John Zorn\’s Cobra Workshop/Performance – Ermo do Caos – Porto – 24/08/21

John Zorn's early major compositions included several "game pieces", which he describes as "complex systems harnessing improvisers in flexible compositional formats," the most famous and widely performed of which is Cobra. Essentially a set of cue cards, hand signals, and a load of improvising make up the bones of the piece, which we hope to delve into and understand more through this workshop.

Many different recordings exist, all sounding very different and feature a wide range of different musicians and instruments including guitars, saxophones, drums, vocals, laptops, tape-loopers, samplers and even something called a "trombone." The beauty of "Cobra" is it can be performed by any ensemble of any size or instrumentation.

We’re going to be learning and rehearsing the piece over 2 sessions at Ermo do Caos. So if you want to take part, bring your instrument(s), some curiosity, and a headband/hat of some description.