LIVE AT ADLER PLANETARIUM

Description

On March 24, 2023, Rob Mazurek brought his perpetually psychedelic and exploratory Exploding Star Orchestra to Chicago’s Adler Planetarium dome to perform material from their recent album Lightning Dreamers and several new compositions. A digital projection streamed an ever-changing flow of brightly colored abstract shapes, derived from Mazurek’s paintings and animations, above the audience’s heads, while the orchestra, which on this night featured eight musicians in addition to its leader, transformed Lightning Dreamers’ stylistically disparate pieces into an enveloping maelstrom. Electric pianists Angelica Sanchez and Craig Taborn scrolled layers of plush textures over the intricate, three-part 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, emitting vivid, energetic statements, while Damon Locks’ proclamations phased in and out of the mix like an erratic signal from an interstellar radio announcer. Together, they reimagined the dark sound of Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew as a transcendent, elevating force.