12° of Freedom

May 2025 12° of Freedom album Chicago Underground Duo Chicago_Underground_Duo_12_Degrees_of_Freedom.jpg 1998 January 15, 1997; June 14, 1997; June 25, 1997 Lunar Cabaret, Chicago; WNUR studio, Evanston, Illinois; James Bond Loft, Toronto Free jazz Thrill Jockey060 Chicago Underground Duo Synesthesia 2000 12° of Freedom (also listed as 12 Degrees of Freedom) is the debut album by the Chicago Underground Duo, featuring multi-instrumentalists Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor. It was recorded during January and June 1997 at three different locations, and was released in 1998 by the Thrill Jockey label. Guitarist Jeff Parker also appears on three tracks.https://www.allmusic.com/album/12-degrees-of-freedom-mw0000601098 Chicago Underground Duo: 12 Degrees of Freedom AllMusic February 15, 2023https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/chicago-underground-duo-trio-quartet-chicago-london-underground/chicago-underground-duo-12%C2%B0-of-freedom Chicago Underground Quartet - 12° of Freedom Jazz Music Archives February 15, 2023https://thrilljockey.com/products/12-degrees-of-freedom Chicago Underground/12 Degrees of Freedom Thrill Jockey February 15, 2023 In an interview, Mazurek stated that his music is "a protest against anything or anybody that wants to put up some kind of barrier between total creativity," and remarked: "The first Chicago Underground record is called 12 Degrees of Freedom. It has those same precepts, not just in music but dealing with psychology, spirituality, the whole thing."https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2017/03/15/rob-mazurek-the-aquarium-drunkard-interview Rob Mazurek: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview Jason Woodbury March 15, 2017 Aquarium Drunkard February 15, 2023 Reception The Penguin Guide to Jazz 3 4Cook Richard Morton Brian The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD Penguin Books 2000 269 The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz 3 5Larkin Colin The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz Virgin Books 2004 170 The editors of The Wire included the album in their 1998 Rewind, listing the year's 50 best albums.https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/charts/1998-rewind 1998 Rewind: 50 Records Of The Year The Wire February 15, 2023 Monica Kendrick of the Chicago Reader stated that "Mazurek and... Taylor use vibes, piano, and bamboo flute along with their primary instruments to construct subtle, spartan soundscapes that occasionally burst into flurries of notes and beats or fill out into mesmerizing grooves."https://chicagoreader.com/music/spot-check-333 Spot Check Monica Kendrick September 17, 1998 Chicago Reader February 15, 2023 Writing for CMJ New Music Monthly, Daniel Piotrowski noted that the album's "message... has as much to do with musical freedom as with human freedom," and commented: "While this group truly fits into the legacy of Chicago exploratory music... Mazurek and Taylor forge their own identity and style."Piotrowski Daniel January 1999 Reviews CMJ New Music Monthly 45 https://books.google.com/books?id=0ykEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Chicago+Underground+Duo%22+%22of+Freedom%22&pg=PA45 Google Books The New York Times's Ben Ratliff praised Thrill Jockey for releasing the album, writing: "The indie-rock scene has reached a dry point, so more small rock labels ought to take a chance on jazz, as this one did; their approach to recording the music, and the meaning of their imprimatur to an entirely different group of listeners, could rejuvenate jazz's constituency. Young people put their money where the excitement is; they don't care what it's called."https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/14/arts/music-what-jazz-could-use-about-now-indie-cred.html Music: What Jazz Could Use About Now: 'Indie Cred' Ben Ratliff February 14, 1999 The New York Times February 15, 2023 Track listing "The Pursued" (Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor) – 4:30 "Not Quite Dark Yet and the Stars Shining Above the Withered Fields" (Rob Mazurek) – 6:30 "January 15th" (Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor) – 10:47 "The Big Bang Theory" (Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor) – 3:47 "Waiting for You is Like Watching Stillness Grow into Enormous Wings" (Rob Mazurek) – 2:57 "Twelve Degrees of Freedom" (Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor) – 3:52 "Lemon Grass" (Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor) – 1:41 "Gratitude" (Chad Taylor) – 5:03 "Into the Unanimous Blue" (Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor) – 7:31 Tracks 1, 3, 4, and 9 were recorded at Lunar Cabaret in Chicago on January 15, 1997. Tracks 2, 5, 7, and 8 were recorded at James Bond Loft in Toronto on June 25, 1997. Track 6 was recorded at WNUR studio in Evanston, Illinois, on June 14, 1997. Personnel Rob Mazurek – cornet, piano, bamboo flute Chad Taylor – percussion, vibraphone Jeff Parker – guitar (tracks 2, 5, 7) References Category:1998 debut albums Category:Chicago Underground Duo albums Category:Thrill Jockey albums