Chicago Underground Trio

Chicago Underground first appeared in February 1998 under the banner Chicago Underground Orchestra, issuing the album Playground. Although the word orchestra customarily denotes groups of ten musicians or larger, this ensemble operated as a quintet comprising Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker, Chris Lopes, Sarah P. Smith, and Chad Taylor. Shortly thereafter two participants reconvened as the Chicago Underground Duo. Percussionist Chad Taylor and cornetist Rob Mazurek issued Twelve Degrees of Freedom on October 20, 1998. Chad Taylor had already been working Chicago clubs since age 14; in subsequent years he recorded with Lou Donaldson, Leon Parker, Junior Mance, Mark Turner, Art Ensemble of Chicago bassist Malichi Favors, and the post-rock ensemble Tortoise. Rob Mazurek’s résumé similarly includes Fred Hopkins, Gastr del Sol, Loren Mazzacane Conners, Jim O’Rourke, and Tortoise. During 1999 the duo expanded into a trio by adding bass fiddler Noel Kupersmith. On March 30, 1999 the newly configured group released Possible Cube, extending its inventive sound to fresh audiences. Cinco de Mayo 2000 brought another Chicago Underground Duo album, Synesthesia, titled after the sensory-abundance disorder of the same name. Three months later the project grew into the Chicago Underground Trio and delivered its fifth recording, Flamethrower. On that date the core threesome of Mazurek, Taylor, and Kupersmith was augmented by guitarist Jeff Parker, whose work with Isotope 217 and Tortoise allows him to shift between Wes Montgomery-inspired melodies and Lounge Lizards-styled dissonant fret-board stranglings. In every configuration—as orchestra, quintet, duo, trio, or quartet—the Chicago Underground members interlace acoustically based improvisatory compositions, frequently redolent of the Ornette Coleman Quartet, with subtle electronics and moody atmospheric reliefs.