John Zorn’s Songs for Petra

Please join us for the Philadelphia premiere of John Zorn’s “Songs for Petra,” a poetic song cycle written by the iconic composer especially for vocalist Petra Haden.

“Songs for Petra” combines the music of renowned composer John Zorn with the lyrics of Grammy Award-winning songwriter Jesse Harris, best known for his collaborations with Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux. One of the triplet daughters of legendary bassist Charlie Haden and co-founder of the alt-rock quartet That Dog, Petra Haden has collaborated with a broad array of artists including Bill Frisell, the Foo Fighters, the Decemberists and Susannah Hoffs.

In anticipation of his year-long 60th birthday celebration in 2013, Zorn invited Jesse Harris to participate in his “Song Project” along with Mike Patton, Sofía Rei and Sean Lennon; each of these diverse composers was asked to contribute lyrics to Zorn’s compositions. Harris initially worked with Haden on the album Seemed Like A Good Idea – Petra Haden Sings Jesse Harris (Sunnyside) in 2016. Inspired by Haden’s athletic vocal talents (as can be heard on her phenomenal a cappella reworking of The Who Sell Out from 2005), Zorn penned this song cycle to take full advantage of her stunning range. For this performance, Haden will be joined by Harris (on vocals and guitar) along with the Julian Lage Trio. A 2018 Grammy Award nominee, Lage is fast becoming one of the most acclaimed young guitarists in jazz. His latest album, Modern Lore (Mack Avenue) debuted at #1 on the Jazz Billboard chart, and he most recently appeared in Philly alongside fellow guitarist Marvin Sewell as part of saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s quintet.