Sao Paulo Underground - Cantos Invisíveis (Cuneiform Records, 2016)

Cornetist and electronic musician Rob Mazurek is one of the most consistently interesting musicians in the field of jazz and improvised music, both leading and collaborating in several groundbreaking ensembles. Sao Paulo Underground is a very exciting band that combines jazz, electronics and fusion into a vigorous brew of music. Along with Mazurek the band features Mauricio Takara on drums, electronics and voice and Guilherme Granado on keyboards, percussion and voice. They’re joined on several tracks by Thomas Rohrer on reeds, percussion and voice. The band sounds much bigger than three musicians with their use of electronics and strong percussion recalling Sun Ra’s most progressive records like Atlantis and The Magic City. This album truly sounds like a collaborative effort and the personalities of the group shine throughout. The music on this album works very well, and the group supersedes any easy genre description in developing a broad and resonant sound which is pushed forth with an energetic vigor. The music on this album deftly mixes influences: contemporary Brazilian music, electronics and spiritual jazz like an updated version of Impulse Records early 70's groove and free jazz LP’s by Archie Sheep and Pharaoh Sanders create a sound that moves like a dreamscape and every track works well as its own self-contained sound world while melding into the cohesive whole of the album. Mazurek, who has worked in several different musical contexts plays very well here, accenting the music and the electronic sculptures and punctuating the music with solo cornet breakouts. The group’s music here defies any particular box or category, drifting on a wave of freedom and possibility and making extraordinary music throughout with a unique approach to structure.Cantos Invisíveis - amazon.com

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