Chad Taylor and Rob Mazurek will go aboveground at ISSUE Project Room on September 8
ISSUE Project Room
The Old American Can Factory
232 Third St., third floor, Brooklyn
Wednesday, September 8, $10, 8:00
718-330-0313
www.myspace.com/chicagoundergroundmusic
www.issueprojectroom.org
On their fifth album, BOCA NEGRA (Thrill Jockey, August 2010), their first since 2006’s IN PRAISE OF SHADOWS, the Chicago Underground Duo prove that experimental jazz is still alive and well. Brazil-based Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra), who plays cornet, keyboards, and laptop, and Brooklyn’s Chad Taylor (Iron and Wine), on drums, mbira, guitar, and vibraphone, team up for ten sound structures that move in and out of melody and beat, playing with time and space like avant-garde sculpture. From the opening horn trills of “Green Ants” to the sweet, subtle melody of “Vergence,” the duo combines for thrilling sonic creations, both composed and improvised. Experimentalism abounds on “Left Hand of Darkness” and a seven-and-a-half-minute foray through Ornette Coleman’s “Broken Shadows,” on which Taylor plays drums and vibraphone simultaneously, while the duo holds down the rhythm on the energetic “Confliction,” which also features organ, and “Spy on the Floor,” which is centered around a noirish bass groove. And they get downright spacey on “Quantum Eye.” The duo will be playing songs from their new release, the first they recorded in Brazil instead of Chicago, and others from throughout their twelve-year career Wednesday night at the ISSUE Project Room in the Old American Can Factory in Brooklyn.