Live At Adler Planetarium

Description

On March 24, 2023, Rob Mazurek gathered his expansive and endlessly psychedelic Exploding Star Orchestra under the dome of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago to perform tracks from their recent album Lightning Dreamers as well as several new pieces. A digital projection displayed an ever-changing stream of abstract shapes in vibrant colors above the audience, derived from Mazurek's paintings and animations, while the orchestra, which included eight musicians in addition to its leader that night, transformed the stylistically disparate pieces of Lightning Dreamers into an enveloping maelstrom. Electric pianists Angelica Sanchez and Craig Taborn layered plush textures over the complex, tripartite grooves of bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and two drummers, Chad Taylor and Gerald Cleaver. Mazurek's trumpets and wordless cries, Tomeka Reid's cello, and Nicole Mitchell's flute and voice periodically emerged from the flow, issuing vibrant and energetic statements, while Damon Locks' proclamations came in and out of the mix like an erratic signal from an interstellar radio announcer. Together, they reimagined the dark sound of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew as a force of transcendent elevation.