John Zorn's Spillane

Mickey Spillane Dead at 88

When I heard famed crime novelist Mickey Spillane died I immediately thought of a piece of music by John Zorn titled Spillane.

How does one descibe Spillane? Well, if someone made a movie based on Mickey Spillane's books, and then condensed that movie down to a twenty-five minute trailer, the audio track would sound like Spillane.

Spillane begins with a woman's scream that segues into a light jazz number. From there, the music shifts and flows from one section to another: spoken passages, brief catches of atmospheric sound, musical interludes, sound effects, etc. It's a sequence of audible references to women, booze, gun play, smoky nightclubs, and chain smoking men. There are sixty sections in twenty-five minutes, each seamlessly connected to the next.

If you have some time today sit back, pour yourself a shot, light up a Lucky and enjoy Spillane.

Listen / Download:
Spillane - John Zorn