The mercurial and improvisatory Chicago Underground debuted as the Chicago Underground Orchestra in February of 1998 with
Playground. Though the term orchestra is usually reserved for ensembles with ten or more musicians, the Chicago Underground Orchestra were actually a quintet (
Rob Mazurek,
Jeff Parker, Chris Lopes, Sarah P. Smith, and
Chad Taylor). A short time later, two members of this outfit regrouped as the Chicago Underground Duo. The duo, percussionist
Chad Taylor and cornetist
Rob Mazurek, released Twelve Degrees of Freedom on October 20, 1998.
Chad Taylor has been performing in Chicago clubs since the age of 14. Now, as an adult, he has collaborated with such venerable figures as
Lou Donaldson,
Leon Parker, Junior Mance,
Mark Turner, Chicago Art Ensemble bassist Malichi Favors, and post-rockers
Tortoise. Similarly,
Rob Mazurek has played with such noteworthy musicians as
Fred Hopkins,
Gastr del Sol, Loren Mazzacane Conners,
Jim O'Rourke, and, once again,
Tortoise. In 1999, this duo morphed into a trio with the addition of bass fiddler
Noel Kupersmith. Their March 30, 1999, release (
Possible Cube) continued to deposit the group's creative sound into many hip ears. With the Cinco de Mayo festivities in 2000 came another
Chicago Underground Duo release. This CD,
Synesthesia, is named after the sensory-abundance disorder of the same name. Three months after the release of
Synesthesia, the duo burgeoned into the Chicago Underground Trio and kicked down with a fifth release,
Flamethrower. For this CD, the core threesome of Mazurek,
Taylor, and Kupersmith were joined by guitarist
Jeff Parker.
Parker, who has played with Isotope 217 and
Tortoise, moves easily between
Wes Montgomery-inspired melodies and
Lounge Lizards-styled dissonant fret-board stranglings. All in all, whether they perform as an orchestra, quintet, duo, trio, or quartet, the Chicago Underground members deftly weave acoustically based improvisatory compositions -- often times redolent of
the Ornette Coleman Quartet -- with subtle electronics and moody atmospheric reliefs. ~ John Vallier