Mob Job (John Zorn’s version)

John Zorn and Tim Berne (alto sax), Mark Dresser (bass) and Joey Baron (drums). From the album Spy vs Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman (1989).

In 1989, Zorn released Spy vs. Spy featuring themes by Ornette Coleman in a hardcore punk style. He has written music for television commercials, documentaries, cartoons and underground movies that he has published through his record company. In 1988 he formed the band Naked City which played a blend of hardcore rock, hard bop, metallic funk and free jazz, and in 1989 they recorded their first album Naked City, followed by three more. In 1991 he created the group Painkiller that played a fusion of free jazz and grincore (a mixture of hardcore punk and heavy metal), and recorded several albums.

In 1994 he began writing music based on his Jewish heritage and his first Masada book contains 205 compositions. To perform them he created over the years the acoustic Masada quartet, the Masada String Trio, the Bab Kokhba Sextet and the Electric Masada. In 2002 he published Hemophiliac continuing with his hardcore improvisations. In 2004 he started to write his second Masada book with 316 pieces of music interpreted by other artists. In 2006 he founded the Moonchild Trio, with which he recorded four albums, and in 2014 he completed the third Masada book. He has also written compositions for chamber music and orchestras. His Tzadik label has been the voice of the Radical Jewish Culture movement and has presented both important composers and musicians and young talents from all over the world.

Zorn is in charge of exposing the theme, which is appealing and moderate. Next Berne joins in challenging him and giving the performance a more daring twist. Zorn makes his solo with long notes that maintain the spirit of the theme, but Berne chooses to play intense and impetuous phrases until the two are hooked on a delirious and chaotic discurse skillfully driven by Baron. Then they re-expose the theme and end up in an unrestrained manner.