*announcing* Rob Mazurek -Exploding Star Orchestra - Live at the Adler Planetarium LP/CD & digital out September 27, 2024
Beautiful new live document from interdisciplinary artist, composer and bandleader Rob Mazurek and a nine-piece iteration of his long-running Exploding Star Orchestra (ESO). Live at the Adler Planetarium will be released on LP, CD and DD on September 27th.
With Mazurek (on trumpet) leading ESO regulars Nicole Mitchell (flute), Damon Locks (vocals), Tomeka Reid (cello), Craig Taborn (keys), Angelica Sanchez (keys), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Gerald Cleaver and Chad Taylor (drums), the album captures the ensemble in a special one-off performance underneath the dome of the Grainger Sky Theater in Chicago’s iconic Adler Planetarium.
A staple of Chicago’s downtown lakeshore since 1930, the Adler Planetarium is not only the first and oldest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, but it has actually played host to a live album recording at least once in the past – notably, Kelan Phil Cohran & Legacy’s legendary 1993 record African Skies. Mazurek and ESO join that tradition proudly and potently with this document, which was co-produced by Chicago institutions Experimental Sound Studio and International Anthem.
Photo by Alex Inglizian
A full album-length concert film for Live at the Adler Planetarium was also created by director Brian Ashby (known for his work on Charles Stepney: Out of the Shadows) that beautifully captures the spectacle of the event, which featured ESO performing underneath large, kaleidoscopic projections of Mazurek’s abstract visual art on the dome screen of the Grainger Sky Theater.
Ashby’s concert film will premiere at a special screening event on September 28th at the Logan Center in Chicago as part of this year’s Hyde Park Jazz Festival. The event will feature two screenings of the full 40 minute concert film. In between the screenings, there will be a conversation between Mazurek and Mike Smail of the Adler Planetarium.
Deluxe Limited Edition Vinyl Package
Live at the Adler Planetarium in vinyl form comes on a deluxe limited edition LP inside a shiny, reflective metallic silver foil jacket, with images from the performance taken by Ashby, Alejandro Ayala, and Alex Inglizian. Liner notes included with the package are taken from music writer Bill Meyer’s review of the performance originally published by Magnet Magazine in March of 2023.
