★Delmark Records
3 Compositions Of New Jazz
Reissue of Anthony Braxton's second album for Delmark Records, originally released in 1969. Featuring Leroy Jenkins (violin and percussion) Leo Smith (trumpet) and Richard Abrams (piano, cello, alto clarinet). "...is there a McDonalds nearby?... remember, jazz musicians have to deal with the problem of no coins. On the road you either eat well and go home broke or you eat junk food and go home sick. Sick, but solvent." -- from Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton by Graham…
Stellar Pulsations
Originally schooled in the foundations of hard bop, cornetist Rob Mazurek, quickly surpassed the form's conventional limitations; his multihued electro-acoustic work over the past two decades has subsequently drawn inspiration from numerous genres besides jazz. Mazurek's unfettered creativity and stalwart leadership skills have thereby cemented his reputation as a key figure in the Chicago scene—primarily as organizer of the venerable Chicago Underground Collective and several other innovative e…
Double Demon
What mischief can be made with just cornet, vibraphone and drums. Rob Mazurek has scaled back considerably since Stars Have Shapes, the 2010 record from his Exploding Star Orchestra. His new project, the curiously named Starlicker, is a mere trio, with Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and Tortoise drummer John Herndon. But this group emits more sound and energy than do some sextets. Double Demon is Out to Lunch! for a new generation. Powered by Herndon’s hyperkinet…
Flame Thrower
Rob Mazurek (cornet), Chad Taylor (drums), Noel Kupersmith (bass) & Jeff Parker (guitar) are 4 of the busiest members of Chicago's creative music scene, from Tortoise to Brokeback to Sam Prekop's band to Isotope 217 to the Chicago Underground Duo to Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge. As the 'Trio' their unique sound balances free jazz w/electronica & tuneful post-bop compositions. Recorded & mixed by Bundy K. Brown. RECOMMENDED
Chronicle
Rob Mazurek & Chad Taylor have been part of the heart & soul of the Chicago Underground groups for over a decade. Bassist Jason Ajemian makes his debut bringing a wide range of musical influences to the table. "...the trio's music is never frenetic: it is lapidary in its precision. W/ painterly splashes of organ & electronics, it casts a nocturnal spectral glow." NY Times
Spacer
Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz's (of Exploding Star Orchestra fame) Chicago Trio with drummer Mike Reed and bassist Nate McBride in a great modern jazz release of original compositions, informed, warm and compelling music. "The Jason Adasiewicz Trio features Jason on vibraphone, Mike Reed on drums, and Nate McBride on bass. The Chicago jazz group formed in 2008, first experimenting as a free improvising trio, and later focused attention on arranging tunes that Adasiewicz wrote during his wife's …
The Story This Time
"The debut album of The Jason Stein Quartet, The Story This Time, brings together Chicago bass clarinetist Jason Stein with three of his favorite improvisers. With Joshua Abrams on bass, Frank Rosaly on drums, and Keefe Jackson on tenor saxophone and contrabass clarinet, the album features five original compositions by Stein and six underexplored compositions by jazz luminaries Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Lenny Tristano, and Thelonious Monk. Following three critically acclaimed albums with …
Cipher
It has been Chicago, not New York, that has been the confluence of music of Europe, jazz of the Americas, and improvised music. Whereas NYC claims all things to be "New York" (sort of like Al Gore inventing the internet), music makers in Chicago identify and defer to varying regional influences.Such is the case on Cipher, where seemingly disparate forces come together to create heady and engaging music. But then leader Josh Abrams has made a career of such things. He began with the Philadelphia …
Sound of Joy
Sun Ra's second album was a Delmark release, although it was originally intended for the Transition label, which did not survive long enough to release it. Recorded in 1957. Personnel: Sun Ra, piano, electric piano; Art Hoyle & Dave Young, trumpets; John Gilmore, tenor sax; Pat Patrick, alto & baritone sax; Jim Herndon, tympani, timbali; Julian Priester, trombone; Charles Davis, baritone sax; Victor Sproles, bass; William Cochran, drums; Clyde Williams, vocals. (label)
Stars Have Shapes
Limited LP edition...MINDBLOWING! a unique and incredible orchestra of acoustic & electronic improvisation. "Jazz cornetist Rob Mazurek has created a sound world that is uniquely his own, sculpting a TOTAL sound environment, by fully utilizing the beautiful instrumentation of the Exploding Star Orchestra and sounds from a variety of sources, including: rain from the Brazilian Amazon, insects at the turn of an eclipse, the hammering overdrive of bicycles in Copenhagen, stacked muted cornets run t…
Sun Song
The first song on side A, Brainville, is such a great start, a walk down a busy street full of fascinating people all going somewhere. Everyone's in a good mood. You are among an intelligent group of people with senses of humor. They like to laugh at situations they find themselves in, and at themselves, sometimes. What a great introduction. You want to stay among these people, keep listening to them, keep watching them.The second song, Call For All Demons, has a catchy main phrase going …
For Alto
One of the first solo saxophone recordings of the 60s – recorded as one of the first few sessions by a young Anthony Braxton! As the title implies, the whole album features alto sax – played freely by Braxton with a depth of creativity and sense of humanity to rival any of the previous greatness of his generation from bigger names on labels like Impulse or ESP. There's a great sense of restraint here too – not one that has Braxton on the inside of the jazz spectrum, but which keeps him …
Old Idea
For a decade jazz cornetist Josh Berman has been a mainstay of the post-Vandermark generation of Chicago improvisers, a wide circle of ambitious musos who meet up in varied ad hoc or fixed settings: a circle including all the players in Josh's group Old Idea. He's already recorded some--as, say, part of a quartet on Chicago-Luzern Exchange alongside tenor saxophonist Keefe Jackson, with Jackson's big and small bands Project Project and Fast Citizens, wit…
Sound Is
"Sound Is, is delightfully not what I had expected when this fine disc arrived, a beautiful soundscape, awash with more layerings and hypnotic cinematic virtues than I would ever hope to find. Though while saying that, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the ultra fine hazy jazz that both effortlessly, and rambunctiously flows through this release, and stands not starkly in juxtaposition to the soundscape, but gives it the vibrant life necessary to keep you quietly swinging at 4 in the mornin…
21st Century Chase
To achieve the age of 80 is an accomplishment. To achieve the age of 80 as a saxophone player, still at the top of the game, is something else again. In march of 2009, Chicago legend Fred Anderson finished up a week of celebration in honor of his 80th at his own Velvet Lounge with this special quintet, and Delmark records was there to record it. Fred was joined by longtime bassist Harrison Bankhead, Chad Taylor on drums (Hamid Drake was unable to get back to Chicago in time), Jeff Parker on guit…