Spy vs Spy (album)
Encyclopedia
Spy vs Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman is a 1989 album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn
, featuring the compositions of Ornette Coleman
performed in the brief intense style of Zorn's hardcore miniatures.
The liner notes thank Ornette and Denardo Coleman
, Mick Harris
of Napalm Death
, Ted Epstein of Blind Idiot God
, Pil of Lip Cream (a Japanese thrashcore group), The Accused
, Craig Flanagan, DRI
, CBGB
, and "the New York-London-Tokyo Hardcore Triangle". The cover artwork was created by indie comics personality Mark Beyer
(of "Amy and Jordan
" fame). The album itself approaches free jazz from the perspective of hardcore punk, particularly taking note of the contemporary innovations of thrashcore
and grindcore
. Zorn would later pursue these preoccupations in the thrash jazz group Naked City
.
Like some classic free jazz albums (Free Jazz
, Ascension, Archie Shepp
's Mama Too Tight), different saxophonists improvise simultaneously in stereo. Tim Berne
appears on the left channel, while John Zorn is recorded on the right channel.
awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The performances are concise with all but four songs being under three minutes and seven under two, but the interpretations are unremittingly violent. The lack of variety in either mood or routine quickly wears one out".
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, featuring the compositions of Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
performed in the brief intense style of Zorn's hardcore miniatures.
The liner notes thank Ornette and Denardo Coleman
Denardo Coleman
Denardo Ornette Coleman is an American jazz drummer. He is the son of Ornette Coleman and Jayne Cortez.Denardo Coleman began playing drums at age six; his first appearance on record was on his father's 1966 album The Empty Foxhole; Ornette later featured Denardo on many of his releases, and he...
, Mick Harris
Mick Harris
Mick Harris commonly known and credited both as Mick Harris or occasionally M.J. Harris, is an English musician....
of Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
, Ted Epstein of Blind Idiot God
Blind Idiot God
Blind Idiot God is an instrumental rock trio formed in the mid 1980s in St. Louis, Missouri by guitarist Andy Hawkins, bassist Gabe Katz and drummer Ted Epstein. They socialized with the St. Louis hardcore punk scene, including members of Drunks with Guns and Ultraman...
, Pil of Lip Cream (a Japanese thrashcore group), The Accused
The Accüsed
The Accüsed is a crossover thrash band from Seattle, WA, founded in 1981. They are considered to be an important progenitor of the crossover style that bridged the gap between thrashcore and thrash metal, later influencing grindcore and some crust punk bands; as well as an influential band in the...
, Craig Flanagan, DRI
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles is a thrash metal/crossover thrash band from the United States that formed in Houston, in 1982. The band currently comprises founding members, vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as drummer Rob Rampy and bassist Harald Oimoen.D.R.I...
, CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, and "the New York-London-Tokyo Hardcore Triangle". The cover artwork was created by indie comics personality Mark Beyer
Mark Beyer
Mark Beyer is a comic artist known for his bleak storylines, often featuring death, disfigurement, depression, and humiliation, which contrast with his childlike, geometric drawing style. Most of his stories are about the adventures of a codependent yet resentful couple named Amy and Jordan.His...
(of "Amy and Jordan
Amy and Jordan
Amy and Jordan is a comic book by Mark Beyer, featuring a dysfunctional couple who are victimized by each other and by blind circumstance. The characters Amy and Jordan appear in other works by Beyer, including Agony . It was listed in Time Magazine's "Best Comix of 2004"....
" fame). The album itself approaches free jazz from the perspective of hardcore punk, particularly taking note of the contemporary innovations of thrashcore
Thrashcore
Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...
and grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
. Zorn would later pursue these preoccupations in the thrash jazz group Naked City
Naked City (band)
Naked City was an avant-garde music group led by saxophonist and composer John Zorn. Active primarily in New York City from 1988 to 1993, Naked City was initiated by Zorn as a "composition workshop" to test the limits of composition in a traditional rock band lineup...
.
Like some classic free jazz albums (Free Jazz
Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation
Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is the sixth album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960. Its title established the name of the then-nascent free jazz movement...
, Ascension, Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
's Mama Too Tight), different saxophonists improvise simultaneously in stereo. Tim Berne
Tim Berne
Tim Berne is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist," Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s...
appears on the left channel, while John Zorn is recorded on the right channel.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The performances are concise with all but four songs being under three minutes and seven under two, but the interpretations are unremittingly violent. The lack of variety in either mood or routine quickly wears one out".
Track listing
- "WRU" - 2:38
- "Chronology" - 1:08
- "Word for Bird" - 1:14
- "Good Old Days" - 2:44
- "The Disguise" - 1:18
- "Enfant" - 2:37
- "Rejoicing" - 1:38
- "Blues Connotation" - 1:05
- "C. & D." - 3:05
- "Chippie" - 1:08
- "Peace Warriors" - 1:20
- "Ecars" - 2:28
- "Feet Music" - 4:45
- "Broad Way Blues" - 3:42
- "Space Church" - 2:28
- "Zig Zag" - 2:54
- "Mob Job" - 4:24
- All Compositions by Ornette Coleman
- Recorded at Power Station, New York City on August 18 and 19, 1988
Personnel
- John ZornJohn ZornJohn Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
: alto saxophone - Tim BerneTim BerneTim Berne is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist," Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s...
: alto saxophone - Mark DresserMark DresserMark Dresser is an American double bass player and composer.-Biography:He has performed and recorded with many of the luminaries of "new" jazz composition and improvisation. For ten years he performed with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, as well as diverse groups led by Ray Anderson, Tim Berne,...
: bass - Joey BaronJoey BaronJoey Baron is an American avant-garde jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Bill Frisell, Stan Getz, Steve Kuhn, and John Zorn...
: drums - Michael Vatcher: drums
External links
- Album online on Radio3Net a radio channel of Romanian Radio Broadcasting CompanyRomanian Radio Broadcasting CompanyThe Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company , informally referred to as Radio Romania , is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates four national radio channels, and, under the Radio România Regional umbrella, eleven regional radio stations. The four national radio channels are: Radio...