The Phantom of The Organ

John Zorn - The Hermetic Organ vol. 2 - St. Paul's Chapel, NYC (2014) {Tzadik TZ 8312}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 223 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 114 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Tzadik | TZ 8312 | Tzadik Archival Series
Classical / Avant-Garde / Modern Classical / Improvisation / Organ

Drawing upon traditions as varied as Messiaen, Xenakis, Ligeti, Bach, Tournemire, Ives, Korla Pandit and The Phantom of the Opera, Zorn’s organ improvisations are transcendent, inspiring, ecstatic experiences, offering a direct line to the workings of his rich compositional imagination. Performed at St. Paul’s Chapel at a time when the organ was undergoing extensive reconstruction, the limited number of stops available to him focused his imagination to new heights, resulting in Zorn’s most revelatory recital to date. The second volume documenting these legendary organ recitals is a overwhelming experience filled with moments of passion, tenderness, fragility and extraordinary power.

John Zorn - The Hermetic Organ vol. 4 - St. Bart's, NYC (2016) {Tzadik TZ 8340}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 179 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb | Artwork
© 2016 Tzadik | TZ 8340 | Tzadik Archival Series
Classical / Avant-Garde / Jazz / Improvisation / Organ

Drawing upon traditions as varied as Messiaen, Xenakis, Ligeti, Bach, Tournemire, Ives, Korla Pandit and The Phantom of the Opera, Zorn’s organ improvisations are transcendent, inspiring, ecstatic experiences, offering a direct line to the workings of his rich compositional imagination. Recorded at midnight on the eve of Halloween on the largest organ in New York City, Zorn approaches this performance as ritual, creating a mysterious mood of contrasts, colors, bells, drones, counterpoint and simultaneity. This fourth volume documenting Zorn’s legendary organ recitals presents organ improvisation at its most surprising, extreme and sublime.

Although released in 1971, the debut self-titled album by Spirit of John Morgan was actually recorded two years earlier, before the spirit of the '60s dissipated into the excesses of the '70s. But even back in 1969, the British quartet were already fish out of water, gasping for R&B in a Technicolor age of psychedelia. So they created their own, an entire album's worth of strong, shadowed, R&B numbers underlit by magnificent musicianship and powerful rhythms. The set opener, a menacing cover of Graham Bond's "I Want You," is a case in point, stalker-like in its intensity, with John Morgan's organ conjuring up a phantom of the opera from which there is no escape.

Starlight Dancer (1977). Like fellow proggers Genesis, the late '70s saw Kayak make an abrupt shift to glossy but thin radio-friendly pop. Though Koopman remains as a lyricist and arranger, the rhythm section has been replaced by the quite conventional bassist Charles Schouten and drummer Theo DeJong. The ostinato bass and hi-hat on "I Want You to Be Mine," for one, smell strongly of a discothèque. "Ballad for a Lost Friend" shows an increasing predilection for Queen-like bombast by the guitarist, though it and "Still My Heart Cries for You" do revive some of the band's old aggressive sense of dynamics. But more typical is the bland closing instrumental "Irene." There's a certain coldness to the proceedings, and the band's virtuosity has been watered down for easy digestion. Though not a bad album on its own merits, it's likely to alienate fans of their early work…

John Zorn - The Hermetic Organ, Vol 1 - St. Paul's Chapel, NYC (2012) {Tzadik TZ 7399}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 193 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2012 Tzadik | TZ 7399 | Tzadik Archival Series
Classical / Avant-Garde / Modern Classical / Improvisation / Organ

This is the first volume documenting Zorn's breathtaking solo organ improvisations. Although organ was Zorn's first instrument (he often credits Lon Chaney in the silent classic Phantom of the Opera as a primal influence), in 2011 Zorn surprised even his hardcore fans by initiating a new series of solo organ concerts in churches around the world. Premiering at the historic Christ Church in Philadelphia, the word on these concerts spread like wildfire and further events were set up in Belgium, France and of course in New York.

The Complete Wooly Bully Years 1963-1968 includes six albums on three CDs plus bonus recordings, including non-LP singles. The quintessential Tex-Mex band of the 1960s, Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs hailed from Dallas, Texas where Domingo "Sam" Samudio was born in 1937 and raised. After chart success eluded them after recording Haunted House for the Dingo label in 1965 they landed a contract with MGM Records, home of such rock 'n' roll artists as Roy Orbison, The Animals, and Herman's Hermits.