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).
John Zorn is an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer and record producer with over 150 works under his own name and many more as an interpreter, composer and producer in various genres like classical music, soundtracks, jazz, ambient music, rock, heavy metal, surf, hardcore punk and improvised music. In his compositions he incorporates different avant-garde styles and have been performed by countless artists.
He has written elaborate “game pieces”, mixed hardcore punk and free jazz, written three score books, composed many soundtracks for independent films, solo organ works, chamber pieces, rock and exotic jazz recordings. He is also the founder of the Tzadik label and a prominent figure in the art scene in downtown New York. He has mentored a multitude of musicians in the United States, Europe and Asia, and has spread the work of many others through his record company.
Dresser and Baron begin to play with an animated rhythm, then Zorn joins in to expose the main melody of the theme, which is cheerful and funny, and in the bridge Berne meets him in AABA structure. Next Zorn and Bern begin playing a solo together supported very intensely by Baron. It’s a free improvisation in which the two alto saxophones put the best of themselves. They intertwine, play cat and mouse and delight in their different speeches, but little by little they harden their interpretation reaching culminating moments. Afterwards they re-expose the theme, but with more strength than before, and add a passage in which Zorn and Bern go wild all the way to the end.
