Search - Chicago Underground Duo :: Synesthesia

Underrated (post)modern jazz unit

Aaron Burgess | Round Rock, TX, USA | 07/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On their second album, Synesthesia, Chicago Underground duo -- a.k.a. Chad Taylor and Rob Mazurek; a.k.a. the Chicago Underground minus bandmates -- continue their almost painterly journey into abstraction. I say "painterly" (as others also have) because the group's sound is more colorful than tonal; more textural than linear. Influenced equally by mercurial composers such as Morton Feldman and by their fellow jazz experimentalists in Chicago, Taylor and Mazurek create a time-stretched, impressionistic sort of avant-atmosphere that simultaneously bridges and melts genre rules. Through overdubbing, reassembling and doubling-up (in some tracks Taylor simultaneously plays drums and vibes), the Duo also lay a bridge between real-time playing and studio-as-instrument tinkering. Mazurek's burbling synthesizers and eerie "found sounds" mingle in key with his cornet and with Taylor's vibes, creating moods that could never be created live (without tapes, at least). And in tracks such as the dissected-and-rebuilt "Tram Transfer," engineer John McEntire's mixing becomes as important as the Duo's playing. In the end it's still jazz, of course -- there's no ignoring the way a track like "Threads on the Face" swings -- but, like its more dissonant counterparts in modern improvisation, it's jazz with real possibilities."

Jazz of the future, now

Anthony Cooper | Louisville, KY United States | 10/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor open up with the strong "Blues Sparks", which has a few different sections. It starts quietly, but not unobtrusively. Much of the song is driven by a propulsive looping bass synth line. It then changes to a bed of Taylor's vibes and some high-register cornet. As a whole, this disc is fairly typical CU, there is great cornet playing, strong rhythms coming in and out of songs, and strange noises. The album is very strong, though "The Unique Container" and "Tram Transfer Nine" sound like doodlings to me."