Drawing upon his experience in classical, jazz, rock, hardcore punk, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular, world and improvised music, John Zorn has created a controversial and influential body of work that often defies academic categories. He has earned great respect within his own community and beyond by going his own way without compromise, developing a large network of supporters world wide, often in unexpected places. Born in 1953 and raised in New York City, Zorn has been a central figure in the Downtown Scene since 1975, incorporating a wide variety of creative musicians into various compositional formats. He is an indefatigable worker and highly prolific: he has composed 6 string quartets, vocal music, chamber music, operas, symphonic and dance works, has released over 100 cds under his own name, has led and written music for dozens of bands (Naked City, The Dreamers, Moonchild, Painkiller), scored over 50 films, and written over 600 tunes for his popular Masada project. His work is diverse and remarkably eclectic and draws inspiration from Art, Literature, Film, Theatre, Philosophy, Alchemy and Mysticism as well as Music.
 
In addition to his composing, recording and performing Zorn is a firm believer in community and a tireless champion of experimental music, film, art, poetry and theatre, organizing festivals, recordings and concerts, and helping to establish venues and opportunities for performance. He founded the Tzadik label in 1995 (which has released over 700 recordings of new and adventurous music); runs the East Village performance space The Stone (which has presented over 5000 concerts and 60 musical workshops since 2005) and has edited and published six volumes of musician’s writings under the title ARCANA. Honors include the Cultural Achievement Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and the William Schuman Prize for composition from Columbia University. He was inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame by Lou Reed in 2010 and is a MacArthur Fellow.
 
Tzadik online

Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968, in Eureka, California) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and video game voice actor, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Faith No More from 1988 to 1998, which recently reunited in 2009 and will be touring Europe this summer. He has also handled lead vocals and composed music for Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Lovage, Fantômas, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Moonchild Trio and Peeping Tom. (via last.fm)
 

Mike Patton on Facebook

Jesse Harris official site | Jesse Harris on Facebook | Jesse Harris on Twitter
Star Rover on Facebook | Star Rover on Bandcamp | Star Rover official site

Originally from New York City, Jesse Harris is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of artists from all over the world.   He has been making records since the mid 90s, when he started in the group Once Blue on EMI Records.  It was his first experience writing for another singer, lead vocalist, Rebecca Martin.  Combining folk, jazz and pop, the group defined a direction for Harris and was also notable for featuring the guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel.

As a solo artist since then Jesse has released 12 albums, including many with his former backing band The Ferdinandos and one all-instrumental recording (Cosmo). His forthcoming album, No Wrong No Right (to be released 2/10/15 on Dangerbird Records) finds him with backing group Star Rover and many special guests, including Julian Lage, CJ Camerieri, Mauro Refosco, Margaret Glaspy, Larry Goldings, and Sofia Rei (See the full press release below).

In 2003 he received the Grammy Award for Song Of The Year for Norah Jones’ breakout hit “Don’t Know Why,” from her debut album, Come Away With Me, which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.  Four other Harris compositions appear on it, “Shoot The Moon,” “One Flight Down,” “I’ve Got To See You Again,” and “The Long Day Is Over,” and he plays guitar throughout.  Since then, Jones and Harris have collaborated many times.  She duets with him on “What Makes You” from his album The Secret Sun and sings harmonies on several others,Crooked Lines, While The Music Lasts and Watching The Sky.  He appears as guitarist on almost all of her albums, contributing songwriting to The Fall, and produced her version of his song “World Of Trouble” for the Ethan Hawke film The Hottest State.  That soundtrack features not only Harris’ score, but new versions of his songs by Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Cat Power, Feist, The Black Keys, M. Ward, Brad Mehldau, Bright Eyes (on whose album “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning” Jesse also appears as guitarist), and others.  Recently Harris and Jones appeared together in the Amy Poehler/Paul Rudd comedy They Came Together, performing his song “It Was The Last Thing On Your Mind,” also produced by Harris.

Other artists who have covered his material include Smokey Robinson, Sasha Dobson (whose album Modern Romance he co-produced with Richard Julian), George Benson, Pat Metheny, and Solomon Burke, on whose album Like A Fire Harris also plays guitar and sings backing vocals.  Songwriting collaborations have included Madeleine Peyroux, Lizz Wright, Melody Gardot, Maria Gadu, and Vinicius Cantuaria.

Recently Jesse joined John Zorn’s The Song Project, along with Mike Patton and Sofia Rei, writing lyrics for various Zorn compositions and singing them at festivals worldwide with an all-star band that features Marc Ribot on guitar, John Medeski on keyboards, and Zorn conducting. A limited edition of vinyl 45s has just been released on Tzadik Records (tzadik.com).

Veteran singer, songwriter and musician Jesse Harris has just announced the release of new album No Wrong No Right, out Feb. 10 on Dangerbird Records.

The Grammy-winning Harris had his breakthrough in 2003, having written Norah Jones’ first and biggest hit “Don’t Know Why.” He subsequently has had a vibrant solo career of his own, along the way writing for and collaborating with renowned artists such as Bright Eyes, Cat Power, Feist, M. Ward, Melody Gardot, Mike Patton, John Zorn, Solomon Burke, Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris.

On No Wrong No Right—Harris’ 13th solo album—he drew inspiration from Neil Young’s approach on After the Goldrush. “Some of that record was done with Crazy Horse, and it’s a rock record,” Harris explains, “but then you also have these hushed acoustic folk songs, and it keeps shifting back and forth between the two distinct moods. I always loved the way that worked, so I started there, but with No Wrong No Right, I also added a third element.”

The three elements Harris speaks of are an inspired set of full-band tunes recorded with guitarist Will Graefe and drummer Jeremy Gustin of experimental duo Star Rover; a more subdued, acoustic-anchored series of duets with guitar virtuoso Julian Lage; and a trio of evocative instrumental tracks.

The album initially grew out of Harris’ discovery of Star Rover and the friendship and musical chemistry that developed between them last winter. “I fell in love with their band,” Harris says. “I was sort of a groupie, checking out their gigs all the time. One day they invited me over to their loft to play, and it felt great from the first song. Which inspired me to write a bunch more songs.

“Will and Jeremy, musically, are adventurous and free, and at the same time completely supportive of the song. They love to work out arrangements, but they play with a lot of looseness and expression. It’s so hard to find that perfect combination—either people don’t want to rehearse, and just play all over the songs, or they’re too rehearsed and there’s no spontaneity. As a singer and songwriter, I feel like they support the music, but at the same time completely challenge it.”

The duos with Lage—“I Probably Won’t See You For A While,” “Don’t Let Me Pass By” and John Zorn co-write “Kafiristan”—are sparse and disarmingly intimate, offering a refreshing contrast to the record’s more fleshed-out tracks. Harris raves about the musical abilities of Lage, who also plays in duos with Wilco’s Nels Cline and Chris Eldridge of The Punch Brothers. “Julian is a remarkable young musician,” Harris says. “He’s a jazz guitarist, but he’s equally interested in songcraft and experimental music. Playing with him is always exciting—he’s extremely sensitive, and has such a beautiful tone. I really wanted to capture our duo on this record.”

The album’s three instrumentals—also backed by Star Rover—continue Harris’ tradition of including a few sans-vocals tracks on every release. The aptly named “Staring Contest” features a loping, repetitive and extremely hummable guitar figure. “Pandora’s Box” is a dreamy meditation on the modern rabbit hole of social media, and “Miyazaki” is a tribute to the legendary Japanese anime director.

No Wrong No Right also features a mysterious and gorgeously wintery rendition of Rodgers & Hart standard “Where or When” bolstered by the organ playing of Larry Goldings (James Taylor, Madeleine Peyroux, Maceo Parker). Other notable guests on the record include CJ Camerieri (Paul Simon, Bon Iver, yMusic) on horns and horn arrangements; Margaret Glaspy on vocals; frequent Harris collaborator Mauro Refosco (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Atoms for Peace) on percussion, marimba and electronics; and Sofia Rei—who also performs with Harris in the John Zorn-led Song Project—on vocals.

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“Star Rover, the Brooklyn twosome of guitarist Will Graefe and drummer Jeremy Gustin, specializes in an alluring sort of pastoral punk that suggests a collaboration between Deerhoof and John Fahey.“- Time Out New York

Star Rover will be releasing a collaborative album with Grammy Award winning songwriter Jesse Harris on Dangerbird Records on February 10th. Lately, they’ve been busy collaborating with Petra Haden, Sam Amidon, Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Larkin Grimm, Sam Owens (Celestial Shore), Lazar Davis (Cuddle Magic). They also recently recorded with Brazilian singer Tiago Iorc, and you can hear one of those songs, “Dia Especial”, right here.

For their debut album as Star Rover, guitarist Will Graefe (Landlady, Jesse Harris, Larkin Grimm) and drummer Jeremy Gustin (Delicate Steve, Marc Ribot, Albert Hammond, Jr.) began with the music of John Fahey and ended up in their own corner of a skewed, over-driven, weird America. Western Winds, Bitter Christians is available now from FYO Records.

Star Rover’s original compositions use John Fahey’s guitar playing as a launching point for interstellar explorations. Those 6 strings, kick, snare, tom, and cymbals separate and recombine, lead and accompany, and alternately push and pull the time with incredible variety. Rhythmic drive comes as often from Will Graefe’s guitar as it does from the drum set; Jeremy Gustin’s languid drumming is full of song-like melodies; and a casually precise blend of kick drum and low guitar strings provides ample bass-register harmonic grounding.

Sofía Rei is considered one of the most passionate, charismatic and inventive vocalists on the current New York music scene. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, her own music is grounded in traditional South American rhythms such as chacarera, zamba and vidala from Argentina, Afro-Peruvian festejo and lando, Afro-Uruguayan candombe, Colombian cumbia and bullerengue and other genres that merge involving jazz harmonies, electronic sounds and rich improvisations. Singing in Spanish, English or Portuguese, Sofia’s voice brings more than the depth and fullness of a riveting voice, tying together diverse influences in a program full of rhythmic complexity, and a melodic purity that haunts even as it uplifts. Her ensemble produces a range of textures as diverse as the cultural roots of its members, an international cast that includes some of the most exciting young talent from North and South America.
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Sofia Rei official site

Marc Ribot, who the New York Times describes as “a deceptively articulate artist who uses inarticulateness as an expressive device,” has released over 20 albums under his own name over a 30-year career, exploring everything from the pioneering jazz of Albert Ayler to the Cuban son of Arsenio Rodríguez. His latest solo release, Silent Movies (Pi Recording 2010) has been described as a “down-in-mouth-near master piece” by the Village Voice and has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times and critical praise across the board. 2013 saw the release of “Your Turn” (Northern Spy), the sophomore effort from Ribot’s post-rock/noise trio Ceramic Dog, and 2014 saw the monumental release: “Marc Ribot Trio Live at the Village Vanguard” (Pi Recordings), documenting Marc’s first headline and the return of Henry Grimes at the historical venue in 2012 already included on Best of 2014 lists including Downbeat Magazine and NPR’s 50 Favorites.
 
Rolling Stone points out that “Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985’s Rain Dogs, and since then he’s become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp.” Additional recording credits include Neko Case, Diana Krall, Elton John/Leon Russell’s The Union, Solomon Burke, John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards, Marianne Faithful, Joe Henry, Allen Toussaint, Medeski Martin & Wood, Caetono Veloso, Susana Baca, Allen Ginsburg, Madeline Peyroux, Nora Jones, Jolie Holland, Akiko Yano, The Black Keys, and many others. Marc works regularly with Grammy® award winning producer T Bone Burnett and NY composer John Zorn. He has also composed and performed on numerous film scores such as “Walk The Line” (Mangold), “The Kids Are All Right,” and “The Departed” (Scorcese).
 
“…he can sit down with just his guitar and simultaneously confound you with technique, beauty, and surprise.” – John Garratt and Will Layman, PopMatters Picks: The Best Music of 2010 for the album “Silent Movies”

Marc Ribot official site
Marc Ribot on Facebook
Marc Ribot on Twitter
Marc Ribot on Vimeo
Marc Ribot on Soundcloud
 
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SHADOWS CHOOSE THEIR HORRORS
2005, 16mm to Digital Beta, 31 minutes
Directed and Edited by Jennifer Reeves
Live score by Marc Ribot
Written by Jennifer Reeves with Winsome Brown
Starring Winsome Brown, Tanya Selvaratnam and Ariane Anthony
 
Shadows Choose Their Horrors is the dark and melodic diary of a necromancer living on the edge between the mortal world and the realm of lost souls. Sinister forces surround Madame G (Winsome Brown) as she tries to bond with her favorite undead. Using magic and ritual to give them new life and pleasures, Madame G is shocked by the devastating outcome. This camp and experimental reworking of early silent horror was inspired by both the un-staged Aaron Copland ballet Grohg, and the film that stirred the young Copland to write his ballet, Nosferatu.
 
Shadows Choose Their Horrors was originally created for a live performance of Grohg by the American Symphony Orchestra at Bard Music Festival, with Leon Botstein conducting.
 
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Jennifer Reeves (b. 1971, Sri Lanka) is a New York-based filmmaker working primarily on 16mm film. Reeves was named one of the “Best 50 Filmmakers Under 50” in the film journal Cinema Scope in the spring of 2012. Her films have shown extensively, from the Berlin, New York, Vancouver, London, Sundance, and Hong Kong Film Festivals to many Microcinemas in the US and Canada, the Robert Flaherty Seminar, and the Museum of Modern Art. Full multiple-screening retrospectives of her work have been held in recent years at Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, Kino Arsenal in Berlin, Anthology Film Archives in New York, and San Francisco Cinematheque. Her most recent film COLOR NEUTRAL premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2014.
 
Reeves has made experimental films since 1990. She does her own writing, cinematography, editing, and sound design. Her subjective and personal films push the boundaries of film through optical-printing and direct-on-film techniques. Reeves has consistently explored themes of memory, mental health and recovery, feminism and sexuality, landscape, wildlife, and politics from many different angles.
 
Since 2003 Reeves has collaborated with some of the finest composer/ musicians today, including Anthony Burr, Skúli Sverrisson, Elliott Sharp, Zeena Parkins, Marc Ribot, Erik Hoversten, Pitt Reeves, Hilmar Jensson, and Dave Cerf. As the daughter of a trumpeter, gravitating toward film and music collaborations was quite natural for Reeves. Her most ambitious film and music performance, the feature-length double-projection WHEN IT WAS BLUE (2008), premiered at Toronto International Film Festival with live music by composer/collaborator Skúli Sverrisson.
 
Reeves has also made a number of experimental narratives, most notably her highly acclaimed feature THE TIME WE KILLED. The Village Voice Film Critic’s poll (2005) honored THE TIME WE KILLED with votes from six film critics for categories including: Best Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Performance.
 
Reeves also teaches animation part-time at The Cooper Union.
 
Jennifer Reeves official site

John Medeski official site | John Medeski on Facebook

Famed keyboardist John Medeski is not easily contained to a single project or genre; he is credited on over 300 works to date, most notably as one third of the groundbreaking trio, Medeski Martin & Wood.

Equally comfortable behind a Steinway grand piano, Hammond organ or any number of vintage keyboards, Medeski is a highly sought after improviser and band leader whose projects range from work with John Zorn, The Word (Robert Randolph, North Mississippi Allstars), Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and many more. Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft.Lauderdale, FL where as a teenager he played with Jaco Pastorius before heading north to attend the New England Conservatory. He released his first solo piano record, A Different Time, on Sony’s Okeh Records in 2013, and current projects include a new album in the works with his band MadSkillet (Terrence Higgins, Kirk Joseph, Will Bernard), and HUDSON (a collaboration with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield & Larry Grenadier), plus a documentary on Medeski Martin & Wood.

Trevor Dunn is currently playing in various projects under the direction of John Zorn (Nova Quartet, Dreamers, Electric Masada, Aleph Trio). The Nels Cline Singers, Curtis Hasselbring’s New Mellow Edwards, Melvins Lite, Endangered Blood, Tomahawk, The Darius Jones Quartet & Erik Friedlander’s Bonebridge. I still have plans for my own bands: trio-convulsant, PROOF Readers and MadLove; and I continue to write music for independent films, practice long tones, pine over Daisy Lowe and drink shitty beer in heavy metal saloons.

Kenny Wollesen (Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Tom Waits) and Will Shore (Tomboy, Shore) come together on two vibraphones to improvise and create wide-open original music. All 8 of their mallets swing real loose between freedom and precision: raucous polyrhythmic grooves and sharp dissonant lines lead into floating melodic rolls.

The duo’s unique sound comes from the mix of Kenny’s acoustic vibraphone with Will’s electric one, which is fitted with contact mics to create a timbre much like his solo production work (Shore).

Between Will’s manipulation of the vibes through pedals/electronics and Kenny’s vibrant and propulsive playing that you’ve heard on so many albums, the duo is sure to create an unpredictable noise and lively rhythmic interplay (though nothing else is certain).

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Will Shore official site | Will Shore on Soundcloud | Will Shore on Twitter | Will Shore on Instagram

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Kenny Wollesen is a drummer, vibraphonist, percussionist and instrument builder based in New York City. He is the founder of the Wollesonic Laboratories and the mastermind behind Sonic Massages and the Himalayas marching band. He has worked with Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Tom Waits, Ben Goldberg, Steven Bernstein, Jonas Mekas, Butch Morris, Ilhan Ersahin, Hal Wilner, John Medeski, JIm Hall and has been a vital member of John Zorn’s ensembles and projects for over 20 years.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Cyro Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to the Woodstock-based Creative Music Studio. During the ’70- and ’80’s, the Woodstock-based Creative Music Studio was considered the premier study center for contemporary creative music and is credited as the birthplace of world jazz – the improvisational and compositional expansion of the world’s musical traditions. Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman, CMS brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. After his time at CMS, Cyro moved to New York City where he started his career on the streets of lower Manhattan. He has since emerged as one of the premier percussionists in the country. Coinciding with the rise in the public’s interest of world music, Cyro has recorded and toured with some of music’s most popular names. His mastery of Brazilian percussion and his numerous homemade instruments, have catapulted him into world renown. In short, if you’ve listened to the radio in the past 30 years, chances are you have heard Cyro’s caxixi, pandeiro or one of his (now famous) homemade instruments.
 
Cyro’s credits read like a “Who’s Who” of modern music. He has toured extensively with Yo-Yo Ma’s Brazil Project, Trey Anastasio’s Band (of Phish), John Zorn’s Electric Masada, Herbie Hancock’s Grammy award-winning “Gershwin’s World”, Sting and Paul Simon’s “Rhythm of the Saints”. Other artists Cyro Baptista has performed and recorded with include David Byrne, Kathleen Battle, Gato Barbieri, Dr. John, Brian Eno, Robert Palmer, Melissa Etheridge, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Michael Tilson Thomas, Daniel Barenboin, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, Medeski Martin & Wood, Spyro Gyra, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, and Santana.

Drummer Joey Baron was born into a Jewish working class family in Richmond, Virginia.
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He is largely self-taught by means of watching others play and listening to recordings, radio and television. His early influences ran the gamut from Ed Sullivan show guests, to “The Wild Wild West” television show theme to records by Art Blakey, Ray Charles, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, James Brown, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
 
-via Drummer World