John Zorn - John Zorn’s Olympiad Volume 3 : Pops Plays Pops (2022)

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! Etude 2 Etude 29 Etude 17 Etude 33 Etude 23 Etude 16 Etude 27 Etude 35 Etude Etude 22 Etude 34 Etude 8 Etude 12 Etude Etude 5 Etude 1 Etude 3