Changes in John Zorn's residency
Artist In Residence John Zorn was to bring 30 musicians from New York's improjazz scene to this year's Moldejazz. With such a number, it is no wonder that changes can occur along the way. This has now happened on the basis of maturities from Erik Friedlander and John Medeski.
Terese De Avila | MerzSax | Electric Masada
Friedlander's solo cello concerto at Krona goes out and is replaced by the solo sax concerto MerzSax with John Zorn himself, a tribute to Kurt Schwitters. Friedlander's duo with Michael Nicolas in Bagatelles Marathon is also canceled. As for John Medeski, his demise will primarily affect the Simulacrum project on Thursday, it will be replaced by an "all-star" Electric Masada band with this crew; John Zorn - sax, Julian Lage - guitar, Matt Hollenberg - guitar, Brian Marsella - fender rhodes, piano and organ, Trevor Dunn - bass, Ikue Mori - electronics, Joey Baron - drums, Kenny Grohowski - drums.
Although these due dates are in themselves boring, John Zorn is committed to making this residence in Molde something very special.
- I have never been so involved and played so much even on such a residency before, he says in a comment.
John Zorn is a very creative artist with many new releases every single year. The opening concert Nove Cantici with the three guitarists Bill Frisell, Gyan Riley and Julian Lage was originally planned for his residency in 2020. In the meantime, however, Zorn has come up with a new release, "Terese De Avila", with the same ensemble and in the same musical the landscape. This is the third and final release in an album series inspired by Christian mysticism, the first two being "Julian of Norwich" and "Nove Cantici (per Fransesco d’Assisi)".
In dialogue with John Zorn, the festival has concluded that it is the latest work "Terese De Avila" that will be presented at this year's opening concert in Molde Cathedral.
This is how Bagatelles Marathon becomes part I (Teatret Vårt 20/7 at 14:00):
MASADA: John Zorn - sax, Dave Douglas - trumpet, Greg Cohen - bass, Joey Baron - drums
BRIAN MARSELLA SOLO (Piano)
MARY HALVORSON QUARTET: Mary Halvorson - guitar, Miles Okazaki - guitar, Drew Gress - bass, Tomas Fujiwara - drums
PETER EVANS SOLO (trumpet)
BEN GOLDBERG QUARTET: Ben Goldberg - clarinet, Craig Taborn - piano, Jorge Roeder - bass, Thomas Morgan - bass
TRIGGER: Will Greene - guitar, Simon Hanes - bass, Aaron Edgcomb - drums
This is how Bagatelle's Marathon part II will be (Teatret Vårt 20/7 at 20:00):
NOVA QUARTET: Brian Marsella - piano, Kenny Wollesen - vibes, Trevor Dunn - bass, Joey Baron - drums
GYAN RILEY (Guitar) AND JULIAN LAGE (Guitar)
BRIAN MARSELLA TRIO: Brian Marsella - piano, Trevor Dunn - bass, Kenny Wollesen - drums
IKUE MORI (Electronics)
KRIS DAVIS: Kris Davis - piano, Mary Halvorson - guitar, Drew Gress - bass, Kenny Wollesen - drums
ASMODEUS: Marc Ribot - guitar, Trevor Dunn - bass, Kenny Grohowski - drums