Tzadik Records is a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

in New York City that specializes in

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. The label was established by composer and saxophonist

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz ...

in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-profit, cooperative record label. Tzadik has released over 400 albums by a variety of artists with diverse musical backgrounds, including

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in it ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

, rock, and experimental composition. On the label's catalogue are releases by Zorn himself and his multifaceted "songbook" group

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the ...

; singer

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techn ...

; guitarists Derek Bailey, Yoshihide Otomo,

Tim Sparks Tim Sparks (born October 31, 1954) is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer. Life Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was given his first guitar when a bout of encephalitis kept him out of school for a year. T ...

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

and

Keiji Haino Keiji Haino ( ''Haino Keiji''; born May 3, 1952) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise music, percussion, psychedelic music, minimalism and drone music. He has been active since th ...

; noise music icon

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

; composers

Gordon Mumma Gordon Mumma (born March 30, 1935, in Framingham, Massachusetts) is an American composer. He is known most for his work with electronics, many devices of which he builds himself, and for his performances on horn. Biography Mumma entered the Unive ...

, Frank Denyer, Arnold Dreyblatt, and

Teiji Ito was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren. Early life Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan to a theatrical family. His mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer and his father, Yuji Ito, was ...

; experimental groups

Kayo Dot Kayo Dot is an American avant-garde metal group. Formed in 2003 by Toby Driver after the break-up of '' maudlin of the Well'', they released their debut album '' Choirs of the Eye'' on John Zorn's Tzadik Records that same year. Since then, Kayo ...

, Time of Orchids and Rashanim, microtonalists Syzygys; drummer

Tatsuya Yoshida (born 9 January 1961 in Kitakami, Iwate) is a Japanese musician; drummer and composer who is the only consistent member of the renowned progressive rock duo Ruins, as well as of Koenji Hyakkei. He is also a member of the progressive rock trios ...

and his bands

Ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

and

Korekyojinn (also spelled Korekyojin) is a Japanese progressive rock power trio. Founded in 1998, the band is a project by members of several bands within the Japanese progressive rock/zeuhl scene and has released albums on two US labels, John Zorn's Tza ...

; trumpeter

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for '' Ten Fr ...

; electroacoustic composer Noah Creshevsky; and jazz saxophonist

Steve Coleman Steve Coleman (born September 20, 1956) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader and music theorist. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow. Early life Steve Coleman was born and grew up in South Side, Chicago. He started playing al ...

Roster

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1995 Jazz record labels American independent record labels Experimental music record labels Noise music record labels John Zorn Progressive rock record labels Jewish rock Jews and Judaism in New York City