John Zorn - The Bribe (1998)

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John Zorn - The Bribe (1998)

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John Zorn - The Bribe - Variations And Extensions On Spillane [1998]
APE & MP3 + CUE + LOG | TT 78:54 | Full artwork @ 300dpi
APE = 471 mb | MP3 (vbr lame "–preset standard") = 112 mb
Jazz / Avant-Garde / Modern Composition

Conceived and recorded in 1986 as the soundtrack to three 30-minute radio plays, John Zorn's The Bribe is subtitled "variations and extensions on Spillane." So the composer-altoist's followers ought to know what's coming. Some 26 separate tracks, ranging in duration from 47 seconds to more than 11 minutes long, are performed by an East Village A-team: Zorn and Marty Ehrlich on reeds; trombonist Jim Staley; harpists Zeena Parkins and Carol Emanuel; guitarists Robert Quine and Reck; keyboardists Anthony Coleman and Wayne Horvitz; turntablist Christian Marclay; percussionist Bobby Previte; and Ikue Mori on drum machines. The individualities of these improvisors tend to be subsumed in Zorn's quick-cut/hard-edit directorial style, which favors sudden narrative leaps and striking contrasts over highly developed, personal statements. But there's a lot of hip playing anyway, bits and pieces of which demand recognition and appreciation. Zorn blows alto on "The Taxman Cometh" and Ehrlich out-squalls him on "Skit Rhesus." Birds whistle over drones and harp on "Dreams of the Red Chamber." Surf-guitar rocks out on "Chippewa" and "Strip Central." Organs, synths, celeste, and piano collude in the heavenly "Victoria Lake." "Pink Limousine" has a dozen episodes of its own, and "Skyline," is as close to a resolving piece as Zorn has yet released. If the overall effect deifies a single atmosphere, The Bribe is more done deal than anything-goes jam. It's through-composed, maybe fixed as to when rather than what the musicians play. The stage production seems to be about temptations, betrayals, sudden impulses and turnarounds, chases, and other such matters noir. Listeners are meant to hold on for the ride - to adopt the viewer's perspective - rather than expect cosmic revelation or emotional empathy from the music. For all the apparent randomness of its ratchet and samples and jaw's-harp plucks and cheesy themes wrapped in straightforward horn licks subverted by tasty guitar, Zorn has a plan here, a theatrical mandate. Consider the CD an alternate soundtrack to Touch of Evil or some other movie masterpiece; it's not likely - or is it? - that this sliced-and-diced construct is the soundtrack to Zorn's life.
(Jazziz review)