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".
Derek Bailey was an English avant-garde guitarist and an important figure in the free improvisation movement. Bailey abandoned conventional performance techniques found in jazz, exploring atonality, noise, and whatever unusual sounds he could produce with the guitar. Much of his work was released on his own label Incus Records. In addition to solo work, Bailey collaborated frequently with other musicians and recorded with collectives such as Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Company.
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
George Emanuel Lewis is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization at the age of 19. He is renowned for his work as an improvising trombonist and considered a pioneer of computer music, which he began pursuing in the late 1970s; in the 1980s he created Voyager, an improvising software he has used in interactive performances. Lewis's many honors include a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his book A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music received the American Book Award. Lewis is the Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music, Composition & Historical Musicology at Columbia University.
Kristallnacht is the seventh studio album by John Zorn first released in 1993 on the Japanese Eva label and subsequently in 1995 on Zorn's own Tzadik Records label.
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.
Ganryu Island is an collaborative album by John Zorn and Michihiro Sato. The album was first released on vinyl LP on Yukon Records in 1984 and later re-released on Tzadik Records as a CD with five additional tracks in 1998.
News for Lulu is an album of hard bop compositions performed by saxophonist John Zorn, trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell.
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.
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 10 is a live album of improvised music by Yamataka Eye and John Zorn documenting their performance at Tonic in September 2003 as part of John Zorn's month-long 50th Birthday Celebration concert series. Guitarist Fred Frith also appears on one track.
The Art of Memory is a live album of improvised music by John Zorn and Fred Frith. The album was released on Derek Bailey's Incus Records in 1994.
Harras is an album of improvised music by Derek Bailey, John Zorn & William Parker. The album was released by the Japanese Avant label in 1996. Towards the end of the track "Evening Harras" there is 10 minutes of silence followed by a Bailey solo. "According to Derek Bailey, the abrupt cutoff was planned. Derek wanted to end it "on a high". The Bailey solo material appended after the silence was apparently Zorn's idea."
The Last Wave is the debut album by American jazz fusion band Arcana, released on July 23, 1996. This first album is largely improvised, and features the trio of English free jazz guitarist Derek Bailey, bass guitarist Bill Laswell and legendary drummer Tony Williams.
Tzadik is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-profit, cooperative record label.
Pleistozaen Mit Wasser is a live album featuring a performance by Cecil Taylor and Derek Bailey recorded in Berlin on July 9, 1988 as part of month-long series of concerts by Taylor and released on the FMP label.
@ 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.
Solo Guitar is a solo album by guitarist Derek Bailey which was recorded in London in February 1971 and became the second release by Incus. A revised version of this album with alternative improvisations was released as Solo in 1978. In 1995 a CD version incorporating improvisations from the original and revised LPs was released. In 2017 Honest Jon's issued a 45 RPM double LP edition that added one more track on side D, a 1972 improvisation at York University.
Quintessence is a live album by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble featuring percussionist/cornetist John Stevens saxophonists Trevor Watts and Evan Parker, guitarist Derek Bailey, and bassist Kent Carter which was recorded in 1973 and released on the Emanem label. The album was first released in two parts on separate LPs entitles Eighty Five Minutes in 1986 then with additional material as two separate CDs entitled Quintessence in 1997 and finally as a single 2-CD set in 2007.
Guitar, Drums 'n' Bass is an album by free improvisation guitarist Derek Bailey, released by Avant Records in 1996. After spending several years improvising his guitar to the sound of jungle and drum and bass music on pirate radio, Bailey proposed to collaborator John Zorn that he make an album of his musical fusion. Zorn then contacted Birmingham-based drum and bass producer D.J. Ninj to provide the musical backing, who recorded his contributions in spring 1995. After a failed session with engineer Mick Harris, Bailey recorded his overlaid guitar improvisations in Bill Laswell's New York City studio in October 1995, slightly altering Ninj's contributions to remove electric piano passages.
Dart Drug is an album by improvising musicians Derek Bailey and Jamie Muir, recorded at Crane Grove, London, in August 1981. It was produced by Derek Bailey and released on LP by Incus Records in 1981. It was reissued on CD by Incus in 1994, and by Honest Jon's in 2018.
