From March to May 2015, John Zorn composed 300 new tunes that were eventually collected into a book of music he called The Bagatelles.
Performed around the world by ensembles handpicked by Zorn, the choicest ensembles have gone into the studio and are being recorded for limited edition box sets available on Zorn’s Tzadik Label.
Over the pandemic-enforced hibernation Zorn asked long-term collaborator Sam Eastmond to assemble a group and prepare a set of The Bagatelles. This debut performance is the first UK outing of this incandescent and radical music performed by a select group featuring some of the most outrageous performers around.
Free to attend. Please note, audience numbers at this event are limited to comply with City's COVID policies and advice for visitors, so please do sign up to attend, via the 'register now' button above.
Performers
- Chris Williams Alto Sax
- Asha Parkinson Tenor Sax
- Emma Rawicz Tenor Sax
- Mick Foster Baritone Sax
- Noel Langley & Charlotte Keeffe Trumpets
- Joel Knee Trombone
- Jeff Miller Tuba
- Moss Freed Guitar
- Olly Chalk Piano
- Fergus Quill Bass
- Alasdair Pennington Drums
- Sam Eastmond Conductor & Arranger
About John Zorn and Sam Eastmond
John Zorn (b. 2 September 1953)
Composer, saxophonist, arranger, producer, label owner, curator, editor, alchemist, John Zorn defies attempts at categorisation.
His works include Cobra, Spillane, The Big Gundown, Naked City, Painkiller, Spy Vs Spy, Masada, Moonchild, Simulacrum, The Classic Guide To Strategy, and The Dreamers. His chamber and concert works have been performed in halls large and small around the world, he has written soundtracks and edits the Arcana: Musicians on Music series of books.
Sam Eastmond is a composer, arranger and trumpet player based in London. He has been collaborating with Zorn for most of the last decade recording two Masada albums for Zorn with his large ensemble The Spike Orchestra, Cerberus (Tzadik 2015) and Binah (Tzadik 2018). Other albums of his own compositions include Splintered Stories (Tzadik 2019) and Gulgoleth (Chant Records (2018).
He was a commissioned composer in the 2019 PRS Foundation New Music Biennial, contributed a Chapter to Arcana IX and recently played a residency of his arrangements of Zorn’s Masada Music at Cafe Oto for the 2021 London Jazz Festival with NYJO.
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