Chicago Underground Duo

Chicago Underground Duo is a cornerstone of the Chicago creative music scene, emerging in the late 1990s as a vital link between the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the city's thriving post-rock community. Formed by Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor, the duo serves as the primary engine for a modular ensemble that expands into trios, quartets, and orchestras.

Mazurek’s background with Tortoise and Taylor’s work with artists like Marc Ribot and Pharoah Sanders inform a sound that is rhythmically sophisticated and texturally adventurous. Their discography, primarily on Thrill Jockey and Delmark, tracks an evolution from hard-bop deconstruction to a unique blend of spiritual jazz, minimalism, and electronic music. Critical consensus highlights their 'telepathic' interplay and their role in modernizing the jazz duo format. They are highly influential among modern practitioners of 'indie-jazz,' bridging the gap between traditional improvisation and studio-as-instrument production techniques.