Search - Chicago Underground :: Chronicle

Totally free CUT

Anthony Cooper | Louisville, KY United States | 09/13/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Judging by the composer credits (and songs themselves), previous Chicago Underground CD's have varying amounts of composition along with the free playing they do. For "Chronicle", Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor gather a new bassist, Jason Ajemian, and recorded a live CD/DVD. Apparently, and it's easy to believe, the music wasn't written out beforehand and is totally improvised. "Initiation" is what it sounds like. The new guy, bassist Ajemian, plays solo for five minutes. Chad Taylor joins in at the beginning of "Resistance" (the music doesn't really stop in between songs, the "songs" are more for CD navigation), and then Mazurek comes in on cornet. After a section of free jazz on acoustic instruments, the group starts using samplers, percussion, and effects. From that point, they never look back, and there's about an hour of noisy improvisation. The group builds to a climax towards the end of "Transcendence", and then that's it. This is a little too free and out there for my tastes, so I give it three stars. The Chicago Underground at their most inaccessible is never unpleasant or obnoxious, even when they sound like an 18-wheeler backing up. I recommend this to people who really like the Chicago Underground's "12 Degrees Of Freedom" or "Possible Cube"."