''Playground'' is an album by
Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra which was released on the
Delmark label in 1998.
Reception
In his review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, 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
icto strut their stuff. ... Imaginative use of instrumental colors and combinations prevail throughout the album".
On
All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
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"
[Bowers, J]
All About Jazz Review
accessed October 29, 2019
Track listing
All compositions by Robert Mazurek except where noted
# "Blow Up" (
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...
) − 8:17
# "Flamingos Dancing On Luminescent Moonbeams" − 7:43
# "Boiled Over" − 8:08
# "Le Sucrier Velours" (
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
) − 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
*
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
John Herndon is an American musician and artist. Based in Chicago, he plays drums and percussion, and works as a producer for instrumental hip hop under the name A Grape Dope.
Career
John Herndon is a member of the bands Tortoise and Isotope 217, ...
− bongos (track 1)
*Dan Bitney − congas (track 1)
*Tony Pinciotti − percussion
References
{{Authority control
1998 albums
Rob Mazurek albums
Delmark Records albums