Rob Mazurek - Mother Ode

2014 release.

In July 2013, a few months after the passing of his mother, cornetist Rob Mazurek performed solo at the Corbett Vs. Dempsey gallery in Chicago. Mazurek is one of the highest profile figures in contemporary creative music, leading bands like the Exploding Star Orchestra, Skull Sessions Octet, and Starlicker. On this occasion, he brought a box filled with various implements - his cornet, naturally, but flutes, bells, books, maracas, apples, and little electronics.

This box became an inexhaustible resource as he pulled new soundmakers from it and performed a profoundly intense dedication to his mom, culminating in a durational event that found him shaking the remaining contents of the box over his head until he could no longer hold his arms aloft. It was one of the most moving musical happenings that anyone at the gallery could remember, and Corbett Vs. Dempsey have taken the opportunity to release it as a CD.

Often, such potent live events don't translate to a recording, but on Mother Ode, the emotional impact of Mazurek's dedication appear just as vividly, a deep mourning of death rubbing elbows with a joyous celebration of life.