As regards Naked City 2003
> Shouldn't they be rehearsing or something?
According to Zorn, they rehearsed for 4 hours on Monday, and 3 on Tuesday.
> JZ gave a public interview before the concert, no real surprises there.
> He commented on the piece premiered last week "hermeticum sacrum" which
> he related again to Crowley as it is very religious in a way. He said he
> spent 9 months working on the instrumentation (harp, 12 vocalists, 5
> percussion/sound players, 2 organs if i recall correctly). He also
> described how he made his "computer music" pices: simply by manipulating
> and deconstructing boring demos that were sent to him!
I don't think that that was actually a serious comment. Zorn was obviously
at a loss for words because the interviewer asked him how he made the computer
music pieces right after Zorn had said that he knows nothing about computers
and does not even own one. After some introductory words he came up with this
story, and given the overall informal nature of the whole interview it was
my feeling that he completely invented that story on the spot.
Anyway, Mike Patton gave the best vocal performance of his career during
"The Vault" (and I have seen him many times in all kinds of settings).
What I liked about him was that he did not try to steal the show, as he
does with pretty much any other project he performs with. He was actually
acting like a shy boy when Zorn called him back on stage to receive the
standing ovation.
Bill Frisell was the least at ease. His playing was full of mistakes. He
got into more as the concert evolved, and it was great to see Zorn & Frisell
hugging each other after the gig.
All in all, it was a beautiful thing, although I had expected and hoped for
"Leng Tch'e" as well. Not bad for a band that only got back together because
the Holland Festival offered them the right amount of money.
Did anyone recognize the last song (second song of the encore)? I know it
from another context (maybe a Morricone song), but certainly have not heard
it in the Naked City context before.
Best comment of the evening: "The North Sea Jazz Festival is the worst festival
in the whole of Europe".
Frankco
