(Jazz, Avant) John Zorn - The Bribe (variations and extensions of Spillane) - 1998, APE (image+.cue), lossless

Conceived and recorded in 1986 as the soundtrack to three 30-minute radio plays, John Zorn's The Bribe is subtitled "variations and extensions on Spillane." So the composer-altoist's followers ought to know what's coming. Some 26 separate tracks, ranging in duration from 47 seconds to more than 11 minutes long, are performed by an East Village A-team: Zorn and Marty Ehrlich on reeds; trombonist Jim Staley; harpists Zeena Parkins and Carol Emanuel; guitarists Robert Quine and Reck; keyboardists Anthony Coleman and Wayne Horvitz; turntablist Christian Marclay; percussionist Bobby Previte; and Ikue Mori on drum machines. The individualities of these improvisors tend to be subsumed in Zorn's quick-cut/hard-edit directorial style, which favors sudden narrative leaps and striking contrasts over highly developed, personal statements. But there's a lot of hip playing anyway, bits and pieces of which demand recognition and appreciation. Zorn blows alto on "The Taxman Cometh" and Ehrlich out-squalls him on "Skit Rhesus." Birds whistle over drones and harp on "Dreams of the Red Chamber." Surf-guitar rocks out on "Chippewa" and "Strip Central." Organs, synths, celeste, and piano collude in the heavenly "Victoria Lake." "Pink Limousine" has a dozen episodes of its own, and "Skyline," is as close to a resolving piece as Zorn has yet released. If the overall effect deifies a single atmosphere, The Bribe is more done deal than anything-goes jam. It's through-composed, maybe fixed as to when rather than what the musicians play. The stage production seems to be about temptations, betrayals, sudden impulses and turnarounds, chases, and other such matters noir. Listeners are meant to hold on for the ride - to adopt the viewer's perspective - rather than expect cosmic revelation or emotional empathy from the music. For all the apparent randomness of its ratchet and samples and jaw's-harp plucks and cheesy themes wrapped in straightforward horn licks subverted by tasty guitar, Zorn has a plan here, a theatrical mandate. Consider the CD an alternate soundtrack to Touch of Evil or some other movie masterpiece; it's not likely - or is it? - that this sliced-and-diced construct is the soundtrack to Zorn's life.
JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 22. December 2008, 23:49
John Zorn / The Bribe
Used drive : TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SH-W162C Adapter: 0 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
Use compression offset : 0
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 2:08.22 | 0 | 9621
2 | 2:08.22 | 0:41.28 | 9622 | 12724
3 | 2:49.50 | 1:01.35 | 12725 | 17334
4 | 3:51.10 | 2:24.35 | 17335 | 28169
5 | 6:15.45 | 4:06.72 | 28170 | 46691
6 | 10:22.42 | 1:01.40 | 46692 | 51306
7 | 11:24.07 | 1:16.35 | 51307 | 57041
8 | 12:40.42 | 1:09.15 | 57042 | 62231
9 | 13:49.57 | 2:43.53 | 62232 | 74509
10 | 16:33.35 | 0:59.07 | 74510 | 78941
11 | 17:32.42 | 3:22.65 | 78942 | 94156
12 | 20:55.32 | 3:34.20 | 94157 | 110226
13 | 24:29.52 | 3:20.15 | 110227 | 125241
14 | 27:49.67 | 1:49.05 | 125242 | 133421
15 | 29:38.72 | 3:27.60 | 133422 | 149006
16 | 33:06.57 | 11:38.30 | 149007 | 201386
17 | 44:45.12 | 1:30.68 | 201387 | 208204
18 | 46:16.05 | 1:24.40 | 208205 | 214544
19 | 47:40.45 | 0:47.64 | 214545 | 218133
20 | 48:28.34 | 3:01.08 | 218134 | 231716
21 | 51:29.42 | 3:58.60 | 231717 | 249626
22 | 55:28.27 | 3:12.48 | 249627 | 264074
23 | 58:41.00 | 5:26.37 | 264075 | 288561
24 | 64:07.37 | 9:18.18 | 288562 | 330429
25 | 73:25.55 | 3:19.35 | 330430 | 345389
26 | 76:45.15 | 2:05.60 | 345390 | 354824
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\John Zorn (1998) The Bribe\John Zorn - The Bribe.wav
Peak level 95.2 %
Range quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC EB7510E6
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report