''Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra'' is an album by American jazz trumpeter

Bill Dixon William Robert “Bill” Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer, improviser, visual artist, activist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. Hi ...

and

Rob Mazurek Rob Mazurek (born 1965) is an American composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illinois. Biography Rob Mazurek is an American electro-acoustic composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illi ...

's Exploding Star Orchestra. It was recorded at

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording studio, recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refuses ...

studios in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 2007, and was released in 2008 on the Thrill Jockey label. The album features two versions of a composition by Dixon plus one by Mazurek.

Background

Dixon and Mazurek first met at the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Jazz Festival in

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in September 2006, after which Mazurek suggested pairing Dixon with the Exploding Star Orchestra for an event at the

Chicago Jazz Festival The Chicago Jazz Festival is an admission-free, four-day annual jazz festival in Chicago's Millennium Park. It is run by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and programmed with the assistance of Jazz Institute of Chicago during ...

. The album features two versions of Dixon's composition "Entrances," with Dixon shaping his written musical material via spontaneous conducting. Mazurek's composition "Constellations For Innerlight Projections" is dedicated to Dixon, and involved a video score to be realized by seven laptop musicians, with other musicians either conducted by Mazurek or responding in an improvisational way. According to Mazurek, the piece "suggests the idea... that life ''out there'' begins ''in here'' and is also a tribute to the way Bill Dixon forged new paths in the way the trumpet is perceived and could be used to create new other worldly sound." Mazurek reflected: "Bill's concept of playing is so original. His sound and ideas really have the capacity to transform a thing... his sound really transformed the suites on this recording into something spectacular."

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Stewart Mason called the album "a free-improv delight making plain the links between the original scene and the contemporary Chicago post-rock school." Martin Longley, writing for the

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, commented: "Dixon's two-part "Entrances" bookends the disc, dedicated to solar storm-brewing, utilising a palette of shimmering vibraphone, dappled piano, murmuring timpani drums and deeply slumbering bass. The co-leaders trade echoed horn spirals, and the Orchestra plays as one cerebellum, shunting from complete spacious abstraction to unstoppably rolling themes. Mazurek's lengthy "Constellations For Innerlight Projections" is even more impressive, complete with a retro cosmic proclamation by Damon Locks that evokes the 1960s and '70s vibrating spheres of Sun Ra, and with an instrumental gait that suggests Moondog on the move; tubular bells chiming resoundingly." In an article at All About Jazz, Troy Collins wrote: "A rare but welcome addition to Dixon's discography and a highpoint in the budding career of Mazurek, the powerful and multi-layered ''Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra'' is a classic that will be studied for years to come." In a separate review for the same publication, Greg Camphire called the album "a sprawling meeting of minds," and commented: "''Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra'' explores many moods over the course of each kaleidoscopic piece. It may take patience and close listening to fully reveal its rewards, but the results of Dixon and Mazurek's mutual admiration society are well worth a serious investigation." Writing for

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, Michael Patrick Brady remarked: "''Bill Dixon with the Exploding Star Orchestra'' never bears too much resemblance to either of the parties involved, instead maintaining a precious balance in which both can offer their talents and skills without overpowering or deferring to one another. The record is an opportunity to hear Dixon in a rare ensemble setting, and see how his mind arranges the tools presented to him by Mazurek, while also seeing how nimbly the Exploding Star Orchestra can help the master realize his visions without compromising them."

Track listing

# "Entrances / One" (Dixon) - 18:09 # "Constellations For Innerlight Projections (For Bill Dixon)" (Mazurek) - 24:12 # "Entrances / Two" (Dixon) - 18:11 Recorded on September 1 and 3, 2007 at

, Chicago

Personnel

– trumpet *

– cornet * Nicole Mitchell – flute, voice *

Matt Bauder Matt Bauder (born 1976) is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He is the bandleader of the jazz trio Hearing Things, the jazz quintet Day in Pictures, and the modern doo-wop group White Blue Yellow & Clouds. He is a member of t ...

– bass clarinet, tenor saxophone *

Jeb Bishop Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player. He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern University, engineering and ...

– trombone * Josh Berman – cornet * Jeff Parker – guitar * Jim Baker – piano *

Jason Adasiewicz Jason Adasiewicz (born October 14, 1977) is an American jazz vibraphonist and composer. Early life and education Jason was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1977, but raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

– vibraphone, tubular bells * Matthew Lux – bass guitar * Jason Ajemian – double bass * Mike Reed – drums, timpani *

John Herndon John Herndon is an American musician and artist. Based in Chicago, he plays drums and percussion, and works as a producer for instrumental hip hop under the name A Grape Dope. Career John Herndon is a member of the bands Tortoise and Isotope 217, ...

– drums * Damon Locks – voice

Production

* Greg Norman – recording engineer * Bill Dixon, Rob Mazurek – cover art

References

{{Bill Dixon 2008 albums Bill Dixon albums