Rob Mazurek

Origin

Jersey City, NJ

Years Active

1983–present

Genres

jazz, experimental, avant-garde, electronic, free jazz, post-rock, tropicalia

Instruments

cornet, electronics, piano, vocals, piccolo trumpet, sampler, bells, keyboards, modular synth, harmonium, voice, flutes

Biography

Rob Mazurek is a highly acclaimed American composer, cornetist, improviser, and visual artist, born on July 8, 1965, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He began his musical journey in the mid-1980s on the Chicago music scene, later moving to Brazil in 2000, where he immersed himself in new musical influences. This period in Brazil significantly shaped his artistic output, leading to the formation of the São Paulo Underground with Guilherme Granado and Mauricio Takara, a group dedicated to exploring and expanding Brazilian musical traditions.

Mazurek is known for his multidisciplinary approach, focusing on electro-acoustic composition, improvisation, performance, painting, sculpture, video, film, and installation. He has led and composed for numerous ensembles, including the influential Exploding Star Orchestra, Chicago Underground Collective, and São Paulo Underground. His work often blends genres such as jazz, free jazz, post-rock, Brazilian rhythms, and electronic music, creating a unique and experimental sonic landscape. He has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Pharoah Sanders, Roscoe Mitchell, and Naná Vasconcelos.

Throughout his career, Mazurek has released over 70 recordings, featuring more than 400 original compositions. He has received numerous commissions and awards, and his work has been featured at major festivals and concert halls worldwide. Mazurek currently resides in Marfa, Texas, continuing to push the boundaries of sound exploration as a composer, performer, and visual artist.

Discography

• Rob Mazurek With Eric Alexander – Badlands (1995)
• Robert Mazurek With Eric Alexander – Green & Blue (1996)
• Robert Mazurek / Chicago Underground Orchestra – Playground (1998)
• Amorphic Winged (2001)
• Silver Spines (2002)
• Rob Mazurek, Liam Gillick – Thought Farming / Underground Persons #1 To #4 (2003)
• Active Ingredients, Chad Taylor, Jemeel Moondoc, Tom Abbs, Steve Swell, Rob Mazurek, David Boykin, Avreeayl Ra – Titration (2003)
• Sweet And Vicious Like Frankenstein (2004)
• Music For A Shattered Light Box And 7 Posters (2004)
• Abstractions On Robert D'Arbrissel (2008)
• Calma Gente (2010)
• Stars Have Shapes (2010)
• Enzo Carpentieri Circular E-Motion Featuring Rob Mazurek – Everywhere Is Here (2011)
• Rob Mazurek, Pulsar Quartet, Angelica Sanchez, Matthew Lux, John Herndon – Stellar Pulsations (2012)
• Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Orchestra Featuring Roscoe Mitchell – Matter Anti-Matter (2013)
• Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Electro Acoustic Ensemble – The Space Between (2013)
• Rob Mazurek And Black Cube SP – Return The Tides: Ascension Suite And Holy Ghost (2014)
• Alternate Moon Cycles (2014)
• Jason Ajemian, Tony Malaby, Rob Mazurek, Chad Taylor – A Way A Land Of Life (2014)
• Mother Ode (2014)
• Novellino / Rosi / Mazurek / Barnes – Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear (2014)
• Alternate Moon Cycles (Waning Crescent) (2014)
• Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Orchestra – Galactic Parables: Volume 1 (2015)
• Jeff Parker - Rob Mazurek – Some Jellyfish Live Forever (2015)
• Vortice Of The Faun (2015)
• Rob Mazurek & Emmett Kelly – Alien Flower Sutra (2016)
• Rob Mazurek, Mwata Bowden, Julien Desprez, Matthew Lux, Mathieu Sourisseau – Four Views Of A Three Sided Garden / Shore To Shore (2016)
• Chimeric Stoned Horn (2017)
• Chants And Corners (2017)
• Thollem | Mazurek – Blind Curves And Box Canyons (2017)
• Rome (2017)
• Porta Palace Collective + Rob Mazurek – Stone (2017)
• Gabriele Mitelli, Rob Mazurek – Star Splitter (2019)
• Cene Resnik Free Stellar Trio + Rob Mazurek – Age Of Chaos (2019)
• Desert Encrypts Vol. 1 (2019)
• Psychotropic Electric Eel Dreams IV (2019)
• Love Waves Ecstatic Charge (2019)
• Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra – Dimensional Stardust (2020)
• All Distances Inform (2022)
• Damon Locks & Rob Mazurek – New Future City Radio (2023)
• Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Orchestra – Lightning Dreamers (2023)
• Music for Piano and Modular Synthesizer (2023)
• Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Orchestra – Live At The Adler Planetarium (2024)
• Rob Mazurek, Exploding Star Orchestra/Small Unit – Spectral Fiction (2024)
• Milan (2024)
• Gabriele Mitelli, Rob Mazurek – Star Splitter: Medea (2024)
• Polysonic Techtonics (2024)
• C6Fe2RN6 (2024)
• Medea (2024)
• Nestor's Nest (2025)
• Alberto Novello, Rob Mazurek – Sun Eaters (2025)
• Roj Osa Meets Rob Mazurek – Beton Kino (2025)
• Exploding Star Orchestra, Rob Mazurek – Holy Mountains (2025)
• Alternate Moon Cycles Live At The Land School (2026)
• Raymond Salvatore Harmon, Rob Mazurek – Sigils Of The Heptameron