Performers

John Zorn’s The Dreamers (New York)

The Dreamers is a new suite by the ever-prolific composer for a band with the same personnel as Electric Masada. However, with one particularly crucial switch of instrumentation (Kenny Wolleson on vibes in lieu of drums), the sound palette is changed considerably to accommodate Zorn’s compositional priorities for this project. Here, he unabashedly mines a feeling of nostalgia, as the ensemble explores material (in a notably accessible way for those familiar with Zorn’s work) that draws on surf music, organ-trio jazz, film music, and psychedelia, with Marc Ribot’s inimitable guitar playing nearly always at the centre of the music-making.

It almost goes without saying that the band is comprised of utterly crack players and, as they delve into the nuanced grooves with which Zorn furnishes them, the band’s sound is totally slick and almost classically precise. On stage, Zorn’s role is primarily that of conductor and metteur en scène; he delivers decisive cues to his stage mates and directs the proceedings with puppetmaster care.

However, an outburst or two of caustic saxophone will surely be on tap too, as if to add spice to what, all told, is one of the smoothest and, indeed, most dreamlike concoctions in the Zorn canon.

Website:
www.tzadik.com

Artists:
Marc Ribot – guitar
Jamie Saft – piano
Kenny Wollesen – vibes
Trevor Dunn – bass
Cyro Baptista – percussion
Joey Baron – drums
John Zorn – saxophone, conductor