| In Search of the Miraculous | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 2010 | |||
| Recorded | September – October 2009 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 51:25 | |||
| Label | Tzadik TZ 7379 | |||
| Producer | John Zorn | |||
| John Zorn chronology | ||||
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In Search of the Miraculous is an album by composer John Zorn released as a part of Tzadik's Archival series in 2010. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| All About Jazz | favorable [3] |
| Free Jazz Collective | [4] |
| PopMatters |   [5] |
Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars. [2] Writing for All About Jazz, Warren Allen stated "Some may find it difficult to embrace the mystical/minimalist aesthetic captured here, but there is so much art present. For Zorn as a composer, the writing is an important step in the development of his file card music. For the musicians, the songs contain deeply passionate performances that sound effortless, even where they are certainly not. And for the listener, there are pleasures to be found either just in listening or in trying to unwind some of the layers within this suite of music. This is simply an album to lose oneself within". [3]
The Free Jazz Collective called it "A typical atmospheric piece of music, with quite repetitive piano phrases based on klezmer scales. Very lyrical and nice, sometimes with odd rhyhms... Despite this stellar list of Tzadik musicians, the music itself has a kind of déjà-vu effect, even if some of the playing is more emphatic than on other albums". [4] PopMatters correspondent Benjamin Aspray was also unimpressed noting "his new record features many of the virtues that set even his lesser works above the vast majority of experimental music. The compositions are balanced just right between being intricate and hanging loose, and the piano-led ensemble assembled here plays through them with precision and restraint. The production is crisp and clear; the vibes shimmer on top of sinewy basslines, and no one overtakes anyone else. In other words, the whole thing is very, very professional. And that’s, unfortunately, all it really is... knowing John Zorn, he wanted the opportunity to force himself into even less expected musical territory. He’s succeeded, and shown the world that he can make faceless, functional music with the best of the world’s shopping network jingle-writers. Now, hopefully, he realizes that being boring is, well, boring, and goes back to what he does best: being awesome". [5]
All compositions by John Zorn.
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, 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.
The Circle Maker is a double album by John Zorn featuring Zorn's Masada compositions performed by the Masada String Trio and the Bar Kokhba Sextet which was released in 1998 on the Tzadik label.
The Gift is an album by John Zorn released in 2001 on the Tzadik label as the third volume of his Music Romance Series and described as an album "for lovers only".
Redbird is an album of contemporary classical music by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn consisting of two tribute compositions for artist Agnes Martin.
Chimeras is an album of contemporary classical music by American composer John Zorn featuring a 12 part piece inspired by Arnold Schoenberg's atonal composition "Pierrot Lunaire". In 2010 the album was revised and re-recorded, with an additional "Postlude".
Dictée/Liber Novus is the twelfth studio album by John Zorn which features two compositions: Dictée and Liber Novus.
Mount Analogue is the fifteenth studio album by John Zorn released in January 2012 on the Tzadik label.
Nosferatu is the sixteenth studio album by John Zorn released on the Tzadik label in April 2012 on the 100th Anniversary of Bram Stoker's death. Zorn wrote the score as a commission for a Polish theatre group's adaption of Stoker's novel Dracula.
Templars: In Sacred Blood is an album by John Zorn released in May 2012 on the Tzadik label. It is the sixth album by Zorn's Moonchild project.
Rimbaud is an album by John Zorn. The album was released on Zorn's own label Tzadik Records in August 2012. It was dedicated to French poet Arthur Rimbaud.
Filmworks XXIII: El General is a film score by American composer John Zorn for Natalia Almada's documentary El General which depicts Mexican politician Plutarco Elías Calles. It is the twenty-third album of Zorn's Filmworks series.
The Concealed is an album composed by John Zorn. The album was released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in November 2012. The world premiere of this piece took place on 18 May, 2012, in Victoriaville. It was recorded on 21 May, 2012, in East Side Sound Studio in New York City.
Tap: Book of Angels Volume 20 is an album by guitarist Pat Metheny performing compositions from John Zorn's Masada Book Two. The album was released simultaneously on Tzadik Records and Nonesuch Records. Though Zorn and Metheny are of similar age and both came to prominence in the late 1970s and have long admired each other's music, Tap is the first collaboration between the artists.
@ is a studio album by John Zorn and Thurston Moore. It is the first collaborative album by the duo and was recorded in New York City in February 2013 and released by Tzadik Records in September 2013. The album consists of improvised music by Zorn and Moore that was recorded in the studio in real time with no edits or overdubs.
Dreamachines is an album by John Zorn recorded in New York City in April 2013 and released on the Tzadik label in July 2013. The album is inspired by the works of William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin.
A Vision in Blakelight is an album by John Zorn recorded in New York City in December 2011 and released on the Tzadik label in 2012. The album is inspired by the works of William Blake.
The Mysteries is an album composed by John Zorn and performed by Bill Frisell, Carol Emanuel and Kenny Wollesen which was recorded in New York City in December 2012 and released on the Tzadik label in March 2013. The album is the second by the trio following 2012's The Gnostic Preludes.
Filmworks XXV: City of Slaughter/Schmatta/Beyond the Infinite is an album of solo piano pieces composed by John Zorn and performed by Zorn, Omri Mor and Rob Burger which was recorded in New York City in 2009 and 2012 and released on the Tzadik label in January 2013. The album was the last in Zorn's Filmworks series.
Lake Biwa is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith released on John Zorn's Tzadik label in 2004. The album contains four pieces composed between 2000 and 2004.
