insky

2/22 - world premiere of john zorn's "the dreamers" @ st ann's warehouse, DUMBO, 02/29/08 - from left, jamie saft on keyboards, kenny wolleson on vibes, trevor dunn on bass, marc ribot on guitar, john zorn directing (and picking up the sax for one piece, a pretty tuneful ballad with a mini-zorn spazz-out in the middle), cyro baptista on a plethora of percussion and, not pictured behind john, the incredible joey baron on drums.
this was a two-night stand at st ann's. the first night was to be the world premiere of "the dreamers", zorn's new album in "the gift" series, and the second night was the new installment of his "essential cinema" series, where the band, behind a giant screen, played original music to experimental cinema/short films.

getting to the box office i did notice a large sign right by the window stating 'absolutely no photography or video'. this made me a bit sad, but i figured i'd see what happened. after the show started and it was obvious that this would be a night of extraordinary music, and i saw a couple flashbulbs popping, i couldn't keep my hands away from the camera. i had to squeeze off quick shots as i didn't want to disturb anyone around (or get the attention of the ubiquitous security guys) and it is a seated venue, so there wasn't any chance to compose shots or roam around. however, for me it was worth documenting in any form.

on the spur of the moment one afternoon back in 1990, four friends and i decided that we should drive from detroit to chicago to see 'naked city' perform at a venue called 'park west'. didn't matter that none of us was familiar enough with the windy city to pinpoint the venue, or that we would be leaving on a five and a half hour drive six hours before the show. so we went. made it to the club a few songs into the set, and the door guy looked at the scruffy five of us, identically dressed in black leather and ripped jeans (there may have been a trenchcoat....derf), and told us there were no tables left, but we could sit on the stairway three-quarters back. so we did, like musty monkeys, and saw the most potent combination of jazz/free jazz/ spy/surf music/country and death metal that has ever graced a stage. (if you can take a little bombasm in your music, check out the eponymous 'naked city'- the music takes swoops screams and changes genres on the head of a pin - not for the faint of heart, but impossible to imagine it played live. which was the driving reason behind why we went - 'there is NO WAY they can pull this off live'. well they certainly did)

with that history in mind i bought tix for both nights and buckled down for the ride.

the space is huge - it is after all a barely converted warehouse, but there were not any distracting reverb problems i could hear. on the downside the speaker set was a bit primitive, with a giant pile on poles on either side of the stage. was too close and to the side to get the full experience, but on the two successive nights i sat on either side so eventually got both channels.

the first night was a complete rendition of "the dreamers". quiet, lush tunes with an omnipresent hint of danger wafting around. funny, compared to the free jazz stuff, i hear this as downright beautiful and melodic, but when i played the disc in-store the other night, an employee asked me if it was mine. 'yup, whaddya think of it?' 'it's a bit creepy and is going to give me nightmares.' oh
for an encore they played a few tracks from "the gift". an almost two-hour, very satisfying set, and as a bonus when i got outside, it was snowing those fluffy peaceful flakes and everything covered in white. soaking by the time i reached the two train at clark street and it had started to melt on me - still, on the elevator to the underground, i looked at a happy couple and said 'beautiful tonight, eh?" and got a hearty 'oh yes it is. i hope it lasts' back.on

the second night entered to find the musicians almost completely hidden behind what had to be a 30x30 foot screen. the accompanied five shortish films, lasting about an hour and 20 minutes, and ranging from the harry smith piece 'oz; the tin woodman's dream', two spooky pieces from joseph cornell including 'rose hobart', and maya deren's outstanding (and again a little creepy) 'ritual in transfigured time'. here's a link to that, btw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrWNXLPFz40
after that, john came out to introduce the band and announce that they had had so much fun playing "the dreamers" the night before, they were going to play it in its entirety again as an encore, if anyone cared to stick around while they took a break and removed the screen. hot damn!
and, well, that's exactly what they did. and by the time it was over, there was almost three hours of music played, by seven incredible musicians(nine the second night, with ikue mori (who often play as 'electric masada)).

quick rundown -

jamie saft tasteful and can play anarchy as convincingly as i've ever heard

kenny wolleson played vibes impeccably and was on his toes watching zorn for change up signals. he looked like he was having a ball.

trevor dunn played both standup and electric bass and was solid and just a bit funky

joey baron, one of my all-timers. hidden the first night and got some peeks the second night, he kept it busy but clean and got a couple chances to show his thunder.

cyro baptista kept busy wit upwards of thirty (fifty?) percussion devices, many of which looked (and sounded) like they came from a medieval torture chamber. he looked like the proverbial kid in a candy shop - gonna have to go check out his own group soon.

marc ribot. as below, and was co-conspirator with zorn up there. watched as john signaled 'one more, now one more time. again' and he played. the couple tracks he let loose on (don't know the titles yet, will add when i figure it out) were a wonder to listen to, sheer goosebump stuff.

and zorn? the kids next to me the second night, patient through the movies and returning for the encore, sounded a bit puzzled. 'he's not DOING anything' one said. and they were wrong, so wrong. he was listed as conductor, and that's exactly what he did. he looked like he was enjoying the show as much as any of us (cept the pair to my left, who left halfway thru). when a musician got on a roll, he'd hold his fist up and towards him, indicating 'keep on keepin on' many times he was doing that to two at a time, with a chaotic yet focused result. the songs both nights followed the same structure, but were stretched and squeezed into slightly different shapes (and a bit diff that the cd versions) depending on his whim. he was sort of remixing as he went. and again, looked (and sounded like) a kid with a new bike. hard to believe he's turned fifty - if i didn't know i'd guess mid-thirties.

on the second night, i sat on the left and took about five pictures total, mostly because the security was stationed on that side of the hall, placing him about twenty feet away from me. managed to squeeze off a shot of the astounding marc ribot (possibly long aside here - he instantly vaulted into my favorite guitarists of all time list, in the top five for sure. he has incredible dexterity and skill, but more importantly, he can make that baby speak, sing cry shout whisper tease. there is a plateau far beyond technique and a few stops past soul where you reach a sort of spiritual level of communion/communication, and he's squarely there). when they came up for their bows and the crowd stood, i figured it was open game for a shot or two. nope. as soon as i had snapped a few, got a firm series of taps on the shoulder and an order to 'put that thing away'.
ah well, hope this gives a small idea