{"title":"Chicago Underground Duo","description":"\u003cp\u003eCornetist Rob Mazurek and drummer Chad Taylor formed Chicago Underground Duo in 1997 as an outgrowth of Mazurek's weekly workshops at Chicago's legendary Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. Their debut 12 Degrees of Freedom, recorded live at the Lunar Cabaret on a snowy January night, established their moody, spacious approach to improvisation, drawing comparisons to Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell's classic duo Mu. The pair meld free jazz with electronics, African rhythms, ambient textures, and techno influences, creating what they describe as \"an organic mixture\" that defies easy categorisation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcross albums like \u003cem\u003eSynesthesia\u003c\/em\u003e (2000), \u003cem\u003eAxis and Alignment \u003c\/em\u003e(2002), and \u003cem\u003eLocus\u003c\/em\u003e (2014), the duo expanded beyond cornet and drums to incorporate vibraphone, mbira, balophone, bamboo flute, Game Boy, and extensive electronics, seamlessly fusing jazz and electronica in groundbreaking ways. Part of Chicago's fertile experimental scene alongside Tortoise and Isotope 217, they also perform as Trio, Quartet, or Orchestra with rotating personnel including guitarist Jeff Parker. After a hiatus following 2014's \u003cem\u003eLocus\u003c\/em\u003e, Taylor and Mazurek reactivated the duo in 2024, returning with \u003cem\u003eHyperglyph\u003c\/em\u003e (2025) on International Anthem, nodding to influences from AACM composers and Miles Davis's electric period.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"chicago-underground-duo-hyperglyph-2025-international-anthem-vinyl-lp","title":"Chicago Underground Duo - Hyperglyph (2025 International Anthem Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003eChicago Underground Duo, the enduring collaboration between cornetist\/composer Rob Mazurek and drummer Chad Taylor, return with H\u003cem\u003eyperglyph\u003c\/em\u003e, their latest exploration of free jazz, cosmic improvisation, and Afrofuturist aesthetics. Released 15 August 2025 on International Anthem Recording Company, this album continues the duo's quarter-century practice of creating expansive soundscapes from minimal instrumentation. The 11 tracks range from concise improvisations like \"Click Song\" through the three-part \"Egyptian Suite\" that closes the album, Mazurek's cornet and electronics combining with Taylor's drums and percussion to create music that honours free jazz traditions while incorporating contemporary production approaches and global influences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChicago Underground began in 1997 as an outgrowth of Chicago's experimental jazz scene, Mazurek and Taylor developing a musical language that draws from free jazz pioneers (Don Cherry, Sun Ra), Brazilian music, African traditions, and electronic experimentation. Their duo format allows maximum flexibility and interaction, each musician's contribution clearly audible yet always in service of collective sound. Mazurek's cornet playing ranges from lyrical melodicism to abstract sound exploration, his use of electronics adding layers of processed sound and rhythmic loops. Taylor's drumming combines jazz tradition with global percussion approaches, creating both propulsive grooves and textural atmospheres that support and challenge Mazurek's sonic explorations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInternational Anthem's release of \u003cem\u003eHyperglyph\u003c\/em\u003e situates Chicago Underground Duo within the label's roster of forward-thinking jazz and experimental music, connecting their long-running project to contemporary artists like Makaya McCraven, Tomeka Reid, and Jeff Parker. This worldwide pressing makes their latest statement available to the audience the label has built for boundary-pushing improvised music that honours tradition while refusing to be bound by it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43086359691323,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/a1867604369_10.jpg?v=1766265723"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/chicago-underground-duo.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}