Rob Mazurek

Rob Mazurek is an American electro-acoustic composer, cornetist, improviser and visual artist living in Chicago, Illinois.

Mazurek was born in 1965 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and played trumpet and cornet in high school in Naperville, Illinois. He first learned the foundations of improvised music while studying jazz theory and practice with David Bloom at the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago, eventually working with other Chicago musicians like Kenny Prince, Robert Barry, Jodie Christian, Lin Halliday and Earma Thompson.

In 1996, Mazurek formed the longstanding Chicago Underground Collective with guitarist Jeff Parker and drummer Chad Taylor, a unit that ranges in size from duo to orchestra. The Collective earned Mazurek the attention of Chicago’s underground community at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in high-profile collaborations with other genre-defying artists like Gastr Del Sol, Jim O’Rourke, Sam Prekop, Stereolab and Tortoise.

Mazurek currently leads several ensembles, including Exploding Star Orchestra, Pharaoh and the Underground (featuring Pharoah Sanders), Chicago Underground, Pulsar Quartet, sao Paulo Underground, Skull Sessions, Sound Is Quintet, Starlicker, Mandarin Movie, and Throne of the House of Good and Evil, each of which possesses its own distinct musical personality.

As a composer, Mazurek has written over 300 original compositions over the past 30 years and has released at least 55 recordings on various labels. Mazurek has also been awarded several commissions and awards.

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