#structured improvisation

Cobra was recorded at the Knitting Factory, NYC, throughout 1992. John Zorn acted as conducter for the monthly impromptu jams, which were recorded and are dated according to month.

Jeff Buckley participated in April's recordings. Buckley contributed voice (tenor) to track 4, "Taipan," and track 5, "D. Popylepis."

@crudecube

2 years ago (edited)

Setlist for anyone trying to find a particular artist from the Knit.

0:00 - "Hemachatus Haemachatus" (Track 1)

2:12 - "Naja Naja Atra" (Track 2)

5:52 - "Many-Banded Krait" (Track 3)

16:19 - "Taipan" (Track 4)

17:49 - "D. Popylepis" (Track 5)

18:29 - "Lampropeltis Doliata Syspila" (Track 6)

21:01 - "Boomslang" (Track 7)

32:08 - "Maticora Intestinalis" (Track 8)

38:21 - "Acanthopis Antarcticus" (Track 9)

42:21 - "Hydrophiidae" (Track 10) > (Abrupt cutoff @ 44:51) ================[CUTOFF]=================

I may have got some wrong since they're so difficult to distinguish, with the ambient noise and faded transitions and all. If my approximations are correct, that leaves 4 tracks missing, which would get it to about an hour in length.

How do you play John Zorn's COBRA

The BBC documentary series On the Edge: Improvisation in Music (1992) includes a short segment of Zorn explaining and conducting two versions of Cobra.[8] His goal with Cobra, Zorn said, was to "harness" the creative developments in improvisation and extended techniques by New York City's downtown scene musicians in a semi-structured way, but "without hindering" their performances; he was interested in telling the musicians when to play, and with whom, but without telling them what to play. Plus-Minus (1963, 1974) by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen was a key inspiration for Zorn, inspiring him to develop methods play with or against each other and in response to his cues but without dictating specific notes, sounds, or other formal structures. Though Cobra can be performed by any number of musicians plus a prompter who handles the cards, Zorn has stated that at least ten musicians are ideal, with care taken in selecting the musicians based on their improvisational skills and personalities.[7]

Release Date 1992

Duration 01:00:50

Recording Date 1992

Recording Location Knitting Factory

Jeff Buckley Guest Artist, Tenor (Vocal)

ALL MUSIC REVIEW

Live at the Knitting Factory Review by Scott Yanow

Calling this set of performances bizarre would be an understatement. John Zorn inspired (through obscure game playing that is not explained anywhere on this CD) these 14 eccentric "tributes" to different types of cobras. Because many of the performances utilize samplers and voices (in addition to conventional instruments and miscellaneous devices), the wide range of sounds attained from the 87 musicians (heard in different combinations) is impressive, if often quite unlistenable, ranging from humorous interludes to very obnoxious noise. For a few examples, "Cobra 4" has a man screaming over and over again, "Cobra 2" features a sound collage with a male opera singer repeating the same four notes continuously, and "Cobra 5" has, among its many vocal noises, a man imitating a dog barking. There are some colorful segments, but in general, these self-indulgent performances would be much more interesting to see in person than to hear on record. Taken purely as a listening experience, one is surprised that this material has even been released.

JOHN ZORN'S COBRA LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY

Knitting Factory Works release date: 1995

CD#: KFW 124

Spring Tension Rites from my piano album Map of Trees.