JOHN ZORN — The Big Gundown: John Zorn plays the music of Ennio Morricone (review)

JOHN ZORN — The Big Gundown: John Zorn plays the music of Ennio Morricone album cover Album · 1986 · Third Stream Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
snobb
John Zorn's monumental work - his look on Morricone soundtracks from late 80-s NY down town avant-garde musician. For such a n ambitious work Zorn organised full orchestra of mostly down-town musicians who will work with John for decades after the release of this album and many of them will become front page artists in modern avant-jazz.

Morricone genial material is easy recognizable under the skin of Zorn's look on it,so all album sounds as well known and very unusual at the same time. It's great how Zorn works with original compositions - from one hand he always leaves some main components of original,as melody,atmosphere,but he doesn't afraid to re-work it radically at the same time.As a result, listener hear easily recognizable tunes he remembers as themes for many great movies, but all music sounds as if all that happened in mid 80-s in NY down town.

There are not too many radical components (as free jazz reeds soloing or scratching electric guitars) added in music, but all structure,new dynamics, samples and effects make music sounding different - as from known,but parallel world.

From 10 compositions only one is Zorn's original, where he just tested his ability to catch Morricone's point of view. Really monumental work,extremely well played and very important for modern music development - John himself will record a long series of soundtrack (or related)music during few nearest decades.But possibly even more important is that this album showed synthesis of art-pop and modern avant-garde confirmed continuity of modern experimental music development in its relation with previous musical cultures.
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