Medeski, Marsella, Hollenberg, and Grohowski are Chaos Magick—a powerful
electric quartet formed to perform Zorn’s twisted and challenging compositions.
Founded in 2021 as a spinoff of the heavy metal organ trio Simulacrum, they have
released no less than five CDS in three years—Chaos Magick, The Ninth Circle,
Multiplicities, 444, and Parrhesiastes. Their sixth, Through the Looking Glass, presents
three extended works that unfold like a philosophical treatise. Sweet, funky, soulful,
imaginative, quirky, and intensely stimulating, this is music that pushes formal
musical ideas into fresh new directions. The phrase “Nothing is real—everything is
permitted” has never had greater meaning.

From March to May 2015, John Zorn composed 300 new tunes that were eventually
collected into a book of music he called The Bagatelles. After five years of performances
around the world in venues large and small, the choicest ensembles
have gone into the studio and the results are some of the most exciting and varied
music Zorn has ever presented. This third volume features three young rebels that
rip and shred their way through some of the gnarliest compositions in the Book of
Bagatelles. Wildly intense, searingly hot and raucous, this is an essential and totally
radical reading of John Zorn’s Bagatelles.

From March to May 2015, John Zorn composed 300 new tunes that were eventually
collected into a book of music he called The Bagatelles. After five years of performances
around the world in venues large and small, the choicest ensembles
have gone into the studio and the results are some of the most exciting and varied
music Zorn has ever presented. Volume four features the scintillating soundscapes
of electronic music wizard Ikue Mori, and she has arranged these pieces with
grace, elegance, and a meticulous sense of detail to create one of the most unique
and fascinating renditions of Zorn’s Bagatelles.

With Suite for Piano in 2022, Zorn began exploring classical forms in the context of
the jazz piano trio. The second CD in the series was a beautiful collection of
Ballades, released in July 2024. This third project presents nine Impromptus—freewheeling
forms that unfold like brilliantly imaginative short stories. Brian, Jorge,
and Ches outdo themselves here with telepathic interplay, endless creativity, and
a courageous ability to go places that have never been discovered before. With
each new recording, this trio gets both tighter and more explorative. Essential!

One of the most versatile and in-demand percussionists in the Downtown scene, Ches has worked with everyone from Marc Ribot, Tim Berne, and Dave Holland to Secret Chiefs 3, Terry Riley, and John Zorn. He has released over a dozen CDs under his own name in duo, trio, quartet, and large group contexts—and for his first CD for Tzadik he has recorded his first solo project. Performing on drums, percussion, vibraphone, glockenspiel, gongs, and more, Ches presents eighteen short pieces exploring his mastery of rhythm, form, and texture. A beautiful program of solo percussion by a Downtown master, this is Ches at his most intimate and explorative.
(March 2025)