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. In 2020 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".
Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing.
Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music inspired by bebop and big band that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and a lighter tone than that used in the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and incorporates elements of classical music. Broadly, the genre refers to a number of post-war jazz styles employing a more subdued approach than that of contemporaneous jazz idioms. As Paul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill suggest, "the tonal sonorities of these conservative players could be compared to pastel colors, while the solos of [Dizzy] Gillespie and his followers could be compared to fiery red colors."
Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.
West Coast jazz refers to styles of jazz that developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a subgenre of cool jazz, which consisted of a calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music relied relatively more on composition and arrangement than on the individually improvised playing of other jazz styles. Although this style dominated, it was not the only form of jazz heard on the American West Coast.
Straight-ahead jazz is a genre of jazz that developed in the 1960s, with roots in the prior two decades. It omits the rock music and free jazz influences that began to appear in jazz during this period, instead preferring acoustic instruments, conventional piano comping, walking bass patterns, and swing- and bop-based drum rhythms.
The Big Gundown is the third studio album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn. It comprises radically reworked covers of tracks by the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone.
A jazz trio is a group of three jazz musicians, often a piano trio comprising a pianist, a double bass player and a drummer. Jazz trios are commonly named after their leader, such as the Bill Evans Trio.
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 1: Masada Guitars is the first album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project.
Voodoo is an album by The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet which was composed of alto saxophonist John Zorn, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Bobby Previte. The album was released in 1986 on Black Saint Records and featured the group’s arrangements of compositions of hard bop pianist Sonny Clark.
More News for Lulu is the second album of hard bop compositions performed by John Zorn, George Lewis, and Bill Frisell. Like the previous News for Lulu it features tunes by Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Freddie Redd and Sonny Clark but also contains with one tune each by Misha Mengelberg and Big John Patton. The album was recorded live in Paris and Basel. It was released in 1992 on the Swiss Hathut Record label.
Yankees is an album of improvised music by Derek Bailey, John Zorn & George Lewis. The album was released as an LP by Celluloid in 1983 and was reissued on CD by Celluloid and Charly. It was the first recorded meeting of John Zorn and Derek Bailey. The two men would later release the album, Harras, with William Parker in 1993. Zorn and Lewis would collaborate further on News for Lulu (1988) and More News for Lulu (1993) with Bill Frisell.
Misterioso is an album by American jazz drummer-composer Paul Motian, his ninth album overall and third on the Italian Soul Note label. It was released in 1987 and features performances by Motian’s quintet with guitarist Bill Frisell, tenor saxophonists Joe Lovano and Jim Pepper, and bassist Ed Schuller.
Red and Black in Willisau is a live album by American jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman and drummer Ed Blackwell featuring performances recorded at the Willisau Jazz Festival in 1980 for the Italian Black Saint label.
Keep Swingin is a 1960 album by American jazz trombonist Julian Priester, his debut as leader, which was recorded and released by the Riverside label.
Tonite's Music Today is an album by saxophonist Zoot Sims and trombonist Bob Brookmeyer recorded in 1956 for the Storyville label.
Momentum, Willisau 1988 is a live album by saxophonists Jimmy Giuffre and André Jaume which was released on the Swiss HatOLOGY label in 1997.
Ebony Rhapsody is an album by saxophonist Ricky Ford.
It's About Time is an album by saxophonist Jimmy Hamilton which was recorded in 1961 and released on the Swingville label.
Keep the Spirits Singing is an album by American saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman recorded in 2000 and released on the HighNote label the following year.
