Exploding Star International: Chicago-Berlin

(USA/Germany)

Commission/World premiere

[Focus: Chicago]

This concert is part of “GRAND OPENING: Haus of Jazz”

Living up to its name, the Exploding Star Orchestra is no clearly delineated entity, no fixed line-up – it is created in the moment and executed inexorably when the right forces come together and take effect. Anyone who is (or has been) fortunate enough to experience the ESO at one of its few live performances will remain spellbound. ESO was launched as an initiative of the Chicago Cultural Center together with the Jazz Institute of Chicago in 2005, to bring together the wide range of free forms of expression presented by the city’s avant-garde in one focal point. Trumpeter and visual artist Rob Mazurek was trusted to become the venture’s guiding spirit and to organise an overarching entity – a momentous decision that gave birth to the ESO, which has since then been performing on special occasions in all its heterogeneity and strength. Nowhere else does the expression of a power bigger than itself seem more apt than with the ESO. It is a fortunate indeed that Berlin has now entered this cosmic slipstream with musicians from its diverse scene, thanks to the right propelling forces acting at the right time. The Exploding Star Orchestra is both a bracket and a highlight of the five-hour opening scenario, which will finally unite all audience members on the Main Stage.

Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra on Soundcloud
Galactic Parables: Volume 1 by Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra on Bandcamp
RobMazurek @ Cuneiform Records