducts bands like Moonchild, Simulacrum and several of his Masada-related ensembles. He composes concert music for classical ensembles and orchestras, produces music for opera, sound installations, film and documentary, and tours Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer John Zorn continues his exploration of music and adds to his diverse repertoire.

Bestow upon an inquiring mind a dose of a New York City composer to motivate the perusal of the genius of jazz musicians worldwide whose gifts contribute to the canon…

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