Chicago Underground Duo
(Thrill Jockey)
The yen to blend ambient soundscapes and avant garde elements seems to be encoded in the genomes of most Chicago musicians of a certain age, none more so than Chicago Underground collective members Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor. Boca Negra, the collective's fifth duo release and first recorded outside of Chicago (at Sao Paolo, Brazil), is again comprised of improvisational pieces that almost feel composed, composed pieces that sound awfully free, and computer effects that further blur those distinctions in these (primarily) cornet-drum-vibraphone collages. (Taylor is at the computer controls here for the first time instead of Mazurek, and is liberal enough with the tweaking that it sounds like there are 30 different instruments, not three.)
Naturally, dynamic tensions and shifting moods trump traditional song structure, but it's the contrasts that are most striking. On "The Left Hand of Darkness," Taylor's heavily distorted mbira creates nocturnal jungle-noise textures that finally birth rhythms and graceful horn lines (Mazurek even briefly quotes Ravel's "Bolero"), while on "Quantum Eye" a gentle samba eventually emerges from a haze of distant horn echoes and distorted percussion. Other tracks tap into the duo's fondness for hypnotic repetitive figures (not unlike their brethren in Tortoise), as when Mazurek's muted horn stipples overlapping vibraphone lines on the Eno-like "Hermeto," or the chop-shop beats (think Four Tet) add dimension to the pretty ballad "Vergence." Even more infectious is the looping bass groove of "Spy on the Floor." Taylor press-rolls over the insistent bass riff to ratchet up the tension for Mazurek, who demonstrates why he's one of our best modern horn players, trilling glissandos or attacking staccato without sacrificing the lyricism of a theme that's just waiting for another Bond or Bourne film.
The duo's interplay is even better on the more experimental opener, "Green Ants." Mazurek opens with a flurry of legatos like sparks from a grindstone while Taylor explores the full nuance of his kit. At the freer end of the spectrum, "Confliction" is the record's most challenging piece, with time signatures that vary between 17/8 and 4/4; the duo's version of Ornette Coleman's "Broken Shadows" -- the band's first cover of any kind - is equally unhinged. Whether computer squiggles add very much is debatable, however, which you can say as well for the heavy processing that overwhelms the aimless "Roots and Shooting Stars."
Despite the occasional over-indulgence, Boca Negra is another exciting entry in the Chicago Underground catalog. After all these years working right on the edge between free and ambient, Mazurek and Taylor show deft enough touch to call those shadows their own.
Standout Tracks: "Hermeto" "Vergence" JOHN SCHACHT
