Naked City cover

Naked City

Released

The 1990 debut by Zorn’s quintet — Bill Frisell on guitar, Wayne Horvitz on keyboards, Fred Frith on bass, Joey Baron on drums, with Boredoms vocalist Eye Yamatsuka howling and shrieking up front — brought his jump-cut aesthetic out of the New York avant-garde and onto college radio. His own furious compositions, which caromed from country to free jazz to dub to grindcore with little narrative logic but energy to spare, were balanced by romantic versions of movie themes from Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, and more, plus a take on Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman” that features a driving rock backbeat.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Emanon cover

Emanon

Wayne Shorter
The Outer View cover

The Outer View

George Russell
Sama Layuca cover

Sama Layuca

McCoy Tyner
Contact cover

Contact

Pharmakon
The New York Contemporary Five cover

The New York Contemporary Five

New York Contemporary Five, Archie Shepp
Life Metal cover

Life Metal

Sunn O)))
Elegy cover

Elegy

Theo Bleckmann
The Bandwagon cover

The Bandwagon

Jason Moran
Urban Bushmen cover

Urban Bushmen

Art Ensemble of Chicago