Zu

Hailing from Rome, the Italian quartet Zu merges avant-garde jazz and rock through a punk-inflected approach to free jazz improvisation that resists conventional labels. Beyond their extensive catalog of self-produced albums and singles, the group has worked alongside an eclectic array of artists such as Fred Longberg-Holm, David Tibet, Ken Vandermark, and Mats Gustafsson. Following the 1999 release of their debut Bromio, they recorded two well-received projects with Eugene Chadbourne—The Zu Side of the Chadbourne and Motorhellington—early in the following decade. Their international profile rose sharply in 2007 through a partnership with DJ Nobukazu Takemura on Identification with the Enemy: A Key to the Underworld. Two years afterward came Carboniferous, their first American release on Ipecac, which included vocal contributions from Mike Patton and Suzuki. In 2014 the band reunited with Chadbourne for the acclaimed Left-Hand Path, featuring Eugene Robinson on vocals. The long-anticipated 2018 album Zu93 documented their collaboration with Tibet, seven years after the musicians first convened in Rome; the resulting Mirror Emperor was mixed and produced by Stefano Pilia.

Originally assembled as a trio in the late 1990s, the lineup comprised Luca T. Mai on alto and baritone sax, Massimo Pupillo on bass, and Jacopo Battaglia on drums, with Pilia later joining as an occasional guitarist and producer. A steady stream of recordings has followed, among them Bromio (1999), The Zu Side of Eugene Chadbourne (2000) and Motorhellington (2001)—both made with Eugene Chadbourne—plus Igneo (issued on vinyl in 2002 and CD in 2005), Radiale (2004), The Way of the Animal Powers (2005), How to Raise an Ox (2005), and the 2007 Takemura collaboration Identification with the Enemy: A Key to the Underworld. A limited-edition split with fellow Italians Il Teatro degli Orrori, pressed to 666 copies, appeared next, succeeded by sessions involving Xabier Iriondo and former Can frontman Damo Suzuki. Carboniferous arrived on Ipecac in 2009 to favorable reviews. After a lengthy interval, Cortar Todo surfaced in 2015 and was quickly followed by Jhator in 2017. The following year House of Mythology issued the Zu93 project Mirror Emperor, realized by the expanded septet of Pupillo, Pilia, Mai, and Battaglia together with string players Andrea Serrapiglio and Sara D’Uva.

Terminalia Amazonia, released on House of Mythology in 2019, grew out of the band’s visit to an indigenous village along the Ucayali River near the Peru-Brazil border. Immersed in the Shipibo-Conibo community’s ancestral knowledge, teachings, and rituals, Zu captured nightly field recordings of ceremonial healing songs known as “Icaros.” Using only vintage analog synths, they constructed a dense yet spectral array of sonic layers to accompany the tribe’s tomes in live performances set within the humid rainforest environment.