Chicago Underground Duo

At the convergence of Tortoise-inspired indie rock and Chicago’s increasingly younger jazz community stands Chicago Underground Duo, a project that has also recorded as Chicago Underground Orchestra and Chicago Underground Trio according to its shifting personnel. Cornetist and keyboardist Rob Mazurek, the group’s central figure, cut three albums for Hep between 1994 and 1997. Once the city’s rising indie-rock act Tortoise began incorporating elements of Chicago’s improvisational and free-jazz lineage, Mazurek collaborated with the band and played on its 1998 album TNT. The first Chicago Underground Duo release, made with drummer/vibraphonist Chad Taylor in 1998, appeared on Tortoise’s Thrill Jockey imprint. The next year the pair became a trio by adding bassist Noel Kupersmith and issued Possible Cube on Delmark.