13/4, the meter to the people

Prof. Heebie McJeebie interviews Darc. James Argue.

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John Zorn's recent appearance at the 2006 Marciac festival (the rural corner of France annexed by Wynton Marsalis) has generated some controversy. In brief, a local reporter took offence to the star of David on Zorn's hoodie, his combat pants and the "assault tank-like" music, in the context of the Lebanon war. Later, a host on France Inter radio raised the issue not once but three times in the space of 20 minutes, during the broadcast of an excerpt of the Electric Masada concert. Libération's Serge Loupien refuted the claims in print.

On his political blog, Samizdjazz explores the issue in some depth. He locates the beginning of Zorn's extensive exploration of his Jewish roots at the death of his father in 1992, notes the near-totla absence of on-record political pronouncements by Zorn and then evokes two varieties of zionism, national and cultural, among many other flavours.