Although it seems highly unlikely to simultaneously cultivate the image of chamber scholar, rebel and jazz musician, John Zorn proves that it can be done. In the accompanying letter to his album Incerto: Existentialism, Psychoanalysis and the Uncertainty Principle, he takes us through his thinking. The rebel declares, "One profound truth about freedom is that it is not a given - you have to fight
… for it every day of your life. And: '... Being understood is overrated. As soon as you are understood you are, in a way, already dead.' Fortunately, Zorn is blessed with an army of jazz musicians of the highest caliber that he can count among his allies in the struggle for complete artistic freedom. His compositions are ably performed by Brian Marsella (piano), Julian Lage (guitar), Jorge Roeder (double bass) and Ches Smith (drums). The quartet knows how to handle the demanding themes superbly, improvising entirely in the spirit of the composer: full of complexity, sometimes wild, but always with feeling. (JV)more
