By Stef Gijssels
The last two years were quite prolific for Chicagoan trumpeter and visual artist, with "Milan", "C6Fe2RN6", "Nestor’s Nest" and Exploding Star Orchestra's "Live at the Adler Planetarium".
Here are a few more noteworthy albums by Mazurek and his collaborators. Back in 2011, I described him as a kind of musical genius, and it’s clear that he has continued to grow into that promise. His music is unmistakably his own, yet deeply informed by a wide range of styles and genres. It forms an eclectic constellation of sonic ideas—carefully arranged, post-produced, dubbed, and electronically enhanced—that nonetheless retains a coherent, authentic, almost pure and honest voice. Without yielding to trends or fashions, Mazurek persistently searches for new modes of expression, creating music that is often unexpectedly beautiful and, at times, ventures beyond beauty into more challenging sonic territories that demand especially open ears. But that, after all, is the privilege of true artists: to open new doors and invite listeners into unfamiliar and rewarding listening experiences. And all credit to him for reinventing himself in the process.
He is also a visual artist and three of the covers below are by his hand.
Chicago Underground Duo - Hyperglyph (International Anthem, 2025)
The Chicago Underground is an ensemble that has been a trio, quartet and quintet format, yet the duo format of Mazurek and Chad Taylor is the core of their musical concept, a collaboration that harks back to 1988, when Taylor was only fifteen. Chad Taylor plays drums, percussion, mbira and kalimba, while Mazurek plays trumpet, piccolo trumpet, RMI electric piano, modular synths, samplers, voice, flutes and bells. And as you can imagine these instruments lead to many layers of sound in the editing room, making them sound like a full band.
The music is ultra-processed, with compositions that vary between fun and joyful to mournful and melancholy, integrating many, many influences from jazz, rock, world music and noise. The pièce-de-résistance is the three part "Egyptian Suite". Rhythmic inventiveness and great themes are usually the core of each track, with the electronics and synths and overdubs adding to the density of the sound while keeping things still light and shining. It's hard to describe. It's accessible and not, it's magical and recognisable, it's mysterious and familiar.
Of all the large free jazz bands that we like (Fire! Orchestra, Angles, Pål Nilssen-Love's Large Unit, Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band, ...), the Exploding Star Orchestra is one of my favourites. The wonderful themes and the organised chaos of the arrangements, and the brilliant combination of deeply rooted infectious rhythms combined with the mysteries of advanced astronomy and space exploration.
The album includes a tune we know: "Parable 3000 (We All Come From Somewhere Else)" from "Dimensional Stardust" and "Live At The Adler Planetarium". Next to the 'parables', there's a sequence of three 'Spirit Flares', of which Part 2 is absolutely astonishing. with James Brandon Lewis in a lead role, as he also does on other pieces.
Mazurek comments: "I play the role of conductor, director, composer, all these things. The group is a vehicle for imagination. I implicitly trust musicians in everything. I say 'do some of the things I do, but not all of them. You can make your own decisions, of course.' They are all masters of improvisation and creative musicians, so I don't need to say much. You also bring your culture to music. As much freedom as possible".
I can also refer to the very lengthy liner notes on the Bandcamp page which give a really good description of the album. Yet I just recommend you listen to the music.
Listen and download from Bandcamp.
Exploding Star Orchestra - Holy Mountains (Selo Sesc, 2025)
The orchestra are
- Rob Mazurek on trumpet, horn, percussion, musical direction
- Chad Taylor on drums
- Damon Locks on voice, electronics
- Guilherme Granado on sampler, keyboards, percussion
- James Brandon Lewis on tenor saxophone
- Luke Stewart on double bass
- Mikel Patrick Avery on electronic drums
- Pasquale Mirra on vibraphone
- Philip Somervell on piano
- Rodrigo Brandão on voice
- Thomas Rohrer on rabeca and soprano saxophone
The performance was recorded in October 2022 at Sesc Pompeia, in São Paulo, Brasil and the addition of the Brazilian musician is great, including the poetry recitation in Portuguese by Rodrigo Brandão, even if I don't understand a word of it, except for 'Orquestra da Estrella Vermilha' or Red Star Orchestra. Damon Locks is also present, reciting the space poetry of Mazurek.
The album includes a tune we know: "Parable 3000 (We All Come From Somewhere Else)" from "Dimensional Stardust" and "Live At The Adler Planetarium". Next to the 'parables', there's a sequence of three 'Spirit Flares', of which Part 2 is absolutely astonishing. with James Brandon Lewis in a lead role, as he also does on other pieces.
And that's how it sounds: the identifiable musical voice of the composer in a brilliant mix of cultural influences, other voices, new artistic ideas and collective improvisation, leading to weird and mysterious moments, alternated by a trance-inducing rhythmic roller-coaster.
Enjoy!
Listen to the music via the label.
Rob Mazurek Quartet - Color Systems (RogueArt, 2024)
The Rob Mazurek Quartet are Rob Mazurek on trumpet, piccolo trumpet, bells, electronics, Angelica Sanchez on piano, Tomeka Reid on cello, and Chad Taylor on drums: a super-band, all musicians with whom Mazurek has a long collaboration, including with the Exploding Star Orchestra.
For Mazurek, 'synesthesia', or the neurological interference of sonic and visual perceptions is an important artistic experience and tool. In "Color Systems", he not only brings tribute to a number of visual artists - Louise Nevelson, Frank Bowling, Lygia Pape, Richard Tuttle, Nuno Ramos, Ellsworth Kelly - but he uses their art to inspire or even to translate the visual impressions into sound. For the first four tracks, Mazurek offered four of his own watercolour and ink pages to each musician as inspiration for the otherwise fully improvised pieces. The quality of the band is such that they bring it to an excellent result, with especially Mazurek himself and Chad Taylor in excellent shape. For once, Mazurek's trumpet plays a key role in the music, much more than in his large ensemble or electronic endeavours. The role of the piano and the cello are more subtle, and absolutely essential for the colouring that is taking place.
The final two tracks are fully composed, giving Sanchez and Reid more formal roles. As with much of Mazurek’s work, the pieces unfold as patchworks of contrasting fragments and musical ideas, carefully juxtaposed and woven together. Distinct concepts and tonal colours flow seamlessly into one another in an organic, almost intuitive way—much like the shifting hues in a visual artist’s installation. It’s difficult to capture in words without hearing the music itself, but I trust you’ll sense what I mean.
The album is further accompanied by a book with paintings and poems by Mazurek, called "Flitting Splits Reverb Adage", a title we know from a composition with Damon Lock. I do not have a copy of the book, but John Corbett describes it as follows: "Conjuring a cosmic sonosphere, the sound-crust on the canvas of our shared existence, Mazurek evokes more in a few lines than many writers do in volumes".
Listen and download from Bandcamp.
Alberto Novello & Rob Mazurek - Sun Eaters (Hive Mind, 2025)
Alberto Novello is an Italian digital audiovisual artist who also works under the alias Jestern. His bio notes that he "graduated in Nuclear Physics at the University of Trieste, completed the master Art Science Technologies with Jean Claude Risset, obtained a PhD degree at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven with Armin Kohlrausch, and graduated in Electronic Music at the Institute of Sonology, Royal Conservatory of Den Haag. He worked for Texas Instruments, Philips Research, and Auro Technologies creating software for their audio applications." So not really the kind of profile you would expect on this blog. On this album he plays modular synth, while Rob Mazurek plays trumpets, sampler and bells.
I'm in two minds about the music itself. At times it's fresh, inventive, interesting or even fascinating, at other times it's both annoying and irritating, but that may be due to my aversion of electronics, which is often reducing sounds to mere bips, bleeps, chirps, pings, beeps, pips, dings or boops. It's an acquired taste and one that Mazurek himself uses increasingly, and that's of course part of artistic risk-taking: you have to go outside the beaten track. Think of Don Cherry's "Human Music" album with Jon Appleton. Some people love it, and appreciate its forward-looking and boundary-breaking nature. I'm still not one of them. But I don't want to be too negative. This album really has its great moments. Especially the strange and intense "Ricochet Edge Verse" uses electronics at their best, full of variation, power, surprises in close interplay with the trumpet, the dark "Luchadores Sudden Embrace", or the slow "Automaton Phase 27", a quietly developing piece with mysterious sounds providing the backdrop of Mazurek's brilliant trumpet playing.
You judge.
Star Splitter - Medea (We Insist!, 2024)
Rob Mazurek on piccolo trumpet, trumpet, voice and electronics. They present two long pieces, each around 19 minutes, both of them compelling sonic journeys. Electronics, percussive textures, and soaring—often electronically altered—trumpets intertwine, punctuated by occasional shouts. The music is mysterious, bizarre, and excellent. Not until about five minutes into the first track does the trumpet make its initial appearance, underscoring the duo’s focus on overall sound rather than on the instruments themselves. Moments of striking beauty alternate with sounds that are completely “out there.”
The "Medea" in the title possibly refers to the ancient Greek mythology. Medea was a sorceress, with magic powers. She killed her brother and married Jason, then after ten years Jason kicked her out, and out of spite, she killed their sons and Jason's new bride. Enough story to reflect on. The tension and the sense of love and tragedy and horror and magic - it's all here.
Listen and download from Bandcamp.
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