Playground
Studio album by
Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra
ReleasedFebruary 10, 1998
RecordedMarch 1 & 2, 1996 and January 6 & 7, 1997
StudioIdful, Chicago, Illinois
GenreJazz
Length68:06
LabelDelmark
DE-503
ProducerRob Mazurek, Jeff Parker
Robert Mazurek chronology
The Unstable Molecule
(1998)		 Playground
(1998)		 12° of Freedom
(1998)

Playground is an album by Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra which was released on the Delmark label in 1998.[1][2][3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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

All compositions by Robert Mazurek except where noted

  1. "Blow Up" (Herbie Hancock) − 8:17
  2. "Flamingos Dancing On Luminescent Moonbeams" − 7:43
  3. "Boiled Over" − 8:08
  4. "Le Sucrier Velours" (Duke Ellington) − 2:06
  5. "Components Changes" (Jeff Parker) − 6:23
  6. "Playground" − 10:23
  7. "Jeff's New Idea" (Parker) − 6:34
  8. "The Inner Soul of H" − 3:02
  9. "Whitney" (Parker) − 7:07
  10. "Ostinato" − 8:08

Personnel

  • 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

  1. ↑ Rob Mazurek discography, accessed October 29, 2018
  2. ↑ Delmark Records: album details, accessed October 29
  3. ↑ Jazzlists: Delmark Records discography: 500 series, accessed October 29, 2019
  4. 1 2 Watrous, Rick. Rob Mazurek / Chicago Underground Orchestra – Playground: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  5. ↑ Bowers, J. All About Jazz Review accessed October 29, 2019
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