Spiral Mercury cover
Released

In August 2013, cornet player and bandleader Rob Mazurek combined two of his groups, Chicago Underground and São Paulo Underground, into one and added a magical third element, the saxophone of Pharoah Sanders. The group included Mazurek on cornet and flute, Guilherme Granado on synths and percussion, Matthew Lux on electric bass, Mauricio Takara on percussion, and Chad Taylor on drums and mbira. The music pulls from Mazurek’s catalog, but also feels fully improvised; it sounds like you’re wandering through a jungle of sound, like a dubby take on the more atmospheric work of Miles Davis’s 1970s septet. Pharoah roams the sonic landscape like a tiger, never exploding but always stalking, making his presence known as he slips smoothly between the other players. (There’s a companion vinyl-only release, Primative Jupiter, with more music from the same concert.)

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Frances the Mute cover

Frances the Mute

The Mars Volta
Godbluff cover

Godbluff

Van der Graaf Generator
Citizen Zombie cover

Citizen Zombie

The Pop Group
Live in Berlin ‘71 cover

Live in Berlin ‘71

Fred Van Hove, Han Bennink, Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Brötzmann
Spirits Aloft cover

Spirits Aloft

Rashied Ali, Henry Grimes
Source cover

Source

Nubya Garcia