Zorn Organ

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is a place of prayer, peace, spiritual renewal, and a temple to all who love the organ—and Zorn responds in kind with a remarkably soothing and peaceful exploration of lyricism and sonic variation. Interrupted only occasionally by a few trademark Phantom of the Opera explosions, the music is meditative, devotional, and at times achingly beautiful. Inspired by the mystical worlds of William Blake and the French organ traditions of Charles Tournemire and Olivier Messiaen, the music is an extended exploration in search of spiritual healing.

Filled with wild sounds, bizarre juxtapositions, soulful melodies, and pulsating drones, this outrageous recital is one of Zorn’s very best. Inspired by Aleister Crowley’s Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli, and performed in a kind of trance state, this is music beyond thought, beyond beauty, beyond rationality. Recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Knoxville, Tennessee during the 2022 Big Ears Festival, this is Zorn at his metaphysical zenith. Organ improvisations with Mystery at its very heart—you have never heard such sounds!

In Search of the Miraculous is an album by composer John Zorn released as a part of Tzadik's Archival series in 2010. Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars. Writing for All About Jazz, Warren Allen stated "Some may find it difficult to embrace the mystical/minimalist aesthetic captured here, but there is so much art present. For Zorn as a composer, the writing is an important step in the development of his file card music. For the musicians, the songs contain deeply passionate performances that sound effortless, even where they are certainly not. And for the listener, there are pleasures to be found either just in listening or in trying to unwind some of the layers within this suite of music. This is simply an album to lose oneself within".

In 2020 Brian Marsella joined the heavy metal organ trio Simulacrum to spawn the astonishing fusion quartet Chaos Magick. This fourth CD in their ever-expanding legacy is a magical collection of instrumental music at its finest. Tighter and wilder than ever, Medeski, Hollenberg, Grohowski, and Marsella perform with a remark- able rapport in this provocative new direction from Downtown alchemist John Zorn, who has been exploring new musical worlds and confounding expectations since the 1970s!