Chicago Underground is an

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...

ensemble formed in Chicago in 1997 based around the core duo of cornetist Rob Mazurek and drummer/percussionist Chad Taylor. They have recorded and performed as the Chicago Underground Duo, Trio, Quartet or Orchestra depending on how many additional musicians are included. The ensemble has released numerous recordings on the

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

and Delmark labels. __TOC__

Rob Mazurek / Chad Taylor

Rob Mazurek was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1965, and played trumpet and cornet in high school. After high school he attended the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago, and began playing gigs with local jazz musicians. In 1996, Mazurek founded a workshop at Chicago jazz club The Green Mill called Chicago Underground for the performance of avant-garde, improvisatory jazz. By 1998, a new ensemble had formed around this idea, featuring guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Chad Taylor, bassist Noel Kupersmith, and trombonist Sara Smith. After this ensemble released an album on Chicago's Delmark Records as the Chicago Underground Orchestra, Mazurek and Taylor continued to form groups under the Chicago Underground umbrella, performing as the Chicago Underground Duo, Chicago Underground Trio and Chicago Underground Quartet.

Discography

As Chicago Underground Duo

*''

12° of Freedom 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'' (Thrill Jockey, 1998) *''

Synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

'' (Thrill Jockey, 2000) *'' Axis and Alignment'' (Thrill Jockey, 2002) *'' In Praise of Shadows'' (Thrill Jockey, 2006) *'' Boca Negra'' (Thrill Jockey, 2010) *'' Age of Energy'' (Northern-Spy, 2012) *'' Locus'' (Northern-Spy, 2014)

As Chicago Underground Trio

*'' Possible Cube'' (Delmark, 1999) *''

Flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...

'' (Delmark, 2000) *''

Slon The Solovki special camp (later the Solovki special prison), was set up in 1923 on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea as a remote and inaccessible place of detention, primarily intended for socialist opponents of Soviet Russia's new Bolshev ...

'' (Thrill Jockey, 2003) *''

Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

'' (Delmark, 2007)

As Chicago Underground Quartet

*'' Chicago Underground Quartet'' (Thrill Jockey, 2001) *'' Good Days'' ( Astral Spirits Records, 2020)

As Chicago Underground Orchestra

*''

Playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

'' (Delmark 1998)

As Pharoah & The Underground

*'' Spiral Mercury'' (Clean Feed Records, 2014) - with

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

and São Paulo Underground *''Primative Jupiter'' (Clean Feed Records, 2014) - with Pharoah Sanders and São Paulo Underground

As Chicago London Underground

*'' A Night Walking Through Mirrors'' (Cuneiform Records, 2017) - with

Alexander Hawkins Alexander Hawkins (born 3 May 1981) is a British jazz pianist and composer. Three of the main groups he has led or co-led are the Alexander Hawkins Ensemble; the Convergence Quartet (with Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, and Dominic Lash); ...

and John Edwards

References

External links

Interview on All About Jazz website
{{Authority control Northern Spy Records artists Avant-garde jazz musicians Jazz ensembles from Illinois Musical groups from Chicago