:: Friday, May 23, 2003 ::

[154.1] ZORN AND RODRIGUEZ SYNERGIZE

Constitutional musical maverick John Zorn's compositional and saxophone talents effortlessly traverse the worlds of contemporary classical, freeform jazz, avant post-rock and breakneck cartoon freakery. Frankly, you never know what he's going to come out with next -- which makes his decision to team up with vituosic Cuban percussionist Roberto Juan Rodriguez perfectly predictable in its sheer unpredictability. The pair assemble two equally intriguing cross-sections of musical fauna at the Barbican Centre on the evening of Sunday 20 July. Zorn's band, which includes shimmering guitarist Marc Ribot, effects to disassemble and reassemble traditional Jewish sounds, while Rodriguez combines horns, strings and David Karkauer's klezmer-style clarinet. Percussive wizardy welds the projects together in an orgy of differance. Two zeds and a couple of noughts. Not to be missed...

While you're about it, why not visit Tzadik, Zorn's radical cultural site, "dedicated to releasing the best in avant garde and experimental music, presenting a worldwide community of contemporary musician-composers who find it difficult or impossible to release their music through more conventional channels"? A cause definitely worth supporting.