Playground is an album by Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra which was released on the Delmark label in 1998.[1][2][3]
| Playground | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 10, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | March 1 & 2, 1996 and January 6 & 7, 1997 | |||
| Studio | Idful, Chicago, Illinois | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 68:06 | |||
| Label | Delmark DE-503 | |||
| Producer | Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker | |||
| Robert Mazurek chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [4] |
In his review for AllMusic, Rick Watrous states: "A revelation. Cornetist Mazurek and his Chicago Underground Orchestra create some of the freshest sounds of late-'90s jazz. Mazurek and Parker's original tunes have the loose improvisatory feel of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock's late-'60s compositions, giving soloists free reign [sic] to strut their stuff. ... Imaginative use of instrumental colors and combinations prevail throughout the album".[4]
On All About Jazz Jack Bowers said: "This is an interesting and varied session... Mazurek has abandoned neither melody, harmony nor rhythm, and the band's hard-bop origins can also be discerned from time to time ... Throughout, Rob and the band shrewdly employ uncommon elements - the sound of a glockenspiel or bamboo flute, for example - to accentuate their singular point of view. Everyone is on the same page, and those who fancy Jazz that veers slightly off the beaten path without self-indulgent cerebralism should find this picturesque Playground well-suited to whatever musical byways they might care to pursue"[5]
Track listing edit
All compositions by Robert Mazurek except where noted
- "Blow Up" (Herbie Hancock) − 8:17
- "Flamingos Dancing On Luminescent Moonbeams" − 7:43
- "Boiled Over" − 8:08
- "Le Sucrier Velours" (Duke Ellington) − 2:06
- "Components Changes" (Jeff Parker) − 6:23
- "Playground" − 10:23
- "Jeff's New Idea" (Parker) − 6:34
- "The Inner Soul of H" − 3:02
- "Whitney" (Parker) − 7:07
- "Ostinato" − 8:08
Personnel edit
- Robert Mazurek – cornet, bell, bamboo flute, toy trumpet
- Jeff Parker – guitar, cowbell, recorder
- Sara P. Smith − trombone, glockenspiel, recorder, muffin tin, voice, cymbals
- Chris Lopes − bass, India flute, voice
- Chad Taylor – drums, street sign
- John Herndon − bongos (track 1)
- Dan Bitney − congas (track 1)
- Tony Pinciotti − percussion
References edit
- ^ Rob Mazurek discography, accessed October 29, 2018
- ^ Delmark Records: album details, accessed October 29
- ^ Jazzlists: Delmark Records discography: 500 series, accessed October 29, 2019
- ^ a b Watrous, Rick. Rob Mazurek / Chicago Underground Orchestra – Playground: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
- ^ Bowers, J. All About Jazz Review accessed October 29, 2019