Released 1990 re-released 1997 Artist John Zorn Producer John Zorn Genres Jazz, Avant-garde | Length 68:37 Release date 1992 Label Nonesuch Records Inc. | |
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Recorded June & December 1986, April 1987 and May, 1990 Filmworks 1986-1990
(1991) Guts of a Virgin
(1991) Filmworks 1986-1990
(1990) Filmworks II Music for an Untitled Film by Walter Hill
(1995) Similar John Zorn albums, Avant-garde albums, Other albums | ||
Filmworks 1986–1990 features the first released film scores of John Zorn. The album was originally released on the Japanese labels Wave and Eva in 1990, on the Nonesuch Records label in 1992, and subsequently re-released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 1997 after being out of print for several years.
Contents
"For Zorn, filmscores have always been a place to experiment, and the FilmWorks Series is in many ways a microcosm of his prodigious output. This original installment of the FilmWorks Series presents three scores ranging from punk-rockabilly (featuring the nasty guitars of Bob Quine, Bill Frisell and Arto Lindsay); a jazzy Bernard Herrmann fantasy; to a quirky classical/improv/world music amalgam for Raul Ruiz's bizarre film The Golden Boat. Zorn's infamous one-minute arrangement of Morricone's classic The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, is included as a bonus track. This is the place where it all began."
Reception
The Allmusic review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 3 stars stating "Although certainly a younger effort, there is a lot of good music on this first film works compilation. It is interesting to hear where Zorn's scores began". Guy Peters stated "With releases like this, Zorn was basically working outside the jazz-frame and experimenting with avant-garde compositions, but a lot of the music owes so much to jazz that his crossover tactics can be found at full-effect. Like all of his music that is laden with shifts, gimmicks, cut-up techniques and the complete lack of convention, this volume of Filmworks may strike one as too self-conscious and studied (as in the structured improvisation of the game pieces), but it also shows you a fearless musician and composer at work, willing to take risks and not afraid to fail once in a while. It's certainly not an easy listen".
Songs
Main Title0:58
Homecoming1:19
The Heist3:24