Playground is an album by Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra which was released on the Delmark label in 1998.[1][2][3]

Playground
Studio album by Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra
Released	February 10, 1998
Recorded	March 1 & 2, 1996 and January 6 & 7, 1997
Studio	Idful Studios, Chicago, IL
Genre	Jazz
Length	68:06
Label	Delmark DE-503
Producer	Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker
Robert Mazurek chronology
The Unstable Molecule (1998) Playground (1998) 12° of Freedom (1998)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]

In his review for AllMusic, Rick Watrous states: "A revelation. Cornetist Mazurek and his Chicago Underground Orchestra create some of the freshest sounds of late-'90s jazz. Mazurek and Parker's original tunes have the loose improvisatory feel of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock's late-'60s compositions, giving soloists free reign [sic] to strut their stuff. ... Imaginative use of instrumental colors and combinations prevail throughout the album".[4]

On All About Jazz Jack Bowers said: "This is an interesting and varied session... Mazurek has abandoned neither melody, harmony nor rhythm, and the band's hard-bop origins can also be discerned from time to time ... Throughout, Rob and the band shrewdly employ uncommon elements - the sound of a glockenspiel or bamboo flute, for example - to accentuate their singular point of view. Everyone is on the same page, and those who fancy Jazz that veers slightly off the beaten path without self-indulgent cerebralism should find this picturesque Playground well-suited to whatever musical byways they might care to pursue"[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Robert Mazurek except where noted

1. "Blow Up" (Herbie Hancock) − 8:17
2. "Flamingos Dancing On Luminescent Moonbeams" − 7:43
3. "Boiled Over" − 8:08
4. "Le Sucrier Velours" (Duke Ellington) − 2:06
5. "Components Changes" (Jeff Parker) − 6:23
6. "Playground" − 10:23
7. "Jeff's New Idea" (Parker) − 6:34
8. "The Inner Soul of H" − 3:02
9. "Whitney" (Parker) − 7:07
10. "Ostinato" − 8:08

Personnel

• Robert Mazurek – cornet, bell, bamboo flute, toy trumpet
• Jeff Parker – guitar, cowbell, recorder
• Sara P. Smith − trombone, glockenspiel, recorder, muffin tin, voice, cymbals
• Chris Lopes − bass, India flute, voice
• Chad Taylor – drums, street sign
• John Herndon − bongos (track 1)
• Dan Bitney − congas (track 1)
• Tony Pinciotti − percussion

References