John Zorn

Rav Tzizit is John Zorn's one-off alias which he only used once to record an album with Japanese improviser, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Yamatsuka Eye in 1995, Zohar by Mystic Fugu Orchestra released as the sixth album in Radical Jewish Culture series on his Tzadik label. Zorn and Eye had occasionally been working together since they first met in Tokyo back in 1986. Yamataka was a member of Zorn's Naked City band and appeared on most of their albums, and they also toured, performed and recorded together in different groups and projects, from Praxis and Ground Zero (3) to PainKiller (2). All their official released collaborative duo output was limited to a single obscure compilation appearance, with Rectal Mucus track on Ear Magazine Presents Absolut CD #2, The Japanese Perspective CD attached to an Issue 15, no. 8 Ear Magazine (Dec '90 – Jan '91). In 1995, John Zorn and Yamantaka Eye met in New York City and produced a half-humorous album, where Rav Tzizit (Zorn) and Rav Yechida (Eye) 'uncover' mysterious old Kabbalah recordings, with all sounds buried in a dense layer of 78 rpm gramophone record surface noise. Zorn planned a series of joint releases with Eye this year, and soon they produced together the sixth album in New Japan series, Nani Nani, where Zorn appears under a different one-off alias Dekoboko Hajime. In September 2003, Zorn and Eye played a live show together at Tonic as a part of John Zorn 50th Birthday Celebration concert series, which became one of the highlights of the program. Yamatsuka Eye was assisted by electronic technician Taeji Sawai, who responded to Eye's sensor movements via Apple Powerbook, and Fred Frith on guitar joined for one song. They also sat again in the studio, and produced a follow-up Naninani II album, released in Nov 2004 and featuring Zorn on alto sax, piano, tabla machine, Tibetan bells and percussion with Eye singing and vocalizing, handling electronics and objects, electric fan, organ, banjo, steel guitar, and percussion. Live set from 50th Birthday Celebration was released on 50¹º Digipak CD in January 2005.