The São Paulo Underground sound dares you to define it, knowing that even when -- not if -- you fail to do so, you’ll still be so deliriously immersed in the group’s dizzying swirl of styles that you’ll simply be happy to surrender to its unnamable charms. Along the way, you’ll reach for such sonic signifiers as “jazz,” “Brazilian music,” “avant-garde,” and “electro-acoustic” in an attempt to tag Três Cabeças Loucuras, the ensemble’s third album and first for Cuneiform. Sure, when American cornetist Rob Mazurek gets together with his Brazilian buddies Guilherme Granado (keyboards, electronics), Mauricio Takara (drums, percussion, cavaquinho, electronics) and “fourth member” Richard Ribeiro (drums), all of the aforementioned flavors are on the musical menu, but ultimately, it’s best to just term the end result a kind of joyful “chef’s surprise” that gleefully upends expectations.

Mazurek, a fearlessly forward-looking musician, has been battering down the borders between musical genres since the ‘90s, recording with everyone from Stereolab to Tortoise, and leading Isotope 217, the Chicago Underground collective, and the Exploding Star Orchestra, among other things. But it was only after his move to Brazil in 2000 that Mazurek began to follow the path that would lead to the formation of the São Paulo Underground. The journey began in earnest when the cornetist/composer found a kindred spirit in Mauricio Takara, and they released the first SPU album, 2006’s Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres, together as a duo.

After adding Guilherme Granado and Richard Ribeiro into the equation, an expanded Underground unleashed Principle of Intrusive Relationships two years later. But in the creation of Três Cabeças Loucuras (Portuguese for “three crazy heads”), the group pushed towards an even more expansive approach.

Mazurek’s jazz-schooled cornet skills come to the fore on the album, with a fiery force that echoes everything from the frenetic, freewheeling fusion of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis to bop masters like Art Farmer (with whom Mazurek has studied), but he claims avant-jazz trumpet legend Bill Dixon as his main inspiration, declaring “His absoluteness is a constant feed.” When Mazurek’s hard-driving hailstorm of cornet lines collides with the polyrhythmic percussion and electronic textures of his Brazilian compatriots, a new paradigm is created, where Brazilian grooves, ambient atmospheres, and post-bop harmonic leaps come together for a vital, vibrant feel.

In making Três Cabeças Loucuras, the Undergrounders didn’t close the door to the outside world, either - along the way, contributions from bassist Matthew Lux (Iron and Wine), vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz (Exploding Star Orchestra, and Jason Adasiewicz’s Rolldown, a jazz group that records for Cuneiform), Tortoise drummer John Herndon, and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Dinucci (Paulistano) all add to the exhilarating experimentation and strangely spiritual glow of the proceedings.

Note: Três Cabeças Loucuras is also available in a high-quality, limited edition (Only 500 copies!) vinyl pressing that includes a download code for the digital version of the album.

www.robmazurek.com

www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/saopaulo.html

FOR A PDF OF THE COMPLETE PRESS RELEASE/BIO, click HERE

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