{"product_id":"seven_sonnets","title":"Seven Sonnets","description":"\u003cp\u003eSeven Sonnets is a 2026 album by composer John Zorn, released on May 15 via his longtime label Tzadik. The album features seven original compositions performed by guitarists Julian Lage and Gyan Riley, who first joined forces in September 2015 to perform Zorn's Bagatelles and have since become among his most trusted and prolific musical collaborators, recording over a dozen albums of his compositions for acoustic guitar — in duo and in trio with Bill Frisell. Seven Sonnets marks their sixth duo album together, and as Rough Trade describes it, the project is explicitly inspired by the sonnets of William Shakespeare, with Zorn describing this release as \"Volume One\" of a projected series of musical sonnets — suggesting further installments are planned.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe seven pieces — simply titled Sonnet I through Sonnet VII — draw on a broad stylistic range, touching on early music, minimalism, contemporary classical composition, folk, jazz, and cinematic soundtrack atmosphere. Lage plays steel-string guitar while Riley plays nylon-string, creating a richly contrasted timbral conversation that has been the hallmark of their duo work throughout their collaboration. Squidco notes that their long experience as interpreters of Zorn's music brings \"warmth, precision and conversational clarity\" to the pieces, while Rough Trade characterizes them as \"some of his loveliest and most intimate creations.\" Running approximately 37 minutes across its seven tracks, the album sits among Zorn's more lyrical and accessible work, a refined chamber piece that stands in marked contrast to the abrasive complexity for which he is perhaps better known.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Record Store","offers":[{"title":"CD \/ Album","offer_id":53620101022010,"sku":"38425","price":28.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/2041\/0682\/files\/Screenshot_2026-06-17_at_7.43.06_PM.jpeg?v=1781739909","url":"https:\/\/recordstore.ca\/products\/seven_sonnets","provider":"Record Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}