Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra

My review of Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra ran today at PopMatters.

I’ve been following the work of Rob Mazurek for some time now, and was a huge fan of both his 2007 releases, the Exploding Star Orchestra debut We Are All From Somewhere Else and the Chicago Underground Trio’s Chronicle.

On this record, he brings back the spacey Chicago-based Exploding Star Orchestra to serve as a canvas for the legendary trumpeter Bill Dixon.

Not being well versed in Dixon’s oeuvre (only heard a few tracks here and there), I’m pleased to have a bit of an introduction to his style and approach in this context, playing with a group that I am pretty familiar with. The tracks Dixon led, two separate takes of a single piece called “Entrances” are really the main event here. Mazurek’s track, “Constellations for Inner Light Projections” is fine enough but seems a little pale when sandwiched between “Entrances.”

Bill Dixon with the Exploding Star Orchestra reminds me less of the ESO debut album than it does of “Power,” the epic 30-minute free-for-all that comprises the core of Chronicle. For all their cosmic imagery, ESO had always seemed at its foundation, tightly composed. This record is far more diffuse, the notes and instruments float precariously away from one another. It’s a great sound, disorienting yet effective. There’s a surprise around every corner.

Love the cover art, as well, painted by Dixon himself. I’d like to see the full-size rendition.

[tags]Bill Dixon, Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Orchestra, Jazz, Avant-Garde[/tags]