Cobra | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1987 | |||
Recorded | October 21, 1985 & May 9, 1986 | |||
Genre | Avant-garde | |||
Length | 112:44 | |||
Label | Hathut | |||
Producer | John Zorn | |||
John Zorn chronology | ||||
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2002 Reissue Cover | ||||
Cobra is a double album featuring a live and studio performance of John Zorn's improvisational game piece, Cobra recorded in 1985 and 1986 and released on the Hathut label in 1987. Subsequent recordings of the piece were released on Knitting Factory ( John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory (1992)), Avant ( John Zorn's Cobra: Tokyo Operations '94 (1994)) and Zorn's own label Tzadik Records, ( Cobra: John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 2 )) in 2002.
AllMusic contains two disparate reviews of the album, the first by Brian Olewnick awarded the album 3 stars stating "one is left with the nagging (and correct) sense of something crucial being missed. As a document in Zorn's career, Cobra is essential. As a purely musical experience, it is, quite unfortunately, less so". [1]
The second review of the 2002 CD reissue by Steve Loewy rated the album 4½ stars calling it "A masterpiece of eclecticism... all presented in Zorn's wickedly demented style, which tends toward pastiche but fascinates with its energy and variety. For Zorn enthusiasts, this is a must-have release." [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
AllMusic | [2] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [3] |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Opening" | 0:59 |
2. | "Allegro" | 4:32 |
3. | "Largo" | 6:13 |
4. | "Moderato" | 7:41 |
5. | "Fantasia" | 3:44 |
6. | "Presto" | 1:39 |
7. | "Adagio Maestoso" | 2:39 |
8. | "Violento" | 4:16 |
9. | "Allegro Scorrevole" | 2:35 |
10. | "Capriccio Congusto" | 4:40 |
11. | "False Start/Giocoso" | 0:52 |
12. | "Scherzo" | 5:46 |
13. | "Maestoso Meccanico" | 1:21 |
14. | "Variations/Furioso" | 8:40 |
15. | "Epilogue" | 3:43 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Prologue/Maestoso" | 6:05 |
2. | "Capriccio" | 13:23 |
3. | "Prestissimo" | 14:03 |
4. | "Lento/Mysterioso" | 9:29 |
5. | "Allegro" | 10:24 |
Guy Klucevsek is an American-born accordionist and composer. Klucevsek is one of relatively few accordion players active in new music, jazz and free improvisation.
Naked City was an avant-garde music group led by saxophonist and composer John Zorn. Active primarily in New York City from 1988 to 1993, Naked City was initiated by Zorn as a "composition workshop" to test the limits of composition in a traditional rock band lineup. Their music incorporated elements of jazz, surf, progressive rock, classical, heavy metal, grindcore, country, punk rock, and other genres.
Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, noted for working with John Zorn's Naked City among others. Horvitz has since relocated to the Seattle, Washington area where he has several ongoing groups and has worked as an adjunct professor of composition at Cornish College of the Arts.
Bobby Previte is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began professional relationships with John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, and Elliott Sharp.
The Big Gundown is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn. It comprises radically reworked covers of tracks by the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone.
Heretic is the third studio album by the band Naked City, used as a soundtrack for the underground S/M film Jeux des Dames Cruelles. The album utilises different combinations of band members in duos and trios with the entire band performing together on only one track "Fire and Ice".
Filmworks VII: Cynical Hysterie Hour is a 1989 album by John Zorn featuring music written for a series of Japanese animated shorts that were created by Kiriko Kubo. It features Zorn's first music for cartoons and was originally released on the Japanese Sony label in limited numbers. In late 1996 Zorn finally attained the rights for his music and remastered and re-released the album on his own label, Tzadik, in 1997.
Filmworks 1986–1990 features the first released film scores of John Zorn. The album was originally released on the Japanese labels Wave and Eva in 1990, on the Nonesuch Records label in 1992, and subsequently re-released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 1997 after being out of print for several years.
"For Zorn, filmscores have always been a place to experiment, and the FilmWorks Series is in many ways a microcosm of his prodigious output. This original installment of the FilmWorks Series presents three scores ranging from punk-rockabilly ; a jazzy Bernard Herrmann fantasy; to a quirky classical/improv/world music amalgam for Raul Ruiz's bizarre film The Golden Boat. Zorn's infamous one-minute arrangement of Morricone's classic The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, is included as a bonus track. This is the place where it all began."
Naked City Live is a live album recorded by Naked City in 1989 and released on John Zorn's Tzadik label in 2002. All of the songs, with the exception of "Erotico", "The Way I Feel" and "Skate Key", were later recorded in the studio for the band's debut album. To date it is the only official live release by the band.
Spillane is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn, composed of three file-card pieces, as well as a work for voice, string quartet and turntables.
John Zorn appears on over 400 recordings as a composer or performer. This is a selection of recordings released under his name, bands he was/is part of, collaborations with other musicians, and significant albums to which he has contributed. The year indicates when the album was first released and any subsequent years if the following release included additional material.
Locus Solus is an album of improvisations by John Zorn and other musicians. Originally released as a double vinyl album on Rift records in 1983 it was re-released as a CD with additional tracks on Eva/Wave in 1990 and on Zorn's Tzadik Records label in 1997.
The Bribe: variations and extensions on Spillane is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn, consisting of music created for three half-hour radio plays produced by Mabou Mines theater company in 1986. It utilizes compositional techniques, source material, and personnel that are similar to Zorn's Spillane.
Godard/Spillane is a compilation album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn consisting of music created through Zorn's file-card compositional process. The composition "Godard", a tribute to French film-maker Jean-Luc Godard whose jump-cut technique inspired Zorn's compositional approach, on the French tribute album Jean-Luc Godard|Godard ça vous chante? in 1986 issued by the French Nato label. "Spillane" was first released on Zorn's Nonesuch Records album Spillane in 1987, and "Blues Noël" was first released on the compilation album Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas Everybody! on Nato in 1987.
Filmworks III: 1990–1995 features the scores for film and advertisements by John Zorn. The album was originally released on the Japanese labels Evva in 1995 and Toys Factory in 1996 and subsequently re-released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 1997. It features the music that Zorn wrote and recorded for Thieves Quartet (1993), directed by Joe Chappelle, which was performed by the group that would become Masada; nine cues for Kiriko Kubo's Music For Tsunta (1988); eleven tracks for Hollywood Hotel (1994), directed by Mei-Juin Chen; and thirty-two pieces for advertisements by Wieden & Kennedy.
Cobra: John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 2 is an album by John Zorn that includes his game piece, Cobra. The piece was recorded in previous versions by the labels HatHut, Knitting Factory, and Avant but this was the first time by Zorn's label Tzadik.
John Zorn's Cobra: Tokyo Operations '94 is a live performance of John Zorn's improvisational game piece, Cobra recorded in Tokyo in 1994 featuring Japanese musicians and instruments. The piece had been released in two previous versions on Hathut and the Knitting Factory and was subsequently released on Zorn's own label Tzadik Records in 2002.
Downtown Lullaby is an album of improvised music by John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Bobby Previte and Wayne Horvitz. The album was released on the Depth of Field label in 1998 and contains seven tracks titled after addresses of performing spaces in the East Village and Soho.
Winter Was Hard is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet. It contains compositions by Aulis Sallinen, Terry Riley, Arvo Pärt, Anton Webern, John Zorn, John Lurie, Ástor Piazzolla, Alfred Schnittke, and Samuel Barber.
Miracle Mile is an album by American keyboardist and composer Wayne Horvitz's band The President recorded in 1992 and released on the Elektra/Nonesuch label.