Naked City cover

Naked City

Released

The 1990 debut by Zorn’s quintet — Bill Frisell on guitar, Wayne Horvitz on keyboards, Fred Frith on bass, Joey Baron on drums, with Boredoms vocalist Eye Yamatsuka howling and shrieking up front — brought his jump-cut aesthetic out of the New York avant-garde and onto college radio. His own furious compositions, which caromed from country to free jazz to dub to grindcore with little narrative logic but energy to spare, were balanced by romantic versions of movie themes from Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, and more, plus a take on Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman” that features a driving rock backbeat.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Forever Real cover

Forever Real

Fonda-Stevens Group
Passin’ Thru cover

Passin’ Thru

The Charles Lloyd Quartet
The Visitor cover

The Visitor

Kadhja Bonet
Ezz-Thetics cover

Ezz-Thetics

George Russell
Perpetual Void cover

Perpetual Void

Chris Tordini, Marta Sánchez, Savannah Harris
Cloud Corner cover

Cloud Corner

Marisa Anderson