Gapers Block has ceased publication.

Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
 Thank you for your readership and contributions. 

TODAY

Tuesday, March 19

Gapers Block
Search

Gapers Block on Facebook Gapers Block on Flickr Gapers Block on Twitter The Gapers Block Tumblr


Transmission
« Pulling Strings: For classical music in Chicago, you got a guy - November 2013 Review: Sparks @ Lincoln Hall, 11/6 »

Review Thu Nov 07 2013

Review: ICE plays John Zorn @ MCA

ICE Zorn
Michael Nicolas (cello) and Cory Smythe (piano) perform John Zorn's 'Occam's Razor'

As I settled in to my seat, eager for the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) to begin their performance of a half-dozen compositions by John Zorn at the MCA, I thought about the years I've spent listening to John Zorn's records, both written and improvised, wondering what these through-written pieces would sound like, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar site. A man dressed in a very familiar pair of camouflage cargo pants and a zippered hoodie popped out of a side door to have a quick glance at the stage. The most comfortably-dressed man in modern composition was here tonight! It added a hot spark to the anticipation knowing that Zorn himself would be watching from the wings.

Considering the breadth (and, in many cases, extremity) of Zorn's work, I came in expecting ear-bleed and grinding teeth from start to finish, but was surprised to hear not just his tender side, but also his beautifully classicist nature. The opening piece, a work for solo clarinet based on Herman Hesse's novel "Steppenwolf," was a long, lyrical work that sounded like the 1930s as inhabited by early modernist pioneers like Charles Ives and Henry Cowell, using abstraction as a way to color the mind and the mood, building to a dazzling sequence where clarinetist Joshua Rubin cleared intervallic jumps like he was playing hopscotch. To use Anthony Braxton's terminology, the gravallic weight of this piece was off the charts. The fireworks evoked, however, never overpowered the sheer lyrical beauty of the composition and Rubin's masterful handling of it.

The follow-up, titled "Occam's Razor," was scored for cello and piano. It wasn't just the finest ICE piece I've witnessed, nor the best Zorn composition, but some of the most amazing music I've ever heard. The playing was fluid, like liquid clouds barreling through keyholes, with lots of start/stop moments that gave the piece the feeling of breathing. The thought of some of James Tenney's works for cello and piano passed through my mind a few times, but the piece was all Zorn's, navigating lurches of tempo and tone with a sure hand, creating a work that transcended abstraction, subversion of "conventional" music concepts, and other off-putting tags to present something that seemed to radiate pure beauty, the kind that doesn't require a lengthy description in a program.

"The Tempest," a work written for ICE and scored for flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, and drum set, gave each performer a character from Shakespeare's play, though flautist Claire Chase coyly told the audience that we'd have to figure out for ourselves who was who. My notes simply say, "Power! Thunder! SOREY!" Because as great as flautist Claire Chase and clarinetist Rubin played, drummer Tyshawn Sorey held the audience rapt, guiding the difficult piece through a dozen or more changes of tone and intensity, one moment a disciplinarian marching band conductor, the next a rock god of thunder.

2004's "Walpurgistnacht," for string trio, contained playing so telepathic and mobile, the melodic lines shot like firing neurons from player to player, as if the trio was a large, single stringed instrument.

While the group set up, both Clare Chase and John Zorn talked with the audience. In regards to 1972's "Canon to Stravinsky," written in the year of Stravinsky's death, Zorn explained, rather surprisingly, that "everyone was writing canons around that time!" (A side of 1972 few of us remember...) Though short, the fun and funny little piece really did feel like Stravinsky in all the best ways, especially in the work of ICE's rock-star bassoonist Rebekah Heller. Can't have Stravinsky without a bassoon!

The piece with the most instruments was the three-part "Baudelaires," scored for flute/bass flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, harpsichord, guitar, violin, viola, and cello. This extraordinary piece was full of language-like phrasing, as if the group was translating Baudelaire's words into pure song. Musical phrases lilted up at the end like questions or plugged into you like a blurted curse. The harpsichord always adds an interesting timbre to new music, sounding here more like a '50s-vintage computer crunching data than the plaything of wig-powdered aristocrats. There was enormous timbral variety in the piece (each part was based on a different Baudelaire work), and each member made their brilliance known throughout the piece, whether it was a creative rake of Dan Lippel's guitar or Nicolas' gliding cello.

Zorn thanked ICE profusely, saying "I've come to realize that music is all about people. If you work with passionate, wonderful people, the music will always be the best you could hope for it." After minutes of applause from the audience, Zorn returned with his trademark alto sax and Sorey in tow. The two commenced to strafe the audience with a short, wooly improv that was wholly welcome to audience members who knew about Zorn's Mr. Hyde side.

Three cheers to ICE and John Zorn for one of the best nights of music I've seen in a very long time.

 
GB store
GB store

Feature Thu Dec 31 2015

Our Final Transmission Days

By The Gapers Block Transmission Staff

Transmission staffers share their most cherished memories and moments while writing for Gapers Block.

Read this feature »

Blogroll

  Chicago Music Media

Alarm Magazine
BackStage
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Boxx Magazine
Brooklyn Vegan Chicago
Can You See The Sunset From The Southside
Chicago Reader Music
Chicagoist Arts & Events
ChicagoMusic.org
Chicago Music Guide
Chicago Singles Club
CHIRP
Country Music Chicago
Cream Team
Dark Jive
Daytrotter
The Deli Chicago
Jim DeRogatis
Do312
Fake Shore Drive
Gowhere Hip Hop
Gridface
The Hood Internet
Innerview
Jaded in Chicago
Largehearted Boy
Little White Earbuds
Live Fix Blog
Live Music Blog
Loud Loop Press
Oh My Rockness
Pop 'stache
Pitchfork
Pop Matters
Resident Advisor
Songs:Illinois
Sound Opinions
Sun-Times Music Blog
Theft Liable to Prosecution
Tribune Music
UR Chicago
Victim Of Time
WFMU's Beware of the Blog
Windy City Rock

  Venues:

Abbey Pub
Andy's Jazz Club
Aragon Ballroom
Auditorium Theatre
Beat Kitchen
B.L.U.E.S
Bottom Lounge
Buddy Guy's Legends
The Burlington
California Clipper
Concord Music Hall
Congress Theater
Constellation
Cubby Bear
Double Door
Elbo Room
Empty Bottle
FitzGerald's
Green Mill
The Hideout
Honky Tonk BBQ
House of Blues
Kingston Mines
Lincoln Hall
Logan Square Auditorium
Martyrs'
Mayne Stage
Metro
The Mutiny
Old Town School of Folk Music
Park West
The Promontory
Red Line Tap
Reggie's Rock Club & Music Joint
The Riviera
Rosa's
Schubas
Thalia Hall
The Shrine
Smartbar
Subterranean
Symphony Center
Tonic Room
Township
Uncommon Ground
The Vic
The Whistler

  Labels, Promoters
  & Shops:

Alligator Records
Atavistic
Beverly Records
Bloodshot Records
Dave's Records
Delmark Records
Drag City
Dusty Groove
Flameshovel Records
Groove Distribution
He Who Corrupts
Hozac
Jam Productions
Jazz Record Mart
Kranky Records
Laurie's Planet of Sound
Minty Fresh
Numero Group
mP Shows
Permanent Records
Reckless Records
Smog Veil Records
Southport & Northport Records
Thick Records
Thrill Jockey Records Touch & Go/Quarterstick Records
Victory Records

GB store

Events

Featured Series














 

Transmission on Flickr

Join the Transmission Flickr Pool.


About Transmission

Transmission is the music section of Gapers Block. It aims to highlight Chicago music in its many varied forms, as well as cover touring acts performing in the city. More...
Please see our submission guidelines.

Editor: Sarah Brooks, sarah@gapersblock.com
Transmission staff inbox: transmission@gapersblock.com

Archives

 

Transmission Flickr Pool
 Subscribe in a reader.

GB store

GB Store

GB Buttons $1.50

GB T-Shirt $12

I ✶ Chi T-Shirts $15