the Construction of Jewish Identity through Music

In early 1993, the Japanese record company Eva released a new disc of pieces by a composer best known for his work in free jazz, avant-garde "classical " music, and film scoring.! Taking its title from the night of violence against Jewish people, their businesses, and their property which occurred in Nazi Germany on November 9 and 10, 1938, Kristallnacht was John Zorn's first musical exploration of his Jewish heritage. After working with a group of musicians, most of whom he had little or no prior recorded collaboration with, Zorn built on the success of this project by turning in a new direction in his creative life. Quickly founding his own Hebrew-titled record company, encouraging other Jewish musicians to embrace their ethnic and religious heritage, and releasing in quick succession a CD series of Klezmer-flavored tunes, John Zorn's seemingly abrupt decision to visibly take up his cultural identity has gained him not only fans in the Jewish and free jazz worlds, but also critics and accusations of ethnic profiteering. This paper examines the underlying assumptions, aims, and methods for achieving these goals in Zorn's recent Jewish work through statements made by the composer, and reception by his fans and critics, but primarily through his recorded legacy. By looking at techniques and musical discoveries made prior to Kristallnacht, the paper asks to what extent is this stage in Zorn's work a break with his past and to what extent is it a continuation. Reaching beyond the oeuvre of a single composer the question is raised of how we approach, understand, and (when we have to) catalogue musicians-and their works-who cross into our fields of interest only later or for a short time in their careers