JOHN ZORN Cobra 1987 HAT HUT BOX SLEEVE w/POSTCARD MINT
£
22
$
29
£ 22
Sold For
Jan 13, 2012
Sold Date
Jan 3, 2012
Start Date
2
Number Of Bids
Great Britain
Country Of Seller
eBay
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Description
JOHN ZORN Cobra 1987 HAT HUT BOX SLEEVE w/POSTCARD MINT
LIVE & STUDIO VERSIONS OF ZORN'S GAME THEORY PIECE
JOHN ZORNCobra
RARE 1986 Hat Hut Records (HAT ART 2034) 2 LP BOX SET OF JOHN ZORN'S GAME-THEORY PIECE "Cobra" (the only release on vinyl)
RECORD ONE IS A STUDIO VERSION recorded May 9, 1986 at Radio City Studios, New York City
RECORD TWO IS A LIVE VERSION recorded at Renseleer Polytechnic Institute October 21, 1985, Troy, New York
The live version is radically different to the studio version - but by its very nature each performance is unique
BOTH RECORDS ARE UNMARKED (bar one short superficial hairline on Side Two which has no audio impact)
ONE LABELS HAS A LIGHT SPINDLE TRACE, THE OTHER THREE SHOW NO SIGNS OF PLAY OR USE
AND THE AUDIO DELIVERY IS LIKE-NEW THROUGHOUT - CRYSTAL CLEAR, CLEAN, SHARP AND FINELY DETAILED
THE THICK CARDBOARD BOX IS A GOOD, SOLID EXCELLENT+ WITH JUST A LITTLE RUBBING TO THE EDGES AND SURFACES BUT WITH NO LOSS TO ITS STRONG VIBRANT COLOUR
THE POSTCARD WHICH ILLUSTRATES SOME OF THE COLOURED FLAGS ZORN USES TO "PROMPT" THE PIECE IS EXCELLENT WITH JUST SOME LIGHT CREASING
A FASCINATING DOCUMENT OF THIS INTRIGUING PIECE
GREAT COPY, VERY HARD TO FIND ON VINYL
John Zorn's Cobra game piece has enjoyed quite a life of its own since this, its original recording, from 1985-1986.
Zorn developed several similar pieces, but Cobra would see renditions by various ensembles with varying instrumentation, with the composer at the helm and without, and would become something of a staple for undergraduate musicians exploring improvisational strategies.
One of the central sources for the conception behind this piece, oddly enough, was the Avalon Hill game company, which created strategic simulation games involving arcane sets of rules, dice rolls, etc., in an effort to approximate, for example, war planning and theory.
Zorn, a games aficionado with an affinity for elastic rules systems, developed a unique, expansive, and highly flexible series of prompts and rules, taught and distributed them to many of the downtown New York City musicians of the early '80s, and staged numerous highly entertaining performances of the ensuing "conflicts."
At such an event, inevitably more viscerally enjoyable than a recording of same, Zorn would hold up cards with symbols, usually choosing certain small combinations of players. These symbols could instruct, among many other things, that the musicians improvise in a certain style (surf guitar, free noise, punk, etc.) and/or could delimit the duration, volume, and so on. He would thus spontaneously organise a composition that, for all its apparent anarchy, was actually following a relatively strict set of assumptions.
The kicker was that the players could counteract his commands, forming ad hoc blocs, cooperate or betray said blocs, form alliances "against" other players, etc.
As an audience member, one saw a wonderful display of real-time politics combined with art creation, and the result was often spectacular.
Listened to at home, one hears a series of sonic postcards, enjoyable or otherwise on their own but bearing little obvious relationship to what came before or after.
One can certainly appreciate the music in just that manner, as a random, Cage-ian series of musical fragments and as a document in Zorn's career, Cobra is essential.
POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (recorded delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £6.00 or £11.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £10.00 or £15.00 (International Signed For delivery)
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457 (GS 6.3.2 (457))
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