John Zorn first began developing his game-based ideas in 1974 -- which focused on relations between individual musicians, rather than on notes -- inspired by the works of such modern composers as
Anthony Braxton,
Mauricio Kagel,
Karlheinz Stockhausen, and
Christian Wolff.
Pool was written in March, 1979 while
Zorn was working on
Archery. The recording included here took place one year later with musicians
Zorn,
Polly Bradfield,
Bob Ostertag,
Mark E. Miller,
Charles K. Noyes, and prompter
Lesli Dalaba. Dedicated fans should check this out, as it is part of the early annals of
Zorn. Listeners with less patience for music theory -- and
Zorn skeptics -- should save
Pool for later, because it will not win anyone over; nor will the compositional theories become more clear upon listening. Essentially,
Pool has more historical value than listening interest. ~ Joslyn Layne
