★Tzadik
Medietas
Brian Marsella is one of the most accomplished keyboard virtuosos in the Downtown scene. A vital member of projects by Cyro Baptista and John Zorn for decades, his fluid keyboard stylings and intense energy is legendary—and Medietas is his masterwork: a sprawling three-hour long work that embraces jazz, rock, funk, classical, world music, exotica, folk, soundtrack moods, and so much more. Segueing from song to song seamlessly, this is a work that puts you into an ecstatic dream world—a psychedel…
Samsara
Thirty-three years after their first meeting, Samsara is a spectacular reunion of three of the world's most extreme musical explorers—John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris.
New Masada Quartet, Volume Three
This long-awaited third volume featuring John Zorn's newest and most exciting ensemble, New Masada Quartet was recorded live at Roulette, one of Zorn's home bases in NYC. White hot and razor sharp, an intense electricity is in the air from the very first note. Resplendent with burning solos, telepathic group interaction, heartfelt lyricism, hypnotic grooves, and of course Zorn’s ever-surprising conducting techniques, this is truly one of the most transcendent sets they have yet performed. With a…
Brass Conspiracy
Composer, trumpeter, and educator Frank London has been a central figure of the Downtown Scene since the mid 1980s. A founding member of the Klezmatics, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and Hasidic New Wave, he has worked with everyone from LaMonte Young, Itzhak Perlman, John Cale, and Allen Ginsberg to Gal Costa, Lester Bowie, and Iggy Pop. This exciting project is a startling new take on the deep tradition of music for brass and percussion and is informed by Latin, New Orleans, Soundtrack, Ragti…
Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume Two
Volume Two documenting Barbara Hannigan’s collaboration with Downtown alchemist John Zorn presents four dramatic pieces for voice and ensemble—three composed expressly for Hannigan! Liber Loagaeth, a meditative composition for voice and string quartet that lies somewhere between a spell and a prayer—Star Catcher, a powerful tour-de-force for voice, piano, and rhythm section—Ab Eo, Quod, scored for voice, cello, vibes, electronics, and drums—and a Zorn classic, Pandora’s Box, his dramatic take on…
Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume One
A remarkable meeting of two musical forces of nature finally available on recording!
Ballades
This third CD from the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith is a delightful surprise--and one of Zorn's greatest achievements. Exploring a wide variety of tempi, moods, and feelings the compositions dive deeply into the parameters of melody, harmony, hythm, and texture, stretching the ballade format to its limits and beyond. The trio, three essential members of Zorn's inner circle, performs with passion, imagination, virtuosity, and a telepathic improvisational inte…
Her Melodious Lay
Julian Lage and Gyan Riley have a magical rapport, a deep mutual respect, and have recorded some of Zorn’s most melodious and intimate compositions. In addition to the many books of music written for their trio with Bill Frisell, they have also worked together as a duo on The Bagatelles (2015), Midsummer Moons (2017), Book Beri’ah (2019), and Quatrain (2023). For this fifth duo CD Zorn turns again to William Shakespeare for inspiration and has composed a varied collection of ballads, dances, lul…
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 13 - Biennale Musica Venezia
Zorn's first appearance at the world renowned Venice Biennale was a spectacular one. Invited to perform The Hermetic Organ at the famed 17th century Palazzo Pisano, he was surprised to find two small antique organs opposite one another on the small stage of its intimate concert hall. His performance that day was one of the very best Offices of The Hermetic Organ—a wild, acoustic affair that takes full advantage of the rich reeds, flutes, and horns of these two outstanding instruments. Zorn ran b…
Lamentations
Zorn's lush and seductive compositions for the magical trio of Frisell-Lage-Riley are some of his most beautiful 21st century creations, and this seventh CD in their ever-expanding series is their best yet. A dramatic and colorful tribute to the expressive Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, Lamentations contains four extended pieces that unfold like exotic flowers—gorgeous music with a dark philosophical edge. These master musicians—three of the greatest guitarists in the world—work together with a profou…
The Advocate
One of the most important musical partnerships in English Free Improvisation was the duo of Tony Oxley and Derek Bailey. Their long standing friendship began as early as 1963 with the group Joseph Holbrooke (including composer/bassist Gavin Bryars) and lasted over forty years. These recordings were created in the studio in 1975 and catch them at their peak. Also included is Oxley’s touching tribute to Bailey, a dynamic new piece for electronics and percussion recorded live at the recent Bailey t…
...Here's to Another Day and Night for the Lwa of the Woke
The mystical figure On Ka'a Davis returns for his second CD on Tzadik, and his first in twenty-five years - Blending the psychedelia of Sun Ra with Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, this is an epic, direct from the ever-growing counterculture of Downtown New York - Performing on guitar, synth keyboard, programmed sounds, and percussion On is joined here by Don McKenzie on drums and Ali Ali on trumpet. Years in the making the music is wild, varied, and intensely felt. A New York Underground classic! …
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 12 - The Bosch Requiem
Recorded at the Grote Kerk in Den Bosch as part of John Zorn’s 70th birthday celebration at November Music in Den Bosch, this exciting performance pays tribute to one of Zorn’s seminal influences—the 15th century painter Hieronymus Bosch. Performing on two different organs simultaneously, running from one to the other, this is one of the most bizarre installments in the entire Hermetic Organ series. The CD begins with a rare private performance of Zorn alone in the church exploring and stretchin…
Asterisms
Big Tip! Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/producer/songwriters working today. Sean has written countless songs, composed film scores, produced, and performed on dozens of albums-and here he steps out as the leader of an all-star band of Downtown luminaries. Years in the making, the music is powerful, trippy, and intensely imaginative, blending rock, electronics, jazz…
Masada 30th Anniversary Edition: The Complete Studio Master Takes
The premier ensemble of Radical Jewish Culture, Masada is one of Zorn’s most popular, personal, long-lasting, and powerful projects. Here you find the mother lode—the long-awaited Tzadik release of the original quartet’s first studio recordings. Released in Japan by DIW from 1994–1997 and previously available only as hard-to-find Japanese imports, all ten CDs are presented here in their original configurations accompanied by an 84-page booklet filled with photos, scores, and over twenty essays o…
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 11 - For Terry Riley
This newest edition of The Hermetic Organ is a beautiful and evocative tribute to one of John Zorn’s biggest mentors, the pioneer West Coast visionary, Terry Riley. Performed Mat San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral during the epic concert series presented by Fred Barnes at the Great American Music Hall in September 2023 for Zorn’s 70th birthday, this is one of the most touching and personal of all Zorn’s organ recitals.
Present in the audience were a large number of the composer’s closest a…
Eye To Ear
2024 stock. Famous as an improviser and a rock guitarist (Henry Cow, Art Bears, Residents, Massacre, Skeleton Crew, French/Frith/Kaiser/Thompson), Fred Frith is still highly under-rated as a composer. Since relocating to Germany in the early '90s, Frith has composed soundtracks for a number of films and has chosen his finest for his first Tzadik release, Eye To Ear.
Hit Parade of Tears
"Hit Parade of Tears" is an album inspired by the short stories of Japanese author Izumi Suzuki, married to musician Kaoru Abe, who tragically ended her life at the age of 36. Suzuki's wholly original short stories paved the way for the science fiction genre and in many ways predicted the cyberpunk movement. Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins have created a beautiful and mysterious collection of musical miniatures that reference Suzuki's sensibility with remarkable feeling and compassion. A touching tr…
The Fourth Way
Zorn’s latest book of music for piano trio is inspired by the writings and thought of the elusive, mystical figure Georges Gurdjieff. The music is expansive, ranging from heartfelt lyricism to textural madness and is brilliantly performed by a tight trio of musical masters—treasured members of Zorn’s innermost circle. Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith form a fiery, soulful unit capable of jumping from a whisper to a scream at the drop of a hat. Following up on their acclaimed debut “S…
Parrhesiastes
This fifth CD by the Chaos Magick band is one of Zorn’s greatest recent achievements. Three extended compositions that run the gamut from Funk, Metal, Contemporary Classical, and more blended into a dramatic narrative that is constantly surprising and yet deeply inevitable. Featuring four of the most accomplished performers in Zorn’s inner circle, this is a mind blowing document of Zorn’s kaleidoscopic compositional vision. Astonishing and utterly essential! John Medeski, Brian Marsella, Matt Ho…