It's rare to come back home empty-handed from a foray into Corbett vs
Dempsey’s territorial waters, and this mission is no exception. Today, we're
talking about the Atlantic Pact, set between the ever-erupting, volcanic
Chicago scene and the anarcho-free stronghold of Amsterdam, that nothing and
no one will ever conquer. No drones, tanks, Patriots, or F-35s, but the only
weapons useful to humanity: reeds, pianos, drums, and basses. These Things
Happen provide them with their sophomore album, "A Gentle Reminder",
following their 2022 self-titled debut.
This album, recorded at Hyde Park
Jazz Festival in Chicago and at WNUR Studio, Northwestern University,
confirms the band's recipe: original songs interspersed with renditions of
Misha Mengelberg and Thelonious Monk, presented not in a slavish,
calligraphic manner but through a contemporary reinterpretation of
tradition.
The players on the field deserve to be met up close. Keefe
Jackson, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet. Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he
arrived in Chicago in 2001 and performed across US and Europe with the likes
of Tomeka Reid, Tim Days, Dave Rempis, Mike Reed, Jeb Bishop, Jason
Adasiewicz, Satoko Fujii, Ab Baars and Bill Meyer. His partner in crime on
the other side of the Pond, Oscar Jan Hoogland, piano, is a top notch
badass. A leading figure on the Dutch impro scene, Hoogland sprung onto the
Amsterdam landscape around 20 years ago, at the forefront of a new group of
improvisers to arrive and simultaneously uphold the tradition of New Dutch
Swing even while tearing it apart. As always, collaborations define the
breadth of a musician's chromatic palette and so, read here about Oscar:
improvisation with Senegalese singer Mola Sylla and percussionist Frank
Rosaly; sound installations and performances with Practical Music and his
Phonograph Orchestra; cumbia with Ibelisse Guardia Ferraguttis’s Superinca
and the Galactic Green; Ethiopian jazz and Eritrean traditional music with
Semer Welday’s Adulis. His work with Arnold de Boer and the duo with
mythologic Han Bennink incontrovertibly attests to the caliber of the
artist. The rhythm section that supports the two pals features Jason Roebke
on double bass (collaborations with Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Jeff Parker,
Chad Taylor, and Rob Mazurek), who replaced Joshua Abrams during the
process, and Mikel Patrick Avery on drums (Rob Mazurek, Marshall Allen
Tomeka Reid, Jeff Parker, and Kurt Vile on his CV).
The record: Jackson's
opening track "20 Years Past 12 O'Clock," a sonic excursus that moves across
multiple time scales, is followed by a piece by Hoogland dedicated to Ab
Baars, "Upperclass Underground," and a reinterpretation of Monk’s "Green
Chimneys," whose genesis is described as follows: "it started out as a punk
song on the setlist before taking a thin-threaded turn on the night." Two
original compositions keep the pace in the right mood, constantly balancing
compositional rigor with a loose flow, free from excessive constraints. The
revisitation of Mengelberg's "Een Beetje Zenuwachtig," from minor to major,
pays homage to the legendary Ukrainian pianist's key change when he played
"Round Midnight" in Chicago, while "Well You Needn't" pushes Monk "max so
far," as Hoogland puts it, with a sculptural declination of an ongoing sonic
pendulum swinging between modernity and tradition. The album closes with
“Over het Zijn en het Hoera”, its title drawn from an absurdist story by
Dutch writer and artist Armando.
As it has rightly been said, this is music
that knows its history inside out and wears it lightly. The generosity of
spirit here, between players, between cities, between Monk and Mengelberg,
between composition and the moment, is the real subject. You know, sometimes
things like these happen.
The most adventurous music
offers an exchange with its
listeners. Dedicate time and
attention to its often
unpredictable operations, and
receive a return. For me,
when I listen to
The Giant is Awkward, the latest release from
Victor Vieira-Branco’s trio
Bark Culture, the return is
as immediate as it is
sustained. A feeling of
something like exhilaration
in the moment, of following
master improvisers on their
way to a circuitous but
directing truth.
Victor Vieira-Branco is a
vibraphonist and composer who
grew up in Brazil, but spends
most of his time these days
in Philadelphia, that is when
he is not touring with Rob
Mazurek’s Exploding Star
Orchestra or Chad Taylor’s
Quintet, which played Big
Ears this March. With
The Giant, his trio
Bark Culture has its second
release, the maiden voyage
being the acclaimed
Warm Wisdom
from 2024, and is rounded out
by bassist John Moran and
drummer Joey Sullivan.
Together, the trio makes music
that is angular, surprising,
and almost always just off
center. The opening track,
“Palace,” is a representative
example of this. After a
slanted theme marked by what
sounds like finger pounding by
vibes and piano, the music
descends into a deep madness
with Sullivan and Moran
following no particular time
or engaging in any semblance
of functional harmony. But
after several minutes of
gleefully wild chaos, the band
unifies again, rights itself,
and collectively enters a
second set of thematic
material before leaping into
yet one more wall of noise.
I should pause to state that
this release is made
particularly special by the
presence of guest pianist Sam
Yulsman. Yulsman is one of
the engines behind the supreme
madness one finds on this
album, as he smashes and
mashes and slams his piano
keys in the sections I find to
be most adventurous, most
dissonant and wild. He even
contributed a composition, the
second song “Farce,” which,
with its asymmetrical thematic
unison of vibes and piano
leading into surrounded
moments of unhinged sonic
rantings, is right at home on
The Giant is Awkward.
Vieira-Branco is composer of
all of the other works here.
While his compositions are
lovely, the interplay of the
musicians is what makes this
album move from coherent to
something really special.
Drummer Joey Sullivan seems to
me to have a particularly
strong musical relationship
with Vieira-Branco, and the
two are as likely to play
their respective percussion
instruments with mathematical
precision as they are to
respond spontaneously to
sudden snare rolls, cymbal
crashes, or introverted
vibraphone bowing.
And all of this is not to
suggest Victor V-B’s
compositions are not at times
stunningly beautiful.
Listen, for example, to the
penultimate work on the
record, “Panic.” The piece
is quiet, introspective, full
of tenderness and empathy and,
in communicating as much, is
not at all what I expect when
I think of the word
panic. The song
seems almost guru-like in this
way as it flows in and out of
time and traditional harmonies
to moments of collective
improvisation. Panic is a
navigable state here, as
marked by beauty as it is by
its unexpected torsions, but
always as composed and
improvised as the day itself.
The Giant is Awkward
is one of the standout
releases of this year for me.
Its depth of feeling and
spontaneously combustible
surprises find themselves one
minute collectedly astute, and
beard grabbing lunatic raving
the next. For all of this
work’s intelligence and its
musicians technical
virtuosity, there is never a
moment where I feel the energy
is not in service of art or
the music itself. And this is
the adventure Bark Culture
has offered to its potential
listeners with this album:
follow them with attention
and effort, and deep pleasure
manifests along the path with
wisps of transformation
sailing in its sonic
wilderness.
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.
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.
Exploding Star Orchestra - Holy Mountains (Selo Sesc, 2025)
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 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.
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".
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.
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".
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.
Star Splitter is the duo of Gabriele Mitelli on cornet, trumpet, voice and electronics, and 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.
If you do not want to sell any music, the easiest way is to produce an album cover without text, and to invent a name that is "C6Fe2RN6". I am not sure where this name comes from, but it's sufficiently unpronounceable not to be shouted at the beginning of a concert. (AI tells me that "The elements C (carbon), Fe (iron), and N (nitrogen) would not typically bond with Rn (radon - a noble gas) to form a stable molecule in this configuration" - but since Mazurek has already released "The Unstable Molecule" in 1997 with Isotope 217, you never know ... )
The artists behind this name are Rob Mazurek on trumpet, piano, mbira, flutes, bells, synth and electronics, and Nick Terry on electric guitar, kalimba and music box. Terry is a visual artist, and the cover art is from his hand. Mazurek is also a visual artist and Terry also happens to play the guitar and a few other instruments. Both friends met at Mazurek's recording studio in Texas and recorded material that they afterwards refined and produced. The music is layered like Terry's art, with multiple techniques and materials used to produce unexpected and mysterious sceneries, that are at the same time mystifying and inviting for reflection.
Mazurek writes in the liner notes: "I make music with the intention of placing sound in a certain way that can be exciting, invigorating, calming, destructive, cathartic, surprising, contemplative and many things in between." Or in other words: "What you hear is What you hear. Enter the room and enjoy."
I would echo that recommendation. The music is surprisingly approachable — a big change from some of Mazurek’s recent material — and has an inviting, almost “new-age” feel, with long, tranquil sounds and a reverb so deep it feels like you’re hearing it from far away, and a crystal-clear trumpet to sing and rejoice.
The album also comes in an LP version of 300 copies, and I apologise for reviewing it so late. It may be that the stock is gone. At least I hope so for the musicians.
And then, out of the blue, in the heart of a boiling summer, drops from the sky a record with Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid and Chad Taylor playing together: Christmas in July. The gathering of this outstanding patrol is due to the Swedish Silkheart Records, whose mission statement says all: “We are dedicated to recording the sublime heights of creativity in improvised music. Our continuity policy is to maintain a focus on evolving changes in vernacular improvised music, on the look-out for musicians with that ultimate sparkle”. Among others, staying on Gustafsson’s orbit, it's worth remembering that Silkheart released the highly appreciated Sustain by Aaly Trio last year. Joining the dots with such top notch aces means discovering a large scope of the music we love: Gustafsson and Vandermark have been partners in crime for more than 30 years, starting in the seminal Brotzmann Tentet; Reid and Taylor played together in “Hear in now expanded” and in several Rob Mazurek’s bands; Vandermark and Reid in a quartet along with Hamid Drake and Lemuel Marc; Taylor and Vandermark in the trio Side A with pianist Havard Wiik; Gustafsson and Reid in a studio session dating back in 2017 that hasn't been unearthed yet.
For this project the four headed to Chicago, where Pivot was recorded at the legendary Electric Audio, the Taj Mahal of the late, unforgotten Steve Albini, in November 2024. For the sheer pleasure of our ears, the session delivered a 14 song outcome: four composed by Mats, four by Ken, plus six duos put in place by several matches among the four musicians. The tasks are unsurprisingly shared between Gustafsson on baritone and tenor sax, flutes; Vandermark on tenor sax, Bb and bass clarinet; Reid on cello and Taylor on drums for a final result that, predictably, given the caliber of the actors, exceeds the sum of the parts. Furious free form, pedal to metal attacks (“The Sensation of Sliding”, “Popular Music Theory”) combined with textures rolling on more structured trails (“Unmeasured mile”); a tribute to Vandermark’s home turf (“Blowing out from Chicago”); echoes of ancient, gospel flavored, chants (“I am aware. Standing in Snow”); a tribute to Danish poet and novelist Inger Christensen (“Drops of Sorrow. Accelerating”).
Reverse gear is not provided by the guys’ engine (and this is a blessing) but the rear view mirror allows them to have an ongoing, respectful look, if and when needed or felt, to the Founding Fathers Routes. As writes Christensen, quoted by John Corbett in his (priceless, as usual) liner notes: “We need to find a way through the landscape in order to draw the map and at the same time we need to draw the map in order to find our way through the landscape”. A place in our 2025 top ten is 100% granted.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (TSORPM) is one of the most interesting
projects around at the moment, as it’s one of the most consistent in its
attempts to look beyond the boundaries of free jazz and connect its music to
New York’s No Wave scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s (feel free to
compare their music to bands like Mars or DNA) or noisecore acts like Anal
Cunt or the Boredoms. The project was founded by British turntablist Mariam
Rezaei, who is always looking for exciting new ways to use her instrument and
who has become one of the most original musicians in improvised music. The
ensemble also includes Italian trumpeter Gabriele Mitelli - part of the
trumpet duo Star Splitter with Rob Mazurek, Austrian rhythm machine Lukas
König from Mopcut and Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen. The latter is
currently probably the most daring and exciting musician in the free jazz
scene, as TSORPM is really just continuing what she started with
ØKSE
last year. There it was conscious hip hop, here it’s alternative art rock with
which she is expanding her style.
TSORPM’s music combines energetic brass sounds and dense textures, driven by
stormy, mostly electronic beats. It’s radical, however especially the horn
section knows how to shift down a gear despite all its power. They also know
how to open up space for Rezaei’s kaleidoscopic electronic layers, which are
often reminiscent of Sun Ra. Rezaei unleashes heavily distorted samples that
oscillate between computer game sounds and pure noise. But instead of wildly
fragmenting everything, her playing fulfills several functions: She amplifies
and directs the rhythmic flow and acts like a pianist, providing the
structural framework for the project. In doing so, she manages not only to use
the sampled material in a brutal way, but also to add subtle pointillistic
touches.
The most powerful tracks are “In the silence of trouble, we find each other on
common ground“ and “I said no“. The former impresses with its rockist
approach, sluggish heavy metal beats, forward momentum, and the raw power of
the drums, over which Rasmussen and Mitelli lay down their wild free jazz
lines as if Peter Brötzmann and Toshinori Kondo were jamming with Napalm
Death. “I said no” is an industrial monster that could also be played in a
dark wave club. The beats are missing, a mega-sombre background noise
dominates and the heaviness of the sound is hard to bear, but the delicate
synthesizer lines, which can hardly assert themselves, symbolize a little
hope.
Finally, one must not ignore the title of the project. It’s taken from an
etching by Francisco Goya entitled
“El sueño de la razón produce monstruos.”
When Goya used this title, he probably meant that during his own sleep or
dreams, when his rational mind was switched off, he was plagued by monsters -
hallucinations, terrors, nightmares. However, his rational mind when awake was
able to prevent these things from coming to the surface. Nowadays, however, a
different interpretation has gained acceptance - one that is more general and
more critical of society. When a society itself ceases to act rationally,
especially when it elects its leaders on the basis of populism and emotions,
monstrous things will happen. The rationalism of a modern society normally
keeps the human monsters among us in check, but when this characteristic of
being guided by thought and intellect disappears from society, not only do
such human monsters emerge, but the entire society becomes corrupted and falls
into irrationality, fear, anger, and hatred. It would be mischievous not to
think of current trends in Western democracies.
So who are the monsters we create in our sleep? TSORPM reflects on this
question with the help of sound and spontaneity, with harshness and dissonance
- as one should in today’s world. They try electroconvulsive therapy, nine
shocks in nine tracks, in the hope of reviving our dying consciousness.
The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters is available as a CD and as a download.
You can listen to it here:
Rob Mazurek’s solo album Nestor’s Nest is a creative sonic
adventure that runs from Native American drum chants to imagined
extraterrestrial settings. Known for his trumpet playing and composing
skills, Mazurek jettisons bandmates on this go round, choosing instead to
create his own soundscapes using Modular Synths, a Moog Sub 37, a
PolyEvolver (another type of synthesizer), bells, flutes, and his own
vocals.
The first cut, “Star Fruit,” serves as a kind of short celestial
introduction to the explosive, propelling rhythm of “Banana Fruit,” a piece
which features syncopated beats beneath an ethereal vibraphone-like voicing.
The vibraphonish sounds float above rhythm and what might be described as a
bit of DJ scratching. Burbles and baubles bubble up from the deep like an
ocean geyser. Late in the number, Mazurek uses striking trumpet injections
– his lines slicing through the rhythmic polyphonic intensity like a
samurai sword through bamboo. As the music concludes, he brings what sounds
like Native American chants to the maelstrom.
The short “Under the Papaya Tree” offers up a bird call flute before
breaking into the funky safari of “Mango Fruit.” The music here is an
elephant ride along a jungle coast, the white sand stretching outward
interspersed with palm trees. The electronic legato mix hangs atop
syncopated beats before progressing to a cubic light show generated by a
whirling, sound-spinning decahedron.
“Papaya Fruit” is perhaps the most surprising of all the cuts. It begins
like a 1950s space movie soundtrack – is this Mazurek replicating the hum
of the universe? The piece migrates into an African-inspired funk. Mazurek
enters on trumpet, fluttering, trilling, and roller-coasting up and down –
his fantastic technique never wavers as it twists and turns. Voice and
bells enter – the number radiating a galloping heat, the thunder of hooves
on dry clay. As it winds down, one hears percussion instruments Art
Ensemble of Chicago-style.
The music of Nestor’s Nest is clever, flamboyant, challenging. It
retains a sense of immediacy – the action non-stop, the atmospheres created
diverse. Mazurek pushes his listeners to confront a variety of musical
environments. The strange and surreal mind travels generated here will keep
most on edge. Fun stuff. Enjoy!
The music on Rob Mazurek’s Live at the Adler Planetarium is
beautifully crafted and striking – a dramatic mix of emotions and
abstractions. Mazurek directs the ensemble, plays cornet, trumpet, and
bells, and composed the music. He even adds his voice to the proceedings.
The band, aptly named Exploding Star Orchestra, is comprised of a multitude
of incredible talents: Nicole Mitchell (flute, voice, electronics), Damon
Locks (voice, samplers, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello, electronics),
Craig Taborn (Wurlitzer electric piano, moog, electronics), Angelica
Sanchez (Wurlitzer electric piano, moog), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass),
Chad Taylor (drums), and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Wow… what a crew!!!
Mazurek has been creating music for the orchestra since 2005 and recorded
with the group first in 2007 on We Are All from Somewhere Else
(Mitchell was also on this album). The group has at times featured jazz
luminaries such as Bill Dixon (on the 2008
Bill Dixon with the Exploding Star Orchestra
- sadly, Dixon’s last recording), and Roscoe Mitchell (on the 2009 live
recording Matter Anti-Matter).
While Locks, Sanchez, and Taylor played on the group’s last three albums
(beginning in 2015 with Galactic Parables: Volume 1), Reid and
Flaten joined the unit for 2020’s Dimensional Stardust, and Cleaver
and Taborn made their debut with the band on the unit’s last outing, the
2022 album Lightning Dreamers.
Live at the Adler Planetarium
is a live version of the compositions recorded on
Lightning Dreamers
.
The New Jersey born and Chicago schooled Mazurek presently lives in the
remote artist colony of Marfa, TX, about 60 miles northwest of the Mexican
border. A visual artist (painter and animator) as well as musician, one can
understand Mazurek’s attraction to Marfa, a small desert city known for its
“Marfa Lights,” orbs in the sky that emanate from automobile headlights
distorted by warm desert air. Furthermore, one can understand why Mazurek
seems fascinated with celestial imagery and why this album was recorded in
a planetarium.
Those who have traveled the remote back desert of southwest Texas know how
stunning the night skies can be, and the music on Live is full of
mystery and awe – a kind of masterful interpretation of the overwhelming
sense of being one might experience looking at the vast night sky. The
album is also noteworthy for its pervasive and ubiquitous use of
electronics. It is as though Mazurek has tapped into the radio wave
emissions of such entities as pulsars and quasars – combining the imagined
sounds of space with an almost Indigenous point of view.
Locks’ poetry can be heard at times above the music:
“Imagine a timeline opening up.”
“Floating in the current.”
“Accept the invitation to feel; accept the invitation to dance.”
“In the dark, we fade away.”
“Toes touch first upon the star dome!”
The first three cuts, “Dream Sleeper,” “Black River,” and “White River”
merge together like rivers flowing toward a junction and then out to a
wide oceanic expanse. Movement is conveyed by the electric piano and bass
lines, which float like buoys above fluid drum lines. Mazurek creates some
striking notes on trumpet, and Michell’s flute and Reid’s cello lines rise
to the foreground.
The sweeping theme of “Underneath the Star Dome” sounds visual. There is a
dance quality to the music – modern ballet weaving and bobbing. Listen to
the precision Cleaver and Taylor bring to the trap sets as they spin atop
the esoteric electronics. When the group reaches the flex point in the
number, the music become looser and freer – unglued – as Mazurek’s trumpet
roars. Voices join in, and the theme dissolves into a bluesy abstraction.
On “Spiral Parable,” there is a forward momentum, like a jostling safari, a
vehicle bouncing along a dusty road on a great plain. In the distance are
plateaus and buttes that front a blue and red sky. Great birds take flight
via Mitchell’s flute arcs. The drummers generate heat, their off beats and
rhythmic flourishes stretch and sway – creating the equivalent of a giant
drum circle around a huge bonfire, the flames lapping high into the evening
sky.
The concert (album) closes with “Parable 3000,” a funky exposition
featuring a repetitive yet interesting piano motif. Mazurek’s trumpet is a
tour de force and Reid’s cello lines splice neatly into the Sanchez/Taborn
chordal structures. There is an almost hallucinogenic quality to this
number - very trippy indeed.
Mazurek and crew deserve a major tip of the hat for this outing. What we
have is a synergy of great musical beauty and intensity that seems to
stretch time, like one momentous singularity, reaching out to the forever
darkness from the sands of an infinite desert.
Appearing on Friday this past week, a video by Samot Nosslin/Underhypnos was released for the song "Work Song For a Scattered Past" by FIRE! Watch as the trio of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Johan Berthling (bass) and Andreas Werlin (drums) apply their lugubrious magic to devastating effect.
FIRE! and it's bigger sibling FIRE! Orchestra and their influences have graced the pages of the Free Jazz Blog quite a few times over the years:
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It depends on how involved I am on any
given project, which is pretty much all the time. Because of our travels, I
have the great fortune to hear a lot of music that I might not otherwise be
exposed to, as well as a lot of live settings, and this is an important
part of my life and musical development. An indelible memory is listening
to records at the library when I was a kid, and I had a pretty eclectic
record collection as well.
Interests and influences
I am more influenced by elements outside of music than by music made by
others. Also, very curious about popular science, ancient archeology,
quantum physics, astronomy... Everything between the birth canal and the
eventuality of death – so they say. I very much love working with artists
of other disciplines, and learn a lot when interacting! One of the great
benefits of being an artist is that there is always the potential to
assimilate all of our experiences and interests.
Photo by ACVilla
A sense of fun
I'm glad you hear a sense of fun in my music. At the very least, fun is a
real-life experience just as are all the “serious” topics, emotions,
approaches. I think, “does humor belong in music?” is a serious
question, though I don't normally necessarily intend for my music to be
humorous. I love music and I love making music with others, it’s where I
find joy and relief from suffering, and want to spread this to others. That
said, it is also because of how serious I do take it. When we stop to look
at life from the human perspective we see constant contradictions
underlying it all. For me the little revolutions and the big revolution HAS
to include more joy, but at the same time it HAS to include more justice,
which is deadly serious.
Shared values
Fortunately, in my line of work, there are endless colleagues I enjoy being
and working with. This doesn't mean that I shy away from disagreements or
challenging situations, in fact I am constantly finding – or putting –
myself into challenging situations. Growth comes through both the abrasive
nature of life as well as the joy we share. Generally, musicians and artists
have pretty similar political views, at least in my circles. The pandemic
and vaccines created a bit of a divide, for sure. It is important to work
with people that share similar viewpoints, especially in this moment in
time, because our values come through in our expression, and we are living
in such a politically perilous moment. I would always hope, however, that
nuance in disagreements can be a way to learn and grow. There are certainly
people who work harder towards social issues and justice than others and
there’s definitely a lot of performative actions with little substance. But
this goes with all of humanity. We are all trying to navigate this crazy
thing we call life, and it’s not easy for anyone. That said, I would never
work with a MAGA supporter, partly because I can’t imagine we would have
enough in common to want to create together but also because I wouldn’t
want to validate their political beliefs by association.
Improvisation, composition and “comprovisation”
I came up with the “comprovisation” term and put it in some credits, but I
don’t think of it as original. It's both an efficient and playful way to
describe my approach to music. Where does composition stop and
improvisation begin? In some ways I prefer it to the term improvisation,
because I think most improvised music is actually quite composed, at least
in the sense that in almost every situation, there are preconceived ideas
of how musicians will approach their instruments and how they will interact
with each other. But of course, it’s not very helpful in the long run if
it’s not a common term, and it’s especially unhelpful if the goal is to
reach out into the society at large. So, I don’t really use it that often.
A composition is something with a set of parameters that creates an outcome
that is distinguishable from any other, no matter how slight. Improvisation
is constantly happening in every aspect of the world. Sometimes I use the
term instant composition, either for creative or bureaucratic reasons.
Certainly, it's a shame that more emphasis is placed on composition by
institutions financially. Though I came out of the hyper-composed world of
classical music, and have degrees in composition, I believe improvised music
has pushed the boundaries equally or even more so. And it was also an
integral aspect of the development of classical music for centuries.
Solo piano
My solo piano work is the result of my lifelong practice. When I was young
I dreamt of re-establishing the concept of composer/performer that used to
be such an important part of what we call classical music.
George Antheil
was kind of my hero for a while, and then I began to realize that this was
alive and well in the overall scope of jazz. Somewhere along the way it all
merged for me, composition and improvisation, European concert music and
black American music. I have a bunch of recordings out there, most recently
Infinite-Sum Game on ESP-Disk’ which is a concert recording in
Palermo in 2023.
Synthesizers and electronics
I am primarily inspired by exploring the possibilities of a particular
instrument. I was dedicated to the piano for most of my life and didn’t
record with an electric rig until about twelve years ago. I decided to take
the leap and ended up owning about thirty different rigs. Synthesizers,
samplers and mechanical instruments with pedals. Since I live on the road I
owned only one at a time, so I was buying, exploring, recording, and
selling, then buying a different one and so on. I’ve been working with the
Korg Wavestate for about five years now – I’ve had about eight of them with
other instruments in between – and have been working a lot utilizing my own
recordings as sample sources which developed out of
The Light Is Real
, for which Terry and I recorded vocal improvisations virtually. His files
were corrupted, so I chopped them up, imported them into the Wavestate and
played them back through the keyboard with effects. Terry loved it and that
gave me the idea to do this with samples from all five of the trio albums
with Nels, William Parker, Michael Wimberly and Pauline Oliveros. ESP-Disk'
released the first two Worlds in A Life volumes.
Live in Dublin
/ WFMU Live will be coming out on a Limerick-based label in June.
Song and other writing
Most people who know my work do not know that I'm also a
singer-songwriter. It definitely hasn't been my emphasis, but I have been
writing songs since I was a very young. I'm the lead singer of Tsigoti, as
well as with the Hand To Man Band (Mike Watt, John Dieterich and Tim
Barnes) and on solo albums such as Machine in the Ghost and Hot Pursuit of Happiness' This Day's Called Tuesday, both on the Personal Archives label from Iowa and on a brand new album I'm
self-releasing on Bandcamp called Oligarch Super Villains. Most of my songs are socio-policital commentary, anti-war, and
philosophy, but I'm starting to work on an autobiographical album called Godammit Tommy! which is centered on my upbringing in the SF Bay Area and the political
and cultural happenings, drawing parallels to the dynamics of our time
now. Other than that, I have been published as a writer, most recently for
a publication out of the UK called The Land, about experiencing the
transition from the Valley Of Heart's Delight to Silicon Valley as a
teenager. Over the last decade I have been the sole music writer for First
American Art Magazine which is devoted to native artists of the Americas,
as well as Essays on Deep Listening (for Pauline Oliveros), Blue Moon Magazine out of Prague, and ThreeFold Press out of Detroit.
Vision Festival and the New York scene
The common ground is the world of sound and our shared humanity. The beauty
of freely improvised music is that everyone is coming at it with the idea
that we are entering into a known/unknown territory, where exploration and
connection with each other is key. William Parker and I first met in
Detroit when I opened up for his trio at the old Bohemian National Home and
we continued our friendship over the years. He had contributed a
composition to Estamos Ensemble, a group of U.S. and Mexican musicians I
put together, and eventually I asked if he would like to play with me and
Nels Cline. I used to play a lot in New York but I haven’t so much in the
last few years, mostly because I’m no longer traveling around the country
in our van. It was a thrill to record with Karl Berger[1935-2023].
We were talking about a follow-up recording before he died. A great honor,
and I cherish this one recording we made. I also have a couple of albums
with Michael Snow, another dearly departed. One was
recorded at the Philly Museum of Art to open his retrospective show, and
was released by Edgetone Records, and the other one is part of my Astral
Traveling Sessions that we recorded at Array in Toronto and published on
Astral Spirits as part of a 25-album series of collaborations with many
different musicians in 2019 and released during the pandemic.
Photo by ACVilla
It was great playing at the 2024 edition of the Vision Festival. I was able
to attend the entirety of the fest. The first night was in honor of William
who performed with a variety of his projects and ensembles, and I played on
the last night, which also included the Sun Ra Arkestra and
Marshall Allen
for his 100th birthday celebration! I performed a solo piano set as well as
Worlds in A Life along with live video art by ACVilla.
Upcoming projects
This month a duo album is coming out with Carlo Mascolo, a
trombonist from Puglia as well as a new Hot Pursuit of Happiness – my solo
songs project – album. This album is pretty political. In March I have a
duo album with the Uruguayan contrabassist Alvaro Rosso.
These are comprovisations based on the structures I devised originally for
my duo with Stefano Scodanibbio. We have a concert in Lisbon March 20th. In
April will also see the release of Omnileliomatic II with the
SIO. We will be celebrating this with a concert in Catania and another in
Palermo organized by Curva Minore, the organization founded by Lelio
Gianneto. I will also be playing duo concerts with
Maria Merlino
, a wonderful saxophonist from Messina to celebrate our duo album on Setola
di Maiale. The label is run by Stefano Giust, a great
drummer whom I originally met in a trio with
Edoardo Marraffa
. We call ourselves Magimc. Other releases coming out include my first
heavy metal album with a band called Akklamation from the Navajo Nation. I
got to know them through Diné [the name Navajos call themselves]
musician Michael Begay whom I’ve been collaborating with
for several years. In September I will be directing the second installment
of the Southwest Collaborative Music Convergence which brings together over
twenty musicians for three days of collaborations. Everyone is invited as
individuals and we play three large ensemble concerts at night as well as
smaller groupings, panel discussions, and educational programs. I am also
working with Cork Marcheschi, a visual artist and founding
member of the 1960s experimental rock band 50-Foot Hose for the next
Thollem/Cline trio album. Cork has built an array of mechanical noisemakers
and Nels and I will be playing in response to these!
Further meditations
We live in an increasingly perilous moment in time. I believe the arts have
an integral role to play in re-envisioning our relationship with each other
and the planet. I would encourage everyone to be more curious about what’s
happening in smaller pockets, places outside of the cultural meccas, and in
your own home town. In all of my travels I have had the privilege to
experience artists and communities in small cities and rural areas which
are all too often ignored by the larger publications, festivals and
audiences. I’ve always thought of counter-culture as something that is
truly counter to the anti-values of so much of mainstream culture. I’m
afraid to say however, that much of that has been lost to previous eras.
The world of improvised and experimental music has adopted many of the same
tactics and dynamics of consumerist society: There has been an accumulation
of wealth in power. We have our own 1%, as well as cult of personality and
celebrity worship, and as a result many beautiful artists are left behind.
It should always be about the work itself, not about where you come from,
and especially not what resources you have to throw at publicists. I know
dynamics are difficult in our world and there are many pressures, and I am
not suggesting that those who have the attention are not deserving it, but
it seems to me that there should be more curiosity for what is happening in
the more obscure parts of the world.
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