''Slon'' is the third album from the Chicago Underground Trio. The album was released in January 2004 on

Thrill Jockey Records Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

. This is their first release on Thrill Jockey, their first two albums were released by

Delmark Records Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a recordi ...

. The album was produced by Bundy K. Brown. The trio consists of

Rob Mazurek Rob Mazurek (born 1965) is an American composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illinois. Biography Rob Mazurek is an American electro-acoustic composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illi ...

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, Noel Kupersmith on bass and Chad Taylor on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. This is their last release with bassist Noel Kupersmith. Mazurek and Taylor have also combined as the Chicago Underground Duo and with the Chicago Underground Orchestra.

Overview

''Slon'' combines the sounds of a traditional jazz combo with electronic overdubs. The songs were developed during their European No War Tour and written over a one-month period then recorded in Chicago. The track "Palmero" includes recorded sounds from a Sicilian

fish market A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet mar ...

. This is their last release with bassist Noel Kupersmith, Jason Ajemian plays bass on their next release, ''

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

''.

Reception

In comparison to their earlier work, Gregory McIntosh of

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 ...

writes that the combo is "more focused on an overall concept for the record as an atmospheric listen" and that the album "is a document of a band that has really hit its stride". When commenting on the combo's use of computers John L. Walters of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote that they use them for "anything from ambient noise to throbbing riffs". He goes on to write that "Mazurek's inventive improvisations dance around Taylor's live, open-sounding kit, while Kupersmith's bass sound stays oddly, unfashionably low." Rex Butters of

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 ...

wrote that ''Slon'' has "heated high speed interplay and cold techno ice caps" and calls the musicians "gifted improvisers at the top of their game". In ''

CMJ New Music Report CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'', Tad Hendrickson wrote that the production by Bundy K. Brown "helps bring the album into sharper focus" and calls the work "nicely done". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

s Mark Richardson noted: "although the Trio operate within a smaller sphere than many of their contemporaries, they remain open to possibility and produce inspired combinations of seemingly different sounds-- and the economical and engaging ''Slon'' is evidence that they're on to something." Brian Baker of '' Paste'' called the musicians "phenomenal jazz talents interested in technological possibilities... as well as jazz's venerable heritage," and called the recording "an album of power, vision and conviction." John Schacht listed the album as one of his top twenty favorite albums of 2004 in ''

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of a monthly arts and culture newspaper/magazine. The company publishes a 60,000 circulation monthly publication which is distributed to in-town locations and neighborhoods on the first Thursday of ...

'', calling the combo "the best jazz ensemble many jazz fans have never heard".

Track listing

''All tracks written by the Chicago Underground Trio'' #"Protest" (6:29) #"Slon" (4:56) #"Zagreb" (6:39) #"Sevens" (3:00) #"Campbell" (6:57) #"Kite" (4:35) #"Palermo" (3:20) #"Shoe Lace" (4:32) #"Pear" (3:02)

Credits

–

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...

*Noel Kupersmith – bass, computers * Chad Taylor –

* Bundy K. Brown –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing, producer *Sheila Sachs –

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

*Bill Skibbe – tape splicing

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Chicago Underground Trio albums