Gift

John Zorn | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 27, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tzadik
• ASIN: B000059RTZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,120 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Avant-Garde

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the other reviewers don't get it -- ignore them, January 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gift (Audio CD)

the gift isn't any of the things you read here. it is lounge music for the 00's. some of ribot's stylish gutar playing is indeed surf like but the basis of the music is latin beats so this isn't surf. the melodies are strong, the band is excellent, and the arrangements (which is zorn's greatest tallent, exploiting the individual talents of the players in the composition as well as the arrangement) are ingeneous. this is no parody of lounge music (which is boring and of which there is enough already) it is respectful and exploits the values of lounge effectively in an updated context.

that's all very well but what earns this disk 5 stars is its extraordinary feel. initially it sounds just like those 50's pop instrumentals: happy, carefree, upbeat. but you quickly get the idea that something is wrong. the smile is slowly turning into a sinister grin. as the cd moves on this aspect begins to dominate and the music becomes tense with evil. the intent is made clear with the last track; a grotesque reprise of the first. it's as though the music has been secretly invaded and taken over by an invisible, sinister force like in a cheesy horror movie: the face still has a vapid smile on it but you can see that behind it is a body posessed by evil.

this therefore functions as a powerful critique of 50s american life: vapid, hypocritical and secretly sinister. this is quite an achievement for an instrumental cd. the packaging and art (which is really nothing to get excited about) is another metaphor of the same deciet: evil wrapped as a gift.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The quiet dream of a jazz-thrash artist, October 26, 2003

By 

SPM "scott_maykrantz" (Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gift (Audio CD)

Zorn's reputation comes from his noisy cut-up music. It seems like he's either recording a complex collage of sound effects or he's squealing his way through a Masada improv. From Painkiller to Leng T'che, the guy knows how to melt a speaker or two.

This album --- a collection of beautiful, playful melodies --- seems to be out of character. But it's not. Scattered throughout the massive Zorn catalogue are dozens of songs like these. Just
listen to Bar Kokhba or his soundtrack to Port of Last Resort and you'll see he's been here before.

The real step forward on this album is an eerie tension that underlies every song. Somehow, there's a *threat* lurking in the surf music and the gentle trumpet solos. Is it in the composition, or should we credit the musicians? I have no idea. I just know that after the sixth or seventh time I heard this album, I heard more than pretty background music.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The quiet dream of a jazz-thrash artist, May 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Gift (Audio CD)

Zorn's reputation comes from his noisy cut-up music. It seems like he's either recording a complex collage of sound effects or he's squealing his way through a Masada improv. From Painkiller to Leng T'che, the guy knows how to melt a speaker or two.

This album --- a collection of beautiful, playful melodies --- seems to be out of character. But it's not. Scattered throughout the massive Zorn catalogue are dozens of songs like these. Just listen to Bar Kokhba or his soundtrack to Port of Last Resort and you'll see he's been here before.

The real step forward on this album is an eerie tension that underlies every song. Somehow, there's a *threat* lurking in the surf music and the gentle trumpet solos. Is it in the composition, or should we credit the musicians? I have no idea. I just know that after the sixth or seventh time I heard this album, I heard more than pretty background music.