Rob Mazurek is a Chicago-based sound abstractivist, cornetist, improviser, composer and multi-media artist with a unique style drawing from free jazz, hard-bop, experimental electronica and minimalism. A mover in the vibrant Chicago post-rock and avant jazz scene, he is co-founder and member of Chicago Underground Duo/Trio/Quartet/Orchestra as well as avant-jazz/funk ensemble Isotope 217. A visual artist as well, he has exhibited paintings at the Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago. Mazurek has toured extensively and established himself as a performer and recording artist throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan with his various ensembles. He has collaborated and recorded with Jim O’Rourke, Joseph Jarmon, Stereolab, Tortoise, Gastr del Sol, Brokeback, Pan American, Tigersmilk, Sam Prekop, God Speed You Black Emperor among others.
His solo projects, as Orton Socket and under his own name, reflect his experimentation with electronics, sound manipulation and musique concrete as well as his ongoing quest to push beyond musical boundaries. Orton Socket’s 99 Explosions consists of manipulated found sound mixed together on a laptop with layered Moog and synth tones. Follow up releases under his name, Amorphic Winged and Silver Spines, combine the computer- and synth-generated sounds interspersed with fragments of cornet notes and solos. A fourth solo record Sweet and Vicious Like Frankenstein will be released in 2003.
Most recently, Mazurek has been working on an installation incorporating computer- manipulated sounds with high definition scans of details from his paintings. He creates an environment of color and sound, by presenting 2 ft. x 2 ft. color images in a space that projects electronic/found sounds from four separate sources. He refers to these images as "sound-blocks" – "You simply enjoy this environment, suggesting color from sound and sound from color." The installation is more about the space than the individual parts. The sound and images are mere pieces of a greater whole, creating a space of it’s own. His intent is to make an interesting and beautiful environment, a place in which to lose one’s self.
Mazurek currently makes his home in Brasilia, Brazil.
For more information, visit their website: http://www.robmazurek.com
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