John Zorn is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". His avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz, rock, Jewish music, hardcore, classical, contemporary, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and world music. Rolling Stone noted that "[alt]hough Zorn has operated almost entirely outside the mainstream, he's gradually asserted himself as one of the most influential musicians of our time".
Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s.
Mark Dresser is an American double bass player and composer.
Ikue Mori, also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022.
William Winant is an American percussionist.
Trevor Roy Dunn is an American composer, bass guitarist, and double bassist. He came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. While performing with Mr. Bungle, Dunn would dress similar to the St. Pauli Girl. He has since worked in an array of musical styles, including with saxophonist/composer John Zorn, Secret Chiefs 3 and with his own avant-garde jazz/rock ensemble Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant. He is also a member of the band Tomahawk.
Cyro Baptista is a Brazilian-born percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays.
Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer from Philadelphia.
Greg Cohen is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades.
Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City and raised a Conservative Jew, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Mark Feldman is an American jazz violinist.
Bar Kokhba Sextet brings together six core members of Masada under the leadership of John Zorn. An improvisational group of New York's downtown artists, the sextet includes Cyro Baptista on percussion, Marc Ribot on guitar, Greg Cohen on bass, Joey Baron on drums, Mark Feldman on violin, and Erik Friedlander on cello. According to Tzadik, Zorn's music label, the band's music is "Sephardic exotica for young moderns".
Anthony Coleman is an American composer and avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on Cobra, Kristallnacht, The Big Gundown, Archery, and Spillane and helped push modern Jewish music into the 21st century.
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.
Kenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.
Filmworks XI: Secret Lives features a score for film by John Zorn performed by the Masada String Trio with guest appearances from Vanessa Saft on vocals and Jamie Saft on piano. The album was released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 2002 and contains music that Zorn wrote and recorded for Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII, a documentary on Jewish children hidden during the Second World War directed by Aviva Slesin. The documentary was originally to be titled Under the Wing and several sources still refer to the soundtrack under this name.
Volac: Book of Angels Volume 8 is an album by Erik Friedlander performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Haborym: Book of Angels Volume 16 is an album by the Masada String Trio performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Quake is a 2003 album by cellist Erik Friedlander which was released on the Cryptogramophone label featuring the quartet that previously appeared on Topaz.
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz is an American bassist and oud player who has recorded and performed extensively with Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits, Daniel Zamir's Satlah, Rashanim, Pharaoh's Daughter, and John Zorn. Blumenkranz studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the Rimon School of Music in Israel, and holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2012 he released the first album under his leadership Abraxas: Book of Angels Volume 19 featuring compositions by John Zorn. Blumenkranz was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
