John Zorn's Olympiad Vol.4 - Curling (2026)
Track Listing:
1. Curling 1 25:19
2. Curling 2 20:01
Personnel:
Rova Saxophone Quartet
Steve Adams - Alto Saxophone
Jon Raskin - Baritone Saxophone
Bruce Ackley - Sprano Saxophone
Larry Ochs - Tenor Saxophone
2.
William Winant Percussion Group
Jordan Glenn - Percussion
Robert Lopez - Percussion
Scott Siler - Percussion
William Winant - Percussion
Production:
Curling composed by John Zorn
Produced by John Zorn
Line Producers - Steve Adams, William Winant
Associate Producer - Kazunori Sugiyama
Track 1 recorded by Eric Moffatt October 12, 2012 at Unsound Recording, San Francisco, CA
Track 1 Final Mix by Phil Perkins, Steve Adams, February 2013
Track 2 recorded and mixed by Aaron Oppenheim, September 27, 2025 at Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Mastering - Scott Hull
Digi and booklet covers from Ice Floes by Claude Monet
Rova Saxophone Quartet photo by Miles Boisen
William Winant Percussion Group photo by Aaron Oppenheim
Design - Chippy (Heung Heung Chin)
Special Thanks to The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
TZADIK Blurb
Composed in 1976 and studied by guitarists the world over, The Book of Heads is one of Zorn’s most popular and oft-performed compositions. Concentrated into 35 “heads” that can be used as jumping off points for improvisation, the score uses an hermetic language of meticulously notated sounds inspired by contemporary classical extended techniques, cartoons, film noir, Zen philosophy, and the idiosyncratic guitar languages of free improvisation via Chadbourne, Frith, Bailey et al.
Interpreted here by the madcap virtuoso they were originally created for: Eugene Chadbourne, they receive a passionate and creative interpretation—looser, wilder and more open than the textbook readings of James Moore and Marc Ribot. Vexingly entertaining, this curious release contains fifteen of the original 35 études: sixty minutes of the most gonzo music ever created for solo guitar!
Series: Archival Series
Catalogue Number: TZ9327
Release Date: February 6, 2026