John Zorn
John Zorn is the quintessential New Yorker. His unabashed sense of self is apparent in every part of his persona–the way he talks, dresses, walks–it's so distinctive and so east village that I feel like I'm watching a movie. And it's awesome. There's an intense of amount of character and experience that seems to emanate behind every sentiment he shared that I'd rather get a beer with the guy as opposed to having him sit in a stuffy classroom. Either way though, it was a talk I thoroughly enjoyed, even though I disagreed with parts of it.
Firstly though, let's start with the parts I liked, which were a lot. I think there is something to be said about how intensely focused is on humanity. I've been in this place recently where I've been looking at my work as a tool of expression, rather than a "goal". In other words, I think it's important to think of art as a ways to expand the mind, expand the ways we see the world, which when you're in school focusing so intently on craft, is easy to forget. In fact, school makes it so hard to contextualize the meaning of what the hell it is you're doing at all. So listening to a person who focuses so much on the experience of the work, from both an audience and performer perspective, reinforces that credo for me–that at the end of the day, you're cultivating an experience, not just a piece of music.
On this same end, I like how much of a person he is. Like he's a truly, fully formed human, with experiences that stretch the entire gamut of life. I mean he never really said a whole lot, but for every story there was an anecdote, and I swear that there's much more underneath all that. That to me, is the coolest. No amount of compositional "skill" can amount to the wisdom that lives within a guy like that.
Now things that I didn't totally like. Don't get me wrong, it's incredible how successful and essential he is to the fabric of music, but he's also able to do the things he does cause he's John Zorn. I'm in no place to be uncompromising about my work. And in a professional setting, a setting that I haven't even built yet, the last type of artist I'd want to be is non-negotiable. But what I think underscores this sentiment is this notion of doing what you want, which I totally agree with. We chose music because we like it, definitely not to get rich, and it'd be insanely silly if we weren't doing the things we like to do. This is a commonality I found between him, and John Luther Adams who came last year. The art is for you, not for anyone else. And if you do exactly what you set your mind to, you'll probably be 100% more successful than anybody else in your field.
Firstly though, let's start with the parts I liked, which were a lot. I think there is something to be said about how intensely focused is on humanity. I've been in this place recently where I've been looking at my work as a tool of expression, rather than a "goal". In other words, I think it's important to think of art as a ways to expand the mind, expand the ways we see the world, which when you're in school focusing so intently on craft, is easy to forget. In fact, school makes it so hard to contextualize the meaning of what the hell it is you're doing at all. So listening to a person who focuses so much on the experience of the work, from both an audience and performer perspective, reinforces that credo for me–that at the end of the day, you're cultivating an experience, not just a piece of music.
On this same end, I like how much of a person he is. Like he's a truly, fully formed human, with experiences that stretch the entire gamut of life. I mean he never really said a whole lot, but for every story there was an anecdote, and I swear that there's much more underneath all that. That to me, is the coolest. No amount of compositional "skill" can amount to the wisdom that lives within a guy like that.
Now things that I didn't totally like. Don't get me wrong, it's incredible how successful and essential he is to the fabric of music, but he's also able to do the things he does cause he's John Zorn. I'm in no place to be uncompromising about my work. And in a professional setting, a setting that I haven't even built yet, the last type of artist I'd want to be is non-negotiable. But what I think underscores this sentiment is this notion of doing what you want, which I totally agree with. We chose music because we like it, definitely not to get rich, and it'd be insanely silly if we weren't doing the things we like to do. This is a commonality I found between him, and John Luther Adams who came last year. The art is for you, not for anyone else. And if you do exactly what you set your mind to, you'll probably be 100% more successful than anybody else in your field.
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