John Zorn’s Bagatelles Marathon

In the course of his 40-year career, Zorn has combined such diverse musical styles as jazz, New Music, hardcore, surf rock and klezmer with one another in visionary manner. He has always managed to retain his artistic freedom and independence thanks to his own record label, Tzadik. The result is an overwhelming catalogue of some 200 albums that have been released under his name.

In spring 2015 he wrote »300 Bagatelles«, a collection of short, complex pieces that lend themselves to a wide variety of interpretations. Whether the music is played by a soloist or by a large ensemble, both instrumentation and arrangement can alter, depending on the formation, throwing new light time after time on these miniatures.

For his concert in the Elbphilharmonie, John Zorn has put together an illustrious group of high-calibre colleagues to perform the »300 Bagatelles« at one marathon event in various different line-ups. Among the musicians are his musical companions of many years’ standing, guitarist Marc Ribot, keyboarder John Medeski and trumpeter Dave Douglas.