John Zorn
The Big Gundown

LA RECENSIONE

Twenty years have passed since this album was released, and listening to it today, it is still fresh, revolutionary, and incredibly powerful. We are talking about The Big Gundown, one of those masterpieces that only geniuses can conceive. In this case, the genius is John Zorn, who reinterprets nine themes by a great film score composer, Ennio Morricone.

The album opens with the theme from the Collima film, followed by other delights such as "Peur Sur La Ville," "Poverty," "Milano Odea," "Erotico," "Metamorfosi," and then the main themes from more famous soundtracks like "La Battaglia d'Algeri," "Giù La Testa," and a poignant "C'era Una Volta Nel West," with which Zorn closes this magnificent tribute. There's also an original composition by Zorn that amplifies the experimental charge of Morricone's compositions. The reissue of The Big Gundown is enriched with six additional tracks, among which a remarkable version of "The Sicilian Clan" is worth mentioning, although less shocking than the one that will appear on the legendary Naked City.

Zorn destroys, rebuilds, incorporates everything, experimental music, classical, bebop, Japanese folk, rock, country, jazz, creating, as usual, music that draws its strength from the utmost freedom of expression, free of any limits or labels, a music where there are neither winners nor losers but only "Sound" created from the purest artistic discipline, the mother of improvisation.

Improvisation is the key word for all of Zorn's albums, but in this one, it's even more important! Indeed, the New York musician tackles compositions that are not his own, yet without abandoning his main characteristics, he does not alter the original structure of the pieces; instead, he strengthens it while destroying it. This might seem contradictory, but when it comes to Zorn, anything is possible!