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Rob Mazurek and Black Cube SP: Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost
by Glenn Astarita
Cornetist and electronics ace Rob Mazurek leads several prominent bands. Yet Return The Tides projects special significance since the album by his Black Cube SP unit was recorded in Brazil two-weeks after his mother passed away. In the album notes, his earnest and spiritually composed eulogy may have provided an added boost to the ensemble' unrelenting force field. At times, the program's shadowy audio sound may be the output of the recording studio's limitations or was intentional, because ...
Continue ReadingRob Mazurek and Black Cube SP: Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost
by Troy Collins
Return the Tides is a heart-felt tribute to Rob Mazurek's mother, Kathleen Mazurek, who died on May 4, 2013, just days after receiving a diagnosis of late stage cancer. Her sudden and unexpected passing motivated Mazurek to honor her generous spirit through music that would, in his words, “clear a path for my mother into the unknown to ensure her safe journey to the next." Although currently based in Chicago, Mazurek returned to Brazil, where he lived from ...
Continue ReadingI nuovi orchestratori - 2: Kyle Saulnier - Rob Mazurek
by Angelo Leonardi
Parliamo ancora di orchestre e arrangiatori [per leggere la prima puntata di questo approfondimento -clicca qui. Tralasciando per il momento di considerare i contributi più innovativi della scena europea (tra cui spiccano la Vienna Art Orchestra e l'Italian Instabile Orchestra) dopo la stagione del Free la ricerca d'avanguardia statunitense non si è fermata. Purtroppo le nuove big band hanno avuto vita effimera, non oltre la registrazione di qualche opera discografica. Con la magistrale eccezione di Butch Morris, pur ...
Continue ReadingPharoah & The Underground: Spiral Mercury
by Troy Collins
The formation of the Chicago Underground collective in the late '90s provided cornetist Rob Mazurek with an unrestrictive setting to explore the endless possibilities of creative improvised music with his Windy City peers. A lengthy sojourn in Brazil followed, resulting in a similar project--the São Paulo Underground. Mazurek's international activities subsequently established him as a prolific composer and industrious bandleader.It was the release of Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra (Thrill Jockey, 2008), Mazurek's fortuitous collaboration with vanguard ...
Continue ReadingRob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra: Matter Anti-Matter
by John Sharpe
When he was under contract with Arista in the 1970s, reedman Anthony Braxton discovered that he was able to slip under the rug the release of some of his less commercially viable works, such as the mammoth For Four Orchestras (1978), by alternating them with more traditional quartet material. While electro-acoustic composer and cornetist Rob Mazurek won't be pulling the wool over anyone's eyes at the Paris-based Rogue Art imprint, he has achieved a similar outcome by coupling two opposite ...
Continue ReadingSpiral Mercury - Chicago/Sao Paulo Underground featuring Pharoah Sanders: Pharoah & The Underground
by Glenn Astarita
Renowned tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and new music, jazz-centric pioneer, cornetist Rob Mazurek bridge alternate generations of avant-gard-isms with this highly persuasive and indubitably, audacious production. It's an electro-acoustic meeting of futuristic minds, intersecting the trumpeter's Sao Paulo Underground and Chicago Underground ensembles. Moreover, they yield intergalactic nods to classic space rock via Guilherme Granado's inventive electronics, synths and samples permutations along with Matthew Lux's pumped up bass lines and Chad Taylor's sweeping drums patterns amid several distinctive indicators throughout. ...
Continue ReadingPharoah & The Underground: Spiral Mercury
by Karl Ackermann
With Pharaoh & the Underground we have two generations of musicians whose common bond is their greatness. Tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders--heir to his friend and colleague John Coltrane--and Rob Mazurek, the most inventive cornetist since Louis Armstrong are captured together on Spiral Mercury . The album is a document of a 2013 concert, one of the live performances Mazurek and Sanders have been collaborating on for several years. The two are joined by Mazurek colleagues from various groups; percussionist Maurício ...
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