Spillane (album)

Spillane
Spillane
Studio album by John Zorn
Released	1987
Recorded	June–August 1986, June & September 1987 at Radio City Studios, New York, NY; Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco, CA and Metal Box Studio, Tokyo, Japan
Genre	Avant-garde
Length	54:01
Label	Elektra Nonesuch
Producer	John Zorn, David Breskin
John Zorn chronology

Spillane is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn, composed of three "file-card pieces", as well as a work for voice, string quartet and turntables.

It is named after mystery writer Mickey Spillane, whose novels featuring detective Mike Hammer provided the basis for the album's title track. Zorn wrote Spillane on a series of index cards, each containing an outline or instruction for the musicians that was intended to evoke scenes from one of Spillane's novels. One card states: "Scene of the crime #1 -- high harp harmonics, basses and trombone drone, guitar sonorities, sounds of water dripping and narration on top."^[1] Thus, the musicians are not given traditional sheet music, but a series of cues or outlines that encourage improvisation.

Zorn later released the composition "Spillane" on the compilation album Godard/Spillane (1999).

Reception

The AllMusic review by Stephen Cook stated: "Spillane is not only one of the highlights in Zorn's catalog, but also makes for a fine introduction to the composer's vast body of work".^[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	^[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spillane"	25:12
2.	"Two-Lane Highway: Preacher Man/White Line Fever/Nacogdoches Gumbo/East Texas Freezeout/San Angelo Release/Rollin' to Killeen/Blowout/Devil's Highway/Midnight Standoff/Marchin' for Abilene"	13:30
3.	"Two-Lane Highway: Hico Killer/Long Mile to Houston"	4:46
4.	"Forbidden Fruit (Variations for Voice, String Quartet and Turntables)"	10:20

Personnel

1 - "Spillane" (25:12)
Recorded (June/August 1986) and Mixed (August 1987) by Don Hünerberg at NBC Radio City Studios, New York City
Written and arranged by John Zorn in collaboration with:

Anthony Coleman - piano, organ, celeste
Carol Emanuel - harp
Bill Frisell - guitar
David Hofstra - bass, tuba
Bob James - tapes, compact discs
Bobby Previte - drums, percussion
Jim Staley - trombone
David Weinstein - sampling keyboards
John Zorn - alto saxophone, clarinet
John Lurie - voice of Mike Hammer
Robert Quine - voice of Mike Hammer's conscience
Original texts by Arto Lindsay (and uncredited vocals)

"Two-Lane Highway" (18:16)
2 - Preacher Man/White Line Fever/Nacogdoches Gumbo/East Texas Freezeout/San Angelo Release/Rollin' to Killeen/Blowout/Devil's Highway/Midnight Standoff/Marchin' for Abilene (13:30)
3 - Hico Killer/Long Mile to Houston (4:46)
Recorded (June 1987) and mixed (August 1987) by Don Hünerberg at NBC Radio City Studios, New York City
Conceived and arranged by John Zorn for Albert Collins in collaboration with:

Albert Collins - guitar, voice
Robert Quine - guitar
Big John Patton - organ
Wayne Horvitz - piano, keyboards
Melvin Gibbs - bass
Ronald Shannon Jackson - drums
Bobby Previte - drums, percussion

4 - "Forbidden Fruit" (Variations for Voice, String Quartet and Turntables) (10:20)
Recorded September 1987 at Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco, by Howard Johnston, and at Metal Box Studio, Tokyo by Ono Seigen. Mixed September 1987 by Ono Seigen at CBS Roppongi Studios, Tokyo.
Written and arranged by John Zorn in collaboration with:

Kronos Quartet
- David Harrington - violin
- John Sherba - violin
- Hank Dutt - viola
- Joan Jeanrenaud - cello
Christian Marclay - turntables
Hiromi Ōta - voice
Original texts by Reck

Credits

Produced by John Zorn
Two-Lane Highway produced by John Zorn and David Breskin
Mastering: Robert C. Ludwig
Art direction and design: Carin Goldberg
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz
On the cover: Shishido Joe in Kuchibue ga Nagareru Minato Machi [ja], courtesy of Nikkatsu
Visit Hip's Road in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan

References

^ John Bracket. Some notes on John Zorn's Cobra. American Music, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Spring 2010), pp. 44-75
^ ^a ^b Cook, S. AllMusic Review accessed March 13, 2009.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1543. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[1] John Bracket. Some notes on John Zorn's Cobra. American Music, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Spring 2010), pp. 44-75

[Allmusic-2] Cook, S. AllMusic Review accessed March 13, 2009.

[Penguin9-3] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1543. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e John Zorn
Discography
Solo albums	The Classic Guide to Strategy First Recordings 1973 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 9 The Hermetic Organ The Hermetic Organ Vol. 2
Game Pieces	Lacrosse Pool Hockey Archery Cobra John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory John Zorn's Cobra: Tokyo Operations '94 New Traditions in East Asian Bar Bands Xu Feng Cobra: John Zorn's Game Pieces Volume 2
File Card Pieces	Spillane The Bribe Elegy Kristallnacht Godard/Spillane Femina Dictée/Liber Novus Interzone Mount Analogue
Cover albums	Voodoo The Big Gundown News for Lulu More News for Lulu Spy vs Spy
Classical	Redbird The Book of Heads Duras: Duchamp Angelus Novus Aporias: Requia for Piano and Orchestra The String Quartets Cartoon S/M Madness, Love and Mysticism Songs from the Hermetic Theatre Chimeras Magick Mysterium Rituals From Silence to Sorcery The Satyr's Play / Cerberus What Thou Wilt Lemma On the Torment of Saints, the Casting of Spells and the Evocation of Spirits The Alchemist Fragmentations, Prayers and Interjections In the Hall of Mirrors Myth and Mythopoeia
Filmworks	1986-1990 Music for an Untitled Film by Walter Hill 1990–1995 S&M + More Tears of Ecstasy 1996 Cynical Hysterie Hour 1997 Trembling Before G-d In the Mirror of Maya Deren Secret Lives Three Documentaries Invitation to a Suicide Hiding and Seeking Protocols of Zion Workingman's Death Notes on Marie Menken/Ray Bandar: A Life with Skulls The Treatment The Rain Horse Sholem Aleichem Belle de Nature/The New Rijksmuseum The Last Supper El General The Nobel Prizewinner City of Slaughter/Schmatta/Beyond the Infinite
Bar Kokhba	Bar Kokhba The Circle Maker 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11 Lucifer: Book of Angels Volume 10
Masada String Trio	The Circle Maker 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1 Azazel: Book of Angels Volume 2 Haborym: Book of Angels Volume 16
Music Romance	Music for Children Taboo & Exile The Gift
Hemophiliac	Hemophiliac 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 6
Masada Anniversary	Masada Guitars Voices in the Wilderness The Unknown Masada Masada Recital Masada Rock
50th Birthday Celebration	Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 Volume 6 Volume 7 Volume 8 Volume 9 Volume 10 Volume 11 Volume 12
Book of Angels	Astaroth Azazel Malphas Orobas Balan Moloch Asmodeus Volac Xaphan Lucifer Zaebos Stolas Mycale Ipos Baal Haborym Caym Pruflas Abraxas Tap Alastor Adramelech Aguares
Moonchild	Moonchild: Songs Without Words Astronome Six Litanies for Heliogabalus The Crucible Ipsissimus Templars: In Sacred Blood The Lost Judgment
The Dreamers	The Dreamers O'o Ipos: Book of Angels Volume 14 A Dreamers Christmas Pellucidar: A Dreamers Fantabula
Alhambra	Alhambra Love Songs In Search of the Miraculous The Goddess – Music for the Ancient of Days
Simulacrum	Simulacrum The True Discoveries of Witches and Demons Inferno The Painted Bird 49 Acts Of Unspeakable Depravity In The Abominable Life And Times Of Gilles De Rais The Garden Of Earthly Delights Baphomet Chaos Magick Nostradamus: The Death of Satan
Tributes and Inspirations	IAO Enigmata Nova Express At the Gates of Paradise Nosferatu Rimbaud A Vision in Blakelight The Concealed Dreamachines Shir Hashirim Psychomagia On Leaves of Grass
Gnostic Trio	The Gnostic Preludes The Mysteries In Lambeth
Collaborations	In Memory of Nikki Arane with Eugene Chadbourne Locus Solus Yankees with Derek Bailey & George E. Lewis Deadly Weapons with Steve Beresford, Tonie Marshall & David Toop Ganryu Island with Sato Michihiro The Art of Memory with Fred Frith Zohar with Yamantaka Eye Nani Nani with Yamantaka Eye Harras with Derek Bailey & William Parker Euclid's Nightmare with Bobby Previte Weird Little Boy with Trey Spruance, Mike Patton, William Winant & Chris Cochrane Downtown Lullaby with Wayne Horvitz, Elliott Sharp and Bobby Previte Prelapse with Prelapse Buck Jam Tonic with Bill Laswell & Tatsuya Nakamura Naninani II with Yamantaka Eye The Stone: Issue One with Dave Douglas, Rob Burger, Bill Laswell, Mike Patton & Ben Perowsky The Stone: Issue Three with Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson The Art of Memory II with Fred Frith Late Works with Fred Frith @ with Thurston Moore Sonic Rivers with George E. Lewis & Wadada Leo Smith

v t e "Big" John Patton
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader	Along Came John (1963) Blue John (1963) The Way I Feel (1964) Oh Baby! (1965) Let 'Em Roll (1965) Got a Good Thing Goin' (1966) Boogaloo (1968) That Certain Feeling (1968) Understanding (1968) Accent on the Blues (1969) Memphis to New York Spirit (1969–70) Soul Connection (1983) Blue Planet Man (1993) Minor Swing (1994) This One's for Ja (1996)
With Lou Donaldson	The Natural Soul (1962) A Man With a Horn (1963) Good Gracious! (1963) Signifyin' (1963) Possum Head (1964)
With others	Am I Blue (Grant Green, 1963) Blues for Lou (Grant Green, 1963) Iron City (Grant Green, 1967) Soul Groove (Johnny Griffin and Matthew Gee, 1963) The Burner (Red Holloway, 1963) Soul Fountain (Clifford Jordan, 1966) Everything Must Change (Johnny Lytle, 1977) Rockin' the Boat (Jimmy Smith, 1963) Steppin' Out! (Harold Vick, 1963) Shoutin' (Don Wilkerson, 1963) The Big Gundown (1984–85) Spillane (1986–87)