Rob Mazurek
Encyclopedia
Rob Mazurek is an American
composer, jazz
musician, and visual artist originally from Chicago
, Illinois
. Mazurek now resides in São Paulo
Brazil.
in 1965, and played trumpet and cornet
in high school in Naperville, Illinois. After high school he attended the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago, and began playing gigs with local jazz musicians. In the early 1990s, he played hard bop
with his first quartet, featuring drummer George Fludas, bassist John Webber
, and pianist Randolph Tressler. This troupe booked an extended set of gigs in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Scottish label Hep Records
released three albums of theirs, in 1994, 1995, and 1997.
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. As the Chicago Underground Orchestra, this ensemble released several albums on Chicago's Delmark Records
. Mazurek continued to form groups under the Chicago Underground umbrella, performing as the Chicago Underground Duo
and Chicago Underground Quartet.
By then a well-known figure on the Chicago jazz scene, Mazurek collaborated with a number of jazz and experimental rock artists, performing on albums by Tortoise
, Sam Prekop
, Gastr del Sol
, Stereolab
, and Brokeback
. Out of these experiments was born the experimental collaboration Isotope 217
. Mazurek would continue experimenting with his laptop-based project Orton Socket. Mazurek has released several albums on Chicago's Thrill Jockey
records in the 2000s, including some under the Chicago Underground designation.
Mazurek also paints and experiments with multimedia art. In addition to touring extensively worldwide as a musician, he has had works exhibited at art galleries such as Heaven Gallery in Chicago, Naked Duck Gallery in New York, and Gantner Multi-Media Center in France.
In March 2003 Mazurek participated in the SUB/SAS workshop in Palermo, Italy. A workshop exploring the means of a contemporary trend of interdisciplinary relationships between artists, sound artists, landscape designers and architects. Through this group he has exhibited paintings-videos-sound works in Rome, Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris and Palermo and continues his collaboration with the group with exhibitions/workshops planned in 2005 for Helsinki, Barcelona and Toronto.
In 2005 Mazurek was awarded the prestigious grant/residency at the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud in France where he developed a multi-media piece based on the environment of the Abbaye. The piece (which includes digital manipulation of piano compositions, paintings, digital manipulation of paintings, video and text) was presented in May 2005 as part of the Abbaye's "Creation Week".
On August 11, 2005 Mazurek debuted his new large ensemble "Exploding Star Orchestra", at Millennium Park in Chicago. The group includes some of the most powerful and interesting players in Chicago today.
In 2006 he introduced the São Paulo Underground (Aesthetics Records/Submarine Records/Headz Japan), touring worldwide and became a member of Jason Ajemian's new ensemble "Day Dream New Life Styles" featuring Tony Mallaby, Jeff Parker, and Chad Taylor.
January 2007 saw the debut release of his EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA "We Are All From Somewhere Else".
In April 2007 he celebrated the release of a DVD/CD release of the Chicago Underground Trio entitled "Chronicle", which features the film work of Raymond Salvatore Harmon
.
In June 2007, Tigersmilk will release its third cd "Android Love Cry" with new digital prints by Mazurek.
Currently he is working on new solo cornet/music concrete works based on material from the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud residency, that will be released on Adluna Records fall of 2007 and new sound/visual works that will be featured on the Bottrop-Boy label in winter 2008.
In June 2007 he was invited to the Dieppe Bienale in Normandy France to present new sound and visual works.
On September 2, 2007 his group Exploding Star Orchestra performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival with the great Bill Dixon, performing a new composition by Bill Dixon and a new composition by Mazurek utilizing his first experiments in the world of video score.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician, and visual artist originally from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Mazurek now resides in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
Brazil.
Biography
Mazurek was born in Jersey City, New JerseyJersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
in 1965, and played trumpet and cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
in high school in Naperville, Illinois. After high school he attended the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago, and began playing gigs with local jazz musicians. In the early 1990s, he played hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
with his first quartet, featuring drummer George Fludas, bassist John Webber
John Webber
John Webber was an English artist best known for his images of early Alaska and Hawaii.Webber was born on 6 October 1751 in London, educated in Switzerland and studied painting at Paris....
, and pianist Randolph Tressler. This troupe booked an extended set of gigs in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Scottish label Hep Records
Hep Records
Hep Records is a Scottish record label specializing in both new and reissued jazz music. The label was founded in 1974 by Alastair Robertson in Edinburgh.-Past and present artists:*Don Lanphere*Jessica Williams*Jim Mullen*Tommy Smith*Michael Hashim...
released three albums of theirs, in 1994, 1995, and 1997.
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. As the Chicago Underground Orchestra, this ensemble released several albums on Chicago's Delmark Records
Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
. Mazurek continued to form groups under the Chicago Underground umbrella, performing as the Chicago Underground Duo
Chicago Underground Duo
Chicago Underground Duo is an avant-garde jazz duo consisting of cornetist Rob Mazurek and drummer/percussionist Chad Taylor. They formed in 1997, having both been members of Chicago Underground Orchestra...
and Chicago Underground Quartet.
By then a well-known figure on the Chicago jazz scene, Mazurek collaborated with a number of jazz and experimental rock artists, performing on albums by Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
, Sam Prekop
Sam Prekop
Sam Prekop is a rock/pop musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released three solo albums. Prekop first gained recognition in the band Shrimp Boat from 1988 to 1993. Many artists have performed in the Sam Prekop band, such as Chad Taylor, Josh Abrams, Jim O'Rourke, and Archer Prewitt...
, Gastr del Sol
Gastr del Sol
Gastr del Sol was a Chicago band consisting, for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 1993 and 1998 they put out seven albums ranging in genre from post-rock to musique concrète....
, Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, and Brokeback
Brokeback (band)
Brokeback is a project of Doug McCombs, bassist of Tortoise and Eleventh Dream Day.- Featured artists :* Rob Mazurek* Noel Kupersmith* Mary Hansen * James McNew * Chad Taylor...
. Out of these experiments was born the experimental collaboration Isotope 217
Isotope 217
Isotope 217° is a Chicago based band composed mainly of members from Tortoise and the Chicago Underground Orchestra that was formed in 1997. The New York Times described the band as "..adept to varying degrees at rock and funk and jazz and electronics, turn those introspective moments into jams...
. Mazurek would continue experimenting with his laptop-based project Orton Socket. Mazurek has released several albums on Chicago's Thrill Jockey
Thrill Jockey
Thrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
records in the 2000s, including some under the Chicago Underground designation.
Mazurek also paints and experiments with multimedia art. In addition to touring extensively worldwide as a musician, he has had works exhibited at art galleries such as Heaven Gallery in Chicago, Naked Duck Gallery in New York, and Gantner Multi-Media Center in France.
In March 2003 Mazurek participated in the SUB/SAS workshop in Palermo, Italy. A workshop exploring the means of a contemporary trend of interdisciplinary relationships between artists, sound artists, landscape designers and architects. Through this group he has exhibited paintings-videos-sound works in Rome, Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris and Palermo and continues his collaboration with the group with exhibitions/workshops planned in 2005 for Helsinki, Barcelona and Toronto.
In 2005 Mazurek was awarded the prestigious grant/residency at the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud in France where he developed a multi-media piece based on the environment of the Abbaye. The piece (which includes digital manipulation of piano compositions, paintings, digital manipulation of paintings, video and text) was presented in May 2005 as part of the Abbaye's "Creation Week".
On August 11, 2005 Mazurek debuted his new large ensemble "Exploding Star Orchestra", at Millennium Park in Chicago. The group includes some of the most powerful and interesting players in Chicago today.
In 2006 he introduced the São Paulo Underground (Aesthetics Records/Submarine Records/Headz Japan), touring worldwide and became a member of Jason Ajemian's new ensemble "Day Dream New Life Styles" featuring Tony Mallaby, Jeff Parker, and Chad Taylor.
January 2007 saw the debut release of his EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA "We Are All From Somewhere Else".
In April 2007 he celebrated the release of a DVD/CD release of the Chicago Underground Trio entitled "Chronicle", which features the film work of Raymond Salvatore Harmon
Raymond Salvatore Harmon
Raymond Salvatore Harmon is an American media artist, painter, and filmmaker. As a graffiti artist Harmon has used the tags BETA and RSH...
.
In June 2007, Tigersmilk will release its third cd "Android Love Cry" with new digital prints by Mazurek.
Currently he is working on new solo cornet/music concrete works based on material from the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud residency, that will be released on Adluna Records fall of 2007 and new sound/visual works that will be featured on the Bottrop-Boy label in winter 2008.
In June 2007 he was invited to the Dieppe Bienale in Normandy France to present new sound and visual works.
On September 2, 2007 his group Exploding Star Orchestra performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival with the great Bill Dixon, performing a new composition by Bill Dixon and a new composition by Mazurek utilizing his first experiments in the world of video score.
Discography
- 1994 Man Facing East (Hep RecordsHep RecordsHep Records is a Scottish record label specializing in both new and reissued jazz music. The label was founded in 1974 by Alastair Robertson in Edinburgh.-Past and present artists:*Don Lanphere*Jessica Williams*Jim Mullen*Tommy Smith*Michael Hashim...
) - 1995 Badlands (Hep)
- 1997 Green & Blue (Hep)
- 1998 Playground (Delmark RecordsDelmark RecordsDelmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
) - 1998 12 Degrees of Freedom (Thrill JockeyThrill JockeyThrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
) - 1999 Possible Cube (Delmark)
- 2000 Synesthesia (Thrill Jockey)
- 2000 Flamethrower (Delmark)
- 2001 Chicago Underground Quartet (Thrill Jockey)
- 2001 Amorphic Winged (Walking Road)
- 2002 Axis and Alignment (Thrill Jockey)
- 2002 Silver Spines (Delmark)
- 2004 SlonSlon (album)Slon is the third album from the Chicago Underground Trio. The album was released in January 2004 on Thrill Jockey Records . This is their first release on Thrill Jockey, their first two albums were released by Delmark Records. The album was produced by Bundy K. Brown. The trio consists of Rob...
(Thrill Jockey) - 2004 Sweet and Vicious Like Frankenstein (Mego Records)
- 2005 Mandarin Movie (Aesthetics Records)
- 2006 In Praise of Shadows (Thrill Jockey)
- 2006 Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres (Aesthetics)
- 2007 Chronicle (Delmark)
- 2007 Exploding Star Orchestra: We are all from somewhere else (Thrill Jockey)
- 2008 Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra (Thrill Jockey)
- 2009 Rob Mazurek Quintet: Sound Is (Delmark)
- 2010 Boca Negra (Thrill Jockey)
- 2010 Calma Gente (Submarine Records)
- 2010 Exploding Star Orchestra: Stars Have Shapes (Delmark)
- 2011 Starlicker: Double Demon (Delmark)