Full Fathom Five - John Zorn (2023)

Zorn’s music is mostly on his own label, Tzadik, and it hasn’t been available to stream until very recently. So while I will eventually get around to writing up some of my favorite Zorn-involved records, I started with a very recent release of his compositions in a recording he “conducted” but didn’t play on.

This combo of pianist Brian Marsella, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Ches Smith has recorded several records of Zorn music. They’re joined here by Julian Lage, a formidable jazz guitar talent himself.

The result of improv-heavy musicians playing inside Zorn’s structured and directed chaos is a really interesting mix of the compositional and the improvisational.