Godard Spillane

a review by simon hopkins of
release format Godard Spillane by John Zorn (CD Album)

text

I can't imagine that 2000 will see a more important reissue emerge than this. Nor a more enjoyable one.

Dating from the mid 80s, 'Spillane' and 'Godard' represent a turning point in John Zorn's career, in terms of both his profile and his working methods. They were, however, originally released separately. 'Godard' (1985) appropriately enough, was originally released on a French label, Jean Rochard's NATO, as part of the Godard Ça Vous Chante album; consequently it's been unavailable for years. 'Spillane' (1986), of course, saw the light of day on the album of the same name, released by the altogether more visible Elektra Nonesuch. What both pieces have in common, though, is their now famous use of Zorn's filecard process, a system of individual instructions that enabled him both to organise a huge amount of information and to communicate clearly with the performing musicians. ('Composition,' says Zorn in the sleevenotes here, 'is imagining a music and finding a way to communicate it to musicians.') Immersing himself in the work of, and commentary on the work of these two very different maverick artists, Zorn then went on to create a series of cues based on their individual worlds. Choosing the work of Jean Luc Godard in particular made absolute sense, as the jump-cutting montage techniques notoriously pioneered by the founding father of the nouvelle vague were a major source of inspiration for the young Zorn.

The list of musicians Zorn gathered together to record these collages reads, in retrospect, like a group CV of New York's early 80s downtown scene, but, in actuality, the 'Godard' recording sessions marked the first occasion Zorn had worked with some of these players, most notably guitarist Bill Frisell. But check out the list anyway: Anthony Coleman (keyboards), Carol Emanuel (harp), Frisell, Christian Marclay (turntables), Bobby Previte (drums), David Weinstein (samples), David Hofstra (bass and tuba), Bob James (samples), Jim Staley (trombone), and, as narrators, Robert Quine, John Lurie, Luli Shioi, Wu Shao-Ying and the theatre director Richard Foreman, whose rehearsal methods had been exerted a considerable influence on the development of the filing card methodology. Zorn himself turned in by turns sultry and screaming alto, giving the world at large a glimpse of his emerging prowess as a player as well as composer.

So the two pieces finally find themselves side by side on this beautifully curated reissue as an edition of Tzadik's Archival series; the album also features the 'mini' filing card piece, 'Blues Nöel', also from a NATO compilation, Joyeux Nöel. The gorgeously designed accompanying concertina booklet features a good deal of commentary written by Zorn on such diverse topics as Godard, the compositional process and achieving 'unity' through organisation, as well as touching and often amusing reminiscences by Frisell, Coleman and Previte. All in all, a fascinating peep in to the mind of the late 20th Century's most important musical mind. Posted by simon hopkins at 00:00, 05 Apr 2000