The Squid's Ear Magazine


Amba, Zoh (Amba / Thomas / Morgan / Baron w/ John Zorn): O, Sun (Tzadik)

Next generation tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba, a Tennessee transplant living in NYC who grew up playing with the mountains & forest of her native state, in her debut album with the quartet of pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Joey Barron, performing a mix of Amba compositions and collective improvisations, including one with John Zorn on alto sax.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Zoh Amba-tenor saxophone

Micah Thomas-piano

Thomas Morgan-bass

Joey Baron-drums

John Zorn-alto saxophone


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UPC: 702397403821

Label: Tzadik
Catalog ID: CD-TZA-4038
Squidco Product Code: 31487

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at East Side Studio, in New York, New York, on November 11th, 2021, by Marc Urselli.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Hailing from Tennessee and now residing in New York, Zoh Amba is a 21 year-old tenor saxophonist who performs with a deep sense of spirituality and emotional power. Growing up in the mountains she practiced and played in the forest before continuing her studies in San Francisco and Boston. For her first CD she has chosen a fabulous quartet featuring her close friend, rising NYC star Micah Thomas on piano, and the formidable rhythm section of Thomas Morgan and Joey Baron. Hypnotic phrases, beautiful folk-like melodies and a soulful tone takes this powerful and moving music toward the feeling tones of a sacred ritual."-Tzadik


Artist Biographies

"Zoh Amba is a saxophonist from Kingsport, Tennessee who since moving to New York in fall 2021 has quickly emerged into a notable presence in the avant garde scene. Zoh has spent considerable time studying with David Murray in New York, and also at the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music & New England Conservatory. The endorsement and collaboration with the creative music world's most notable sound painters means Zoh is poised to continue her ascent in New York and beyond. She has her debut record O, Sun releasing on Tzadik March 18th, 2022. With Micah Thomas, Thomas Morgan, and Joey Baron. Produced by John Zorn."

-All About Jazz (https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/zoh-amba)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Micah Thomas was born in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio. He started playing songs on the piano by ear at the age of 2, and shortly afterwards he started private piano training. From his sophomore year of high school onwards, Micah began gigging regularly with violinist Christian Howes, and was a regular faculty member at his annual Creative Strings Workshop from 2015-2018. He also has appeared several times with Byron Stripling and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra as a guest artist, performing with John Clayton and Joshua Redman for their 45th anniversary concert series in 2017. He has also performed throughout Ohio with other musicians including JD Allen, Billy Contreras, Eddie Bayard, George Delancey, Cedric Easton, and Bobby Floyd.

In 2015, Micah Thomas received the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship from the Juilliard School, and received his Master of Music (M.M.) degree in 2020. He is now touring and performing locally and internationally, both as a leader of his own trio, a steady member of the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet and the Giveton Gelin Quintet, and as a sideman for Ambrose Akinmusire, Lage Lund, Billy Drummond, Zoh Amba, Stacy Dillard, Joel Ross, Nicole Glover, Joshua Redman, Melissa Aldana, Etienne Charles, Harish Raghavan, Gabe Schnider and others.

In June 2020, Micah Thomas released his first album, "Tide", which received positive reviews from the New York Journal, The New York Times, JazzTimes, and Financial Times, among others. He also has appeared on several albums as a sideman for Immanuel Wilkins, Billy Drummond, Zoh Amba, Giveton Gelin, and Walter Smith III."

-Micah Thomas Website (http://micah.io/about)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Thomas Morgan (born 14 August 1981 in Hayward, California) is an American jazz musician (upright bass, cello) in contemporary jazz.

Morgan began playing the cello 7 years of age, before switching to upright-bass at 14. In 2003 he received his bachelor's degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Harvie Swartz and Garry Diall. He also took lessons with Ray Brown and Peter Herbert. Morgan worked with David Binney, Steve Coleman, Joey Baron, Josh Roseman, Brad Shepik, Steve Cardenas, Timuin ahin, Kenny Wollesen, Gerald Cleaver, Adam Rogers and Kenny Werner throughout his career. He is also cooperating with Jakob Bro, Dan Tepfer, Jim Black, John Abercrombie, Masabumi Kikuchi and the Sylvie Courvoisier-Mark Feldman Quartet. Morgan lead his own trio."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Morgan_(bassist))
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn.

Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, he taught himself how to play the drums. As a teenager, he played in rock bands and dixieland jazz groups. After high school, he spent a year at the Berklee College of Music. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s and embarked on a professional career, playing with Carmen McRae and Al Jarreau. He worked as a freelance drummer and session musician with Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Hampton Hawes.

In 1982 he moved to New York City and joined guitarist Bill Frisell, with whom he would play often throughout his career. He also played in groups with Red Rodney, Fred Hersch, Enrico Pieranunzi, and Marc Johnson. Starting in the late 1980s, he became a bigger part of the avant-garde jazz scene when he played regularly at the Knitting Factory, recorded with singer Laurie Anderson, and began a long association with John Zorn. For several years he participated in Zorn's projects Naked City and Masada.

Baron contributed to David Bowie's Outside (1995). Bowie would later praise Baron, stating: "Metronomes shake in fear, he's so steady." "

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Baron)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, arranger, producer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist with hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, and producer across a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, surf, metal, klezmer, soundtrack, ambient, and improvised music. He incorporates diverse styles in his compositions which he identifies as avant-garde or experimental. Zorn was described by Down Beat as "one of our most important composers".

Zorn established himself within the New York City downtown music movement in the mid-1970s performing with musicians across the sonic spectrum and developing experimental methods of composing new music. After releasing albums on several independent US and European labels, Zorn signed with Elektra Nonesuch and received wide acclaim with the release of The Big Gundown, an album reworking the compositions of Ennio Morricone. He attracted further attention worldwide with the release of Spillane in 1987, and Naked City in 1989. After spending almost a decade travelling between Japan and the US he made New York his permanent base and established his own record label, Tzadik, in the mid-1990s.

Tzadik enabled Zorn to maintain independence from the mainstream music industry and ensured the continued availability of his growing catalog of recordings, allowing him to prolifically record and release new material, issuing several new albums each year, as well as promoting the work of many other musicians. Zorn has led the hardcore bands Naked City and Painkiller, the klezmer/free jazz-influenced quartet Masada, composed over 600 pieces as part of the Masada Songbooks that have been performed by an array of groups, composed concert music for classical ensembles and orchestras, and produced music for opera, sound installations, film and documentary. Zorn has undertaken many tours of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, often performing at festivals with many other musicians and ensembles that perform his diverse output.

Zorn's compositions cross many genres and he has stated "All the various styles are organically connected to one another. I'm an additive person-the entire storehouse of my knowledge informs everything I do. People are so obsessed with the surface that they can't see the connections, but they are there." For Zorn "Composing is more than just imagining music-it's knowing how to communicate it to musicians. And you don't give an improviser music that's completely written out, or ask a classical musician to improvise. I'm interested in speaking to musicians in their own languages, on their own terms, and in bringing out the best in what they do. To challenge them and excite them." "

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Zorn)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Hymn To The Devine Mother 7:17

2. O, Sun 7:12

3. Northern Path 6:22

4. Gardener 6:42

5. Holy Din 6:41

6. Crossing 5:49

7. Satya 10:29

Related Categories of Interest:

Tzadik

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Quartet Recordings
Quintet Recordings
Zorn. John

Search for other titles on the label:
Tzadik.


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